Handmade Pre-war 3-String Bouzouki – Stathopoulos Type

If you are looking for a 3-string bouzouki with premium build quality and striking acoustics, this instrument is designed for you. Ideal for professional musicians seeking a traditional, yet high-energy sound.

Wood Selection & Construction

• • Bowl (Body): A combination of rosewood and maple to deliver the necessary sound clarity while strictly adhering to the pre-war specifications of the renowned luthier An. Stathopoulos.
  • Soundboard (Top): Premium aged spruce, offering exceptional resonance and the classic, “open” timbre characteristic of pre-war instruments.
    

The Stathopoulos Design Philosophy

• • A Brief Tribute to An. Stathopoulos
  • 1863: Anastasios Stathopoulos is born in Sparta. His father, Nikolaos Stathopoulos, was a timber merchant.
    1873: At just 10 years old, Anastasios builds his very first instrument (according to 1930s Epiphone catalogs).

    1877: The Stathopoulos family relocates to Smyrna, Asia Minor.

    1890: Anastasios Stathopoulos establishes a large musical instrument factory in Smyrna, manufacturing violins, mandolins, lutes (and quite possibly bouzoukis)

    1893: Epameinondas Stathopoulos is born to Anastasios and Marianthi, named after the ancient Greek General Epameinondas.

     

    1903: Amidst the persecution of Greeks by the Turks, Anastasios moves his family to New York. Along with Epameinondas, the family includes two more sons, Alex and Orphie, and a daughter, Alkmene. During the immigration process, the final “s” is dropped from their surname, meaning future labels on Anastasios’s instruments would read “A. Stathopoulo”. Two more children, a son named Frixo and a daughter named Elly, are later born in New York.

     

    1915: Anastasios Stathopoulos passes away, leaving Epameinondas (affectionately nicknamed “Epi”) at the helm of the business, with Orphie as second in command. From this point onward, a new, modernized enterprise begins—later renamed Epiphone—which would rise to worldwide fame as one of the largest musical instrument manufacturers in history.

Pre war style Trihordo bouzouki based on An. Stathopoulos bouzouki with a rosewood-maple bowl and very bright and sweet sound. Excellent playability with the following specs:

• Body: Rosewood – maple
• Top: Engelman spruce
• Pickguard: Rosewood and maple (on the top)
• Ebony fretboard with acrylic marks
• Tuners: Grover 1:18
• Neck: birch with carbon fibre neck rod
• Bowl staves: 17
• speaker size (body) : medium

Sound combination

Top A

Speaker A