I think it’s fair to say that Seánie has had many bouzoukis over the years and all of them really nice instruments from top makers. It’s also not wrong to say that Seánie has quite a rapid turnover of said bouzoukis! As was the case with an SBB he bought from John Ryan in Dublin a few years ago.
I made the instrument originally back in 2011 and it was the second bouzouki I had built for John, the first being an LBB a few years earlier. John decided to part company with the SBB which Seánie duly bought. I had the instrument back shortly after he bought it to give it a long overdue service and also to refinish the top. It wasn’t too long after I returned the instrument to Seánie before he decided to move it on to make way for something else. And it wasn’t too long after he sold it that he realised he really missed it.
Well, a couple of months ago Seánie got in touch to say that he was trying to get the instrument back and just before Christmas succeeded. He sent it over to me for a quick service and another refinish of the top and also to change the original ebony heel with a piece of sycamore. He also added some ebony buttons for the Gotoh machine heads to really personalise the instrument.
I think it’s fair to say that he’s delighted to have it back again. I think he’s going to hang onto it this time – but then again, who knows…?