Decoding A.Stathopoulos cataloq

The photographs 138 & 141 !


Page from A.Stathopoulos catalog, given by G.Tsoylogiannis

Having at my hands the photograph of the bouzouki 138, from A. Stathopoulos' catalog, (which kindly, the luthier and researcher Giannis Tsoulogiannis, also ceded from his private archive) , I'm more convinced that, the bouzouki 141, which I examine in an earlier post, may be a four course instrument.

In my previous analysis, (
Sunday, October 23, 2011), I overlooked some important details traced on the neck of the instrument 141, close to the bone and the headstock.

The new photograph of the bouzouki 141 (which
Giannis Tsoulogiannis sent me couple of days ago, along with the photograph of the bouzouki 138), reveals a dull, 4th trace of string on the instrument's neck close to the headstock. This trace corresponds (matches) perfectly as an extension, to the small trace of a 4th cut on the bone of the bridge, which I had discovered at my last analysis.

Three almost equal internal segments(spaces) appear between 4 traces of strings
.(with longer length, the one created between the second and third trace of strings).

From the other hand, the bouzouki 138, can
be easily identified as a three-course instrument, since sharp traces of the 1st and 2nd string are present, and the distances between the strings are much longer (wider) than the ones from the bouzouki 141.

It is noteworthy, to mention that, the bouzouki 138 seems to have 3 single strings and not 3 pairs of strings.

Resizing the photograph of the bouzouki 138, such as, the distances between its tuning machines, to coincide with the distances of the tuning machines from the bouzouki 141, and by digitally placing the bouzouki 138 over the 141, someone can easily distinguish that the thickness of the neck from the 141 is slightly wider than the one of 138. Finally the headstock from the 138 seems to be a little bigger than the one from 141, and the bowl of 141 a little wider than the one of 138.

As I wrote in my previous post, this analysis is just a hypothesis, created by traces of some evidence , found by digital analysis from a blurry photocopy of A.Stathopoulo's catalog page, which kindly, the luthier Giannis Tsoulogianis, granted from his private collection.

Bouzouki 141 at the left , and 138 at the right

Resizing bouzouki 138

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