freya - 9-11-2004 at 06:28 PM
I showed an in-process picture a while back. Here are some finished pictures. Major operations include:
Ebony Pegs
Ebony Fingerboard
Reduce soundboard by 1/32"
Strip body and apply French Polish (Qualasole actually)
I've got Nylguts on it (they're still stretching out so I can't post a sound file). I'd like to tune it to Arabic tuning but it
gets too floppy with the Turkish string set. It's too much trouble for Aquila to create a special set for Turkish Ouds tuned down a whole step -
I can understand this. I may get two sets of classical quitar strings and use the guitar D for the Oud D - pricey but I like high tension.
In any case, in Turkish tuning the sound is not half bad though probably not much different than the stock instrument. The ebony fingerboard is nice
but still needs a little shaping. I haven't worked with ebony much but I figure it would take a scary sharp shooter plane (and knowing how to use
it) to get the finger board profile just right.
Next project is taking a $50 Egyptian Ebay Oud and stripping it down. This time I'm going to use a pre-milled 1/16' mahogany piece ($4) for
a new fingerboard. It's a lot cheaper than spending $45 to have the ebony milled. If anyone knows of a source for milled 3/32" or 1/16"
ebony pieces suitable for fingerboards (at about $10 or so), I'd love to know about it. Front picture in this attachment - back in next.
Freya
Back
freya - 9-11-2004 at 06:29 PM
Here's the back
Dr. Oud - 9-11-2004 at 09:19 PM
Ebony can be sanded like any other wood, it just takes longer and more sandpaper. Mahogany is much too soft for a fingerboard and I think you'd
be changing it very soon. Why pinch pennies for so much work? Other materials that resist wear for less $ are epoxy-fiberglass sheet and phenolic
laminate. Ebony is getting so rare it will soon be gone I fear. I attended a lecture on building a Bass Violin, and the fingerboard blank was $900.
The entire material cost was just under $10,000!
Thanks Dr. Oud
freya - 9-12-2004 at 02:09 PM
I had my doubts about mahogany. Fortunately I had some 1/8" rosewood around that I took down to 1/16" and it looks and feels great.
I didn't know that ebony was becoming scarce - it's still relatively cheap - a "good" ebony guitar neck blank is only $14 at
international luthiers. I dislike the idea of using vanishing species if there are viable alternatives. I hope rosewood is not also becoming scarce.
Thanks for the advice,
Freya