Search:

Thanks, Bob! Very detailed response :) I'd really like to try some flatwounds too, at some point - they have such a wonderful character to them.

All good suggestions, thanks gang!

Jeff, there's just something about those brown Primetone picks that sounds a little... I dunno, "hollow"? I've never gotten a sound out of them that I really...

But this one has a slightly more specific focus, I think.

On Irish bouzouki (and citterns as well), I find that I prefer heavier, thicker picks. Right now the weapon of choice is a Primetone 3mm...

Hey Red! Good question. A re-entrant tuning is one in which the strings are not strictly tuned highest to lowest (or vice versa) in sequence, the way a guitar is. The most popular example of a...

Nigel, the voices of your instruments are so distinctive and inspiring... As a younger bouzouki player myself, so much of the way I play has been influenced by Adam Rhodes and his work in Barrule....

Once you get into the world of 5 and 6 courses, a lot of what you're looking for in an instrument depends on what you want to use it for. For about a year, I had a Martin 12 string that I had...

Yeah, I'm actually really pleasantly surprised by how playable it is - the only major setup work I had to do was slightly lower the saddle on mine. It has an undersaddle piezo that also sounds...

I'm currently awaiting the completion of a 26" scale bouzouki by Herb Taylor - and just saw a beautiful picture of its unfinished neck! It's ALIVE!! In order to fund this instrument, I had to sell my...

Excellent, Mike! Wonderful to hear.

What a lovely tone that waldzither's got to it! More and more I've been wanting to get my hands on an old Böem like that lately - I've worked through pretty much every one of those Irvine/Hanly...

Oh no! I do hope all turns out well... I'm reminded again of the seemingly all-too-common issue with communication...

It's certainly an idea... Usually, the "standard" scale length of a bass, ~30", is pretty prohibitive of fifths tunings (the stretches!!), but a 28" might make the concept workable. I haven't ever...

I'm not sure, and can't speak for ollaimh, but I imagine that he's talking about the older, smaller, Renaissance-style citterns, like this, perhaps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYPUgR2PjwE

Now my question is... Where do I find me a five string tenor banjo?

I recorded my first album this summer using a friend's TC bouzouki, which I strung with D'Addario unisons... I have to say that those TC/GT bouzoukis are, acoustically, just unimpressive to me. They...

Alec Finn really is the man. I've admired that specific transition many times. So smooth, and his timing on moving the capo really punches with the fiddle quite well.

Roger, do you have any experience with/opinions regarding the Glider rolling capos? A friend of mine who also plays bouzouki says he really enjoys being able to slide it up and down the neck quickly,...

The only explanation I come give for this quote is that it may perhaps be a very botched retelling of how Stefan Sobell redeveloped citterns... He took inspiration from those fado-style Portuguese...

Very true, but if I'm not mistaken, the "traditional music" that McManus is referencing is music from the 19th through the early 20th Century... The spirit of that music could be fairly said to be...

Tony McManus is such an artful player. One of the first albums I ever bought was the "Singing Sands" duo record with Alain Genty, and I still find it inspiring every time I listen. His approach to...

A PRS bouzouki? That's something I'd be very interested in seeing/hearing! Was he playing it fingerstyle, or with a plectrum?

Woohoo! My own instrument will hopefully be done around June, and I'm sure pictures will be quick to follow.

Certainly true, Colin! But I just don't see why it has to be one or the other so often; I've decided to go with Herb Taylor in Colorado, partly because the excellence of his work precedes him, but...

I agree.

Another point of interest: correspondence. Is it just me, or do a lot of luthiers just respond very lazily to emails? I've been sending a lot of inquiries to various makers, and many of them arm or...