Greek bouzouki

[micall5]

Anyone in here play or tried a Greek Bouzouki?
If so I'd like to hear if you have ever messed with the tuning. Gone from CFAD to irish GDAE GDAD (just for fun).
If so, does it hurt the instrument? Need different strings?
Its not going very well for me if I tune the instrument to GDAE with the strings I have. Either too loose or way to tight.

I have posted this on other websites (greek bouzouki sites) but I thought I would have more in common with people in here. Being a non Greek style mando player with a new Greek Bouzouki is a little hard to information for. Its like if someone came to Mando Cafe and asked if anyone ever tried to tune their mandolin to CFAD. People are helpful but I feel a bit wrong doing so.
Well.. thought I would give it a shot.
Thanks,
michael

[vkioulaphides]

Well, Michael... as you (may) know, the THREE-course Greek bouzouki is tuned DAD, so I see no reason why the upper three courses of a four-course bouzouki cannot be tuned that way, with a set of traditional, Greek DAD strings; for the (pitch-wise) bottom course, appropriate G-strings are readily available.

You must, however, first be clear on whether you wish to string this instrument with OCTAVE-courses or UNISON-courses... obviously, it makes a huge difference in terms of the strain you will be putting on the instrument. The stringing of a Greek bouzouki is VERY light, indeed. Beware of banana-shaped, irreparably warped bouzoukis!

Cheers,

Victor

[micall5]

You must, however, first be clear on whether you wish to string this instrument with OCTAVE-courses or UNISON-courses... obviously, it makes a huge difference in terms of the strain you will be putting on the instrument. The stringing of a Greek bouzouki is VERY light, indeed. Beware of banana-shaped, irreparably warped bouzoukis!

Cheers,

Victor
Thanks Victor,
My Bouzouki is very light and that is one thing I am worried about. I think I would want to keep the Octave courses, it gives it a more unique sound. But again, since it is a very greek bouzouki, I would want to keep it CFAD. I'd just like to try out GDAE to play it a bit. So what you are saying is to buy DAD strings and place any old G string on there?

Thanks again,
Michael

[vkioulaphides]

Yes, as a "probationary" solution, sure, why not? Do use, of course, a DAD set appropriate for a Greek bouzouki-- they are commercially available as such. For the bottom course --and since, mind you, you'll be replacing a C-course that the instrument is intended for-- any light, octave-G-course you can find should work out well.

Also, if being "very Greek" matters to you, I must confess that my own, personal preference IS for the traditional, pre-WWII, THREE-course instrument; the CFAD tuning is a much later phenomenon, and was developed in part as a "transplant" from guitar-technique, transposing the DGBE tuning of the upper four strings of the guitar down a whole-step.

Who made your bouzouki, Michael? I might be able to steer you in the right direction if I knew...

Cheers,

Victor

[zoukboy]

Michael,

You might consider figuring the string tension of your current string set for CFAD and then match those tensions for a GDAD set. Since the highest two courses will be the same you're really only talking about changing the C and F courses.

First, what is the scale length of your bouzouki (measure from bridge to nut)? It's probably around 26 1/2". Also, do you know what gauges are on the instrument for CFAD tuning? Once you know this you can figure the tension on the instrument in its normal tuning.

For instance, if you were using the standard D'Addario set for a 4 course (tetraxordo) Greek bouzouki, and your scale length was 26.5", then you'd have these tensions in CFAD tuning:

LEN 26.5"

D .010" PL == 13.9#
D .010" PL == 13.9#
A, .013" PL == 13.19#
A, .013" PL == 13.19#
F, .022" NW == 20.37#
F .010" PL == 19.66#
C, .028" NW == 18.26#
C .013" PL == 18.65#
TOTAL == 131.11#

So, for GDAD, you could try these gauges:

D .010" PL == 13.9#
D .010" PL == 13.9#
A, .013" PL == 13.19#
A, .013" PL == 13.19#
D, .024" PB == 18.33#
D .010" PL == 13.9#
G,, .035" PB == 17.72#
G, .017" PL == 17.89#
TOTAL == 122.01#

they'd have a little less tension than the CFAD set but they are probably a good place to start. If the .024 and .035 are too floppy then you could go slightly heavier on those.

BTW, these data come from this string tension calculator:
http://www.pacificsites.net/~dog/StringTensionApplet.html

If you decide to go with unison instead of octave pairs on the G and low D you can simply double the lower gauges like so:

LEN 26.5"

D .010" PL == 13.9#
D .010" PL == 13.9#
A, .013" PL == 13.19#
A, .013" PL == 13.19#
D, .024" PB == 18.33#
D, .024" PB == 18.33#
G,, .035" PB == 17.72#
G,, .035" PB == 17.72#
TOTAL == 126.27#

These will still have less tension than the CFAD set so it will be safe, but keep in mind that switching to unison pairs will require that you have a tech increase the size of the nut and bridge slots to accommodate those two larger strings.

Good luck!