troubadour bouzouki

Birl · Post by **Birl** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 2:59 pm

Hello !

has anyone ever seen or heard or owned a troubadour bouzouki ?
what would you say, about this instrument, to a beginner that already plays guitar ?

Thank you

Birl

s1m0n · Post by **s1m0n** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 3:11 pm

Birl wrote:Hello !

does anyone ever seen or heard or owned a troubadour bouzouki ?
what would you say, about this instrument, to a beginner that already plays guitar ?

Thank you

Birl :wink:

The man behind the troubador is a member of cittern-l, and although I have never seen one of his instruments, I know of nothing bad about his ethics or the instruments' quality for the price.

The instruments are made in Romania (or nearby-I forget) These can have varying quality, but unlike some sources, David screens out the duds, saving them for scrap or parts.

The worst thing I know of about these instruments is that the tuners won't be the kind of machine-heads you'd get on a luthier-made instruments. You are, after all, getting the entire instrument for about the cost of a set of schallers.

David will do a good setup on it before it leaves his shop, so everything else will be in good nick, afaik.

Birl · Post by **Birl** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:19 am

thank you s1mOn

those bouzouki seems to be good for the price (I heard a sound sample, and it sounds quite nicely)
the tuners can be change easily if there is a problem

if someone else have any informations about those bouzouki, please, tell me

Birl

SteveK · Post by **SteveK** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:55 am

I don't have any new information that S1m0n didn't mention but I've heard the same thing about them. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if I wanted an inexpensive bouzouki. I've heard the sound samples too and think they sound pretty good.

livethe question · Post by **livethe question** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 9:18 pm

I don't have a Troubadour bouzouki but I do have a Troubadour mandola and I can vouch for the quality. IMHO, they are excellent value for the money and I like mine better than a Johnson I played. The Johnson was more visually appealing but I was after sound. The Troubadour mandola has the same "box" as the bouzouki which gives it a deep resonate sound.

I bought mine to see if I really wanted to go with the mandola and I was hooked from the first 15 minutes.

BTW, my Troubadour is for sale ($150 +shipping, contact me off forum)....I picked up a Mid-Missouri mandola which I like much better. Of course it cost about four times what the Troubadour did.

I've got to imagine that the Troubadour bouzouki will be of similar quality to my Troubadour mandola.

take care

jim

mickr · Post by **mickr** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 1:52 pm

I have a troubador cittern guitar. David's customer service is most excellent. I use my troubador both at sessions and at gigs. It doesn't get quite as much playing time as my Avalon, but that's mainly just because it's not as loud. I purchased a shotgun case that I modified to fit the Cittern Guitar so I could check it when flying. Works great so far. Two flights and not a scratch.

Whe I got the Troubador, I had my local guitar tech do another set up on it and had him install a martin pickup as well. I do plan on replacing the machine heads eventually, because they don't match the quality of the rest of the instrument. That's a job I feel good about doing myself.

All in all, this was a really good instrument right out of the box, especially considering the price. With a little extra love it has become one of my favorite instuments.

I plan on buying the bouzouki from troubador this year.

-mick

www.myspace.com/antriur

maracirac · Post by **maracirac** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 2:19 pm

i have that bouzouki, but under right name hora. check their www address: www.hora.ro
i play flute and bought that zouk because it was cheap, but i am very satisfied with sound from it.
marin

halfimpressive · Post by **halfimpressive** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 10:25 am

I really dislike mine. I bought it off of a friend for 100 bucks and I'm bummed out that I ever did. The intonation is totally off, so every time I capo it I have to retune... I'll let you guess how happy that makes me during live performances. If i'm playing in D and want to play on the seventh fret, you better forget it because it gets super-flat as you go up... by the 7th Fret!!!!! I wouldn't buy one. If you want something cheap then i'd go with a Trinity College. They have a nice sound, vastly superior to the troubador and you get about what you pay for. I will be burning my troubador as soon as I can get another bouzouki. In fact, I hate my troubador so much, that every time I play it, my price range for my new bouzouki goes up. I initially only wanted to spend 700 on a new instrument but I want to be as far away from that thing as possible and so my range is around 2000.

If you get it and like to play bouzouki, you'll have to buy another one really soon or you'll freak out from being in tuning hell and the intonation desert. Be warned. But if you want some expensive firewood, it's probably ok then.

cheers,

John

SteveK · Post by **SteveK** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 6:16 am

John,

Have you checked your bridge placement? If it's not correct it might cause your capoing problems.

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