Stiff Tuning Pegs

As mentioned in a previous post my bouzouki came with incredibly stiff tuning pegs. Since it was second hand I'm not sure whether this is how they always were or if they had deteriorated over time.
      Anyway, the remedy for this works a treat and only takes about 10 - 20 minutes. 

1) Remove the face-plate where the strings are attached at the bottom of the bouzouki by sliding it downward.

Face-plate slides to the left.

2)Remove strings by unwinding from the tuning pegs.

3) Apply roughly 5 drops of olive oil to each tuning peg and rotate them until the oil is spread evenly on the mechanism. More or less oil may be required.

Apply oil one drop at a time to the "cog".

4) Restring the bouzouki as it was before, ensure that the strings wrap around the cylinder at least twice but do not touch the wood at the side as this will cause extra friction. You can do this by cutting them down with wire cutters.

Hope this helps. Worked for me.

Buying a Bouzouki

Once you decide that you want to play the bouzouki you will need to aquire one.
My advice would be to wait at least a month before spending any cash. Your enthusiasm may wain and you might decide that you don't want to play after all.

When buying instruments I can't play yet I like to spend much less than I would pay once I know that I'm interested. You can pick up a second hand instruments for a lot less than it would cost new and often the only thing wrong with them is a few scratches.
     I bought my bouzouki (Blue moon BB-15) on eBay for £119. It's got a couple of scratches and the tuners were a bit stiff but  for a saving of £80 I'm not too bothered.
     My tip for buying on eBay is "wait it out". It will give you an opportunity to consider what you are buying and you will also gets much better value for money. Don't get caught in the heat of an auction and end up paying much more than you wanted to.

New bouzoukis start at around £140, the cheapest one you will find new is the Ozark 2222. I played this briefly in a music shop. It seams like a nice instrument and certainly not bad for the price. However, several reviews on the Internet have said that the tuners aren't very good. 
     The 2222 is available on amazon for £120 but i would suggest trying the instrument in a music shop first so that you know what you are getting for your money. 

I can't offer much help if you are going to buy an expensive bouzouki but make sure you talk to someone who knows their stuff before parting with a lot of cash. Music shops can be good but do bear in mind they have a vested interest in you spending lots of money.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to this blog about learning the Irish bouzouki.
I have started this blog because as far as I can tell the internet has very limited free material on how to approach the Irish bouzouki. 
As a beginner myself I cannot offer any master tips or tricks but I wish to document my learning process in the hope that it will help you.
I will attempt to post all the resources that I use and think will prove useful
Happy Bouzoukiing