One of the instrument’s most striking features is its rounded bowl, constructed from 60 individual strips of wood known as ribs. As wood cannot simply be bent into the bouzouki’s deep, circular shape, each rib must be carefully formed and precisely joined to the next—a demanding piece of craftsmanship that is also part of the instrument’s visual beauty.

Bouzouki bowls are traditionally made from walnut, although makers also use woods such as rosewood and maple. Petros’s instrument has a Swiss pine soundboard and an ebony fingerboard, together with the elaborate decorative inlays so closely associated with the Greek bouzouki.

Babis Kleftogiannis was a highly regarded bouzouki maker working in Athens. His influence can also be seen in the work of Tasos Katsifis, who began learning the craft alongside him in 1981, constructing, repairing and maintaining traditional stringed instruments. Katsifis later continued the work of the workshop following Kleftogiannis’s retirement.

Petros has now owned this bouzouki for 41 years. It underwent a major refurbishment in 2007, which explains why it still looks so remarkably new despite its age.

This is not Petros’s only Kleftogiannis instrument. He also owns another bouzouki made by the same maker in 1983, which was refurbished in the late 1990s. Together, they represent more than four decades of Petros’s musical life and preserve the craftsmanship of an important figure in the Athenian bouzouki-making tradition.

For those interested in the history of the workshop, you can read more about Tasos Katsifis and his apprenticeship under Babis Kleftogiannis here.