This is a rare and beautiful Bouzouki built by my friend Antoni Stefanakis in Heraklion, Crete. This was built to be a copy of the Bouzouki played by the famous Vassilis Tsitsanis. To this end, the top is solid Canadian Red Cedar with Maple inlay, the bowl is staves of aged Mulberry wood, the wood of choice for most top-quality middle-eastern instruments. The top is bound in alternating blocks of Maple and Rosewood. The nut and bridge inset are bone. The tuning machines are chrome-plated German Schallers. The Fingerboard is African Ebony. The builder, Antoni Stefanakis, is one of Greece's best luthiers, building superb Bouzoukis, Baglamas, Tsouras, Lyras and Laoutos. This is his top of the line, professional Trichordo Bouzouki. It is the perfect Rebetika instrument. One of Stefanakis' quirks is that he likes to use regular 8-string tuning machine sets even on 6-string Bouzoukis. His feeling is that it gives the user two spare tuners should some break or otherwise fail. I have never had a Schaller tuning machine fail, be who knows? So, to be clear, in spite of the fact that it has 8 tuning machines, this is and always was, a 6-string (3-course) Bouzouki. The neck is straight, with just under 1mm of relief. The action is quite low, and it plays like a dream. There are no high-spots or buzzing when playing up and down the neck. In spite of its low action, when hit hard, this Bouzouki is LOUD! The feel of the neck is an almost a sexual experience. It is straight and smooth, very even up the neck with spectacular low action. The sound of this Bouzouki is TRULY exceptional. It is clear and sweet, shimmery and deep, detailed and punchy without being harsh. Volume-wise, it is LOUD when picked hard, but very responsive to a light touch as well. It sounds like my old Rebetika recordings, not like most of the modern recordings. It has an amazing punch to it when played staccato and hard. Another nice thing about this particular Bouzouki’s sound is that it is quite loud and full to the player’s ears, not only to the listeners’. Many Bouzoukis sound OK from the front, but the player hears a thin, quite tone. That is NOT the case here! The Bouzouki master Christos Govetas borrowed this instrument from me to record his CD "Pasatempo, Rebetika with Christos Govetas", and used a photo of this exact Bouzouki as the cover art of the CD.  As Christos is a much better player than I am, you can hear a track of him playing the opening to "Anastenazo Dhen M'Akous" by clicking here:  As for condition, the instrument is basically in mint, like new condition. Though I have had it and played it regularly for over 14 years, I have taken exceptionally good care of it. It comes with a nice, lined hard shell case. Scale Length: 26 3/8”, Overall Length: 39 1/2" (bottom of body to end of pegbox), Overall Width: 15 1/2", Overall Depth: 8", Nut Width: 1 11/16”, String Height Above Octave Fret: Low string 4/32”, High string 4/32”. TERMS, PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: Buyer pays selling price plus shipping and insurance. I typically ship with USPS or FedEx, though other arrangements can be made at the buyer's request. No fee is charged for packing or handling. I will gladly ship anywhere in the world, but beware, international shipping charges can be steep, and the buyer is responsible for all duties, taxes, VAT, brokerage and storage fees on their end. Please contact me with any questions.