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I have been building musical instruments for nearly 30 years, and have been a consultant to the National Museum of Australia, Sydney's Powerhouse Museum and the NSW Conservatorium of Music, as well as a C.F. Martin warranty repairer. My instruments are played by some of the finest musicians in Australia and other parts of the world. While I build just about any stringed instrument, I specialize in Irish bouzoukis, mandolins and related instruments. Bouzoukis come in three body styles, the type 1 , type 2 and type 3 and mandolins are available in an A model, a 2-point and an F style. I use Australian timber as well as traditional European and American woods, selected to both appearance and tonal quality. The aesthetic mix of timbers in an instrument is an important part of the individual design and construction process. There is is a page with general information about Irish bouzoukis and citterns and pages with information on the various styles of instruments can be found through the menu at the top. When not building mandolins I have written about music for The Canberra Times from 1993 until 2009, writing feature articles on music and reviewing CDs and live concerts of all styles of music. I have also been broadcasting on community radio since 1976 and currently present a fortnightly program on Canberra station ArtSoundFM playing lots of strange and wonderful music from all parts of the world. |
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Donal Lunny with his type 3 flat-top bouzouki on stage with Mozaik at the Australian National Folk Festival, Canberra, March 2002. That really was a great band, with Andy Irvine, Donal, Rens van der Zalm, Nikola Parov and Bruce Molsky. Photo taken and kindly allowed to be used by Les Whittet |
For more information, you can For more information on bouzoukis or citterns, Han's Bouzouki Page has a wealth of information. My links page has links to the web sites of a number of Australian instrument makers and there is an article on bouzoukis written for the Guild of American Luthiers quarterly journal, American Lutherie. Here is an online string tension calculator. In addition there are instructions for calculating string tensions or required gauges for differing scale lengths and tunings. It is a.pdf file and you will need a calculaor or perhaps a slide rule. |
