Custom Electric Bouzoukis
All the Sparkle with Added Stability
A modern approach that understands the instrument’s tradition.
Possum Hall Instruments offers a variety of options in designing a unique electric bouzouki. The punchline to a few musician jokes, the bouzouki is a notoriously challenging instrument to keep in tune and rather sensitive to humidity and temperature changes.
Our hybrid electric design adds some new elements to the bouzouki concept:
- Piezo and magnet pickup combinations
- Increased neck stability with the use of carbon fiber rods and an adjustable truss rod
- Semi-hollow design allows for the use of decorative top woods
- Custom/non-traditional body shapes
Utilizing either a top-quality bridge piezo pickup or custom design magnetic pickups, these instruments can be amplified very easily on the live stage without any issues of feedback or mic placement.
The use of an outboard preamp or IR (impulse response) technology is recommended for ALL instruments with piezo systems that do not have onboard tonal shaping.
Body Construction
Semi-Hollow Body
A wide choice of body, neck, and top woods can be combined for a unique sound and look. For the traditionalist looking for the most familiar, a light semi-hollow body electric bouzouki will produce the most similar tone to its acoustic cousin, as well as allow an easier approach to standing while playing the instrument.
Available in carve-top or flat-top.
Solid Body
Just as the electric guitar is to the acoustic guitar, a solid body option is a bold design for an electric bouzouki. More mass means more sustain and body to the tone, making this the L’Paul of the rebetiko world. Body shape can be anything you can imagine.
Neck
Set-Neck vs Bolt-On
This is an option available that a traditional round-back bouzouki cannot provide. Given the semi-hollow and solid body design, a bolt-on neck provides a few advantages, mostly in the convenience department (shipping/sending, travel, repair), and no substantive drawbacks.
Top Woods
From subtle to scene-stealer, we can make your instrument truly unique.
Just as the electric guitar moved the music world forward, so may the electric bouzouki!
A fully acoustic instrument requires a thin top, bracing, and particular species of woods to achieve their sound. They must be ultra-lightweight to be effective and project their sound. This makes the instrument delicate and notoriously temperamental to humidity and temperature changes.
With an electric approach, we can rethink the needs of the instrument, in regards to issues of weight and rigidity. The top can be thicker, and the overall design can provide more stability during atmospheric swings (especially when traveling). This opens up a wide variety of decorative top woods that would not be suitable in a traditional acoustic design.
Tuning and Scale Length
"Bouzouki" can mean many things.
Bouzoukis come in a number of shapes, sizes, tunings and number of strings. Bowl back? Round back? “Guitar down a whole step” vs. “fifths all the way” – these topics are of heated debate amongst ‘zoukers.
But here at Possum Hall, we all get along.
Whether you want to tune Greek, Irish, fourths, fifths, 3, 4, or 5 courses, we can accommodate.