Mike's Oud Forums

restoring Armenian oud

aasuits - 2-6-2013 at 07:51 PM

I just got this , and felt that in spite of its devastation it would be a worthwhile fix and a very intriguing study piece.The back's basically fine ,top was split,neck/pegbox broken off. the neck's a fairly clean break and should go together OK.
The back is sheesham, Indian rosewood, neck core is spruce or fine grained pine with sheesham strips. The top is the widest grained soft pine I've ever seen for an oud top! I've seen so many ouds, obviously well made with great tone, made out of what Western luthiers would consider awful wood- wavy grain, wide lines, and up to 6 pieces joined. so I am interested to see what this soundboard does.I have heard oudmakers often prefer much softer wood than that used for guitars/lutes, where stiff-as-glass is the preferred stuff.
As usual there were horrible amateur repairs- the big shamsa was glued in with some kinda rock hard synthetic and a piece of plywood on the back to reinforce it. I managed to excavate the shamsa without any further damage to the top. The shamsas were old ivory grain celluloid and very brittle so I had to wreck them getting them loose. I did take pix and will document everything I'm doing as well as preserve all the parts and pieces.
There is an original label and a photograph glued inside. A later repair label, done in Ashrafiya Beirut in 1936, notes the face replaced. The maker's name is "Garsis(?) Awadikian" and I've been unable to find any bio on him. The 2nd repair label was glued over the bottom of the original so if there was any data there, it's not obtainable now! hellfire.how helpful.
Many thanks to Rahim Alhaj and his marvelous wife Nada Kherbik for help in deciphering the Arabic.
The inside top has an inscription in Greek cursive (?) and Roman script. help, anybody?
The bracing is unlike any I've ever seen. All about the same height and cut at a single angle on one side to a knife edge at top. All are cut on the same downwards angle except the lowest, under the bridge, is opposite- see pix. I had a quick discussion with Simon Shaheen about the orientation of grain in the braces- these are parallel to the face- and he said it makes absolutely no difference, either perpendicular grain or parallel will work fine. I'm not going to dispute a very experienced expert like him, so I'll consider this a priceless bit of lutherie info that otherwise would have taken years to determine.Thanks Simon!!!
Happily the neck/bowl joint seems solid, the old dowel through block. The block lost a lot of meat in whatever damaged the oud. I'm using Japanese mulberry paper to re-do the brittle and crumbling newsprint type(?)lining strips and did a crescent shaped piece just beneath the block. This is the best paper I've found for any sort of linings, it doesn't buckle and curl like the vegetable parchment I'd used previously.
I'm using Lee Valley liquid fish glue for all the work. Dan Hachez, a master luthier, turned me on to this years ago and it is truly a godsend glue. Franklin liquid hide glue is considered taboo for luthereie but the Lee Valley stuff is superb.
All in all this promises to be a very instructive fixit. The oud was played to death, no doubt lovingly, there are gouges in the face where the reesha went entirely through it. As usual the pickguard is virtually useless as it was too low to effectively protect the face. why is this such a common idiosyncracy of ouds I'll never figure out.
I'm going to redo the braces carefully matching what's there, the glue's so old it's totally brittle. My guess is this oud was rescued from an attic or basement. The face had numerous splits which I've cleated and may shim. Ordinarily such a mess would suggest replacing the whole face but I want to see how much I can bring this sweetie back from the dead... it is a 77 year old piece of tonewood after all.
I'll replace the fingerboard after I glue the neck back together. The core section that joins to the pegbox is very thin so it is better to have that established and then remove the fingerboard to replace it.
I'm bushing all the pegholes, the originals were way enlarged. The pegs were stained maple violin pegs of European make. I'll redo all the pegs with smaller shafts- better tuning. I'm a confirmed rosewood peg guy, it's all I use if possible.
I'll post pix in the next upload.

jdowning - 2-7-2013 at 07:51 AM

For information there is a discussion about cross grain direction in braces here.

http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=12835#pid88...

Note that while cross grain direction makes no difference acoustically, longitudinal grain run out does (as well as being structurally weaker).

Also a discussion about multiple piece sound boards can be found here

http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=12601#pid88...

Good luck with your restoration work - particularly if you are planning to use liquid fish glue rather than traditional hot hide glue for structural repairs.

pix and label, old Armenian oud

aasuits - 2-7-2013 at 09:49 AM



ok here goes, a lot of pix of the patient as it arrived in ER.any help with the Greek label, much appreciated.
I wouldn't be hidebound about use of hot hide glue. The Lee Valley fish glue behaves exactly as hot glue does, it's just way easier to use. I've used it for 10 years with no issues at all, and my luthier pal who turned me on to it sells his string basses in 5 figures. He wouldn't use the fish glue if he didn't stand behind it.


[file]25758[/file] [file]25760[/file] [file]25762[/file] [file]25764[/file]

more pix, Armenian oud

aasuits - 2-7-2013 at 09:55 AM


pix.

[file]25772[/file] [file]25770[/file] [file]25774[/file] [file]25776[/file]

more pix again

aasuits - 2-7-2013 at 09:56 AM

and more pix.

[file]25778[/file] [file]25780[/file] [file]25782[/file] [file]25784[/file]

Name

spyrosc - 2-7-2013 at 02:46 PM

I think the name is Qarbis (or Garbis) not Garsis

Spyros C.

David Parfitt - 2-7-2013 at 02:51 PM

I'm no expert, but the top text looks like it might be written in Armenian script?

spyrosc - 2-7-2013 at 02:51 PM

The writing is not Greek, it's Armenian with some Arabic.

The oud is dated 1926 (or depending on the handwriting 1936).

Spyros C.

David Parfitt - 2-7-2013 at 02:53 PM

Here is another Garbis Awadikian oud:

http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=10627

Jonathan Varjabedian does not seem to have this maker listed on his page though:

http://varjouds.com/armenian_oud.htm

David

aasuits - 2-7-2013 at 05:52 PM

thanks David for those references! foolishly I didn't think there'd be other notes on this maker here ( and if not then where).The other labeled one referenced is a very different shape-mine is a fatter, Syrian/Turkish shape if I may describe it thus. And yes, there's obviously Armenian,Arabic and Roman inscriptions, but the more "cursive" at the bottom repair label and inside the soundboard looks Greek- take another look and let me know what you think.thanks for your take though Spyros.
The repair label is pretty certainly 1936 in Arabic numbers. I'd love to know if there may have been a date on the original, upper label. Very dismaying that the repair label noting the replaced face is glued right over the bottom 1/3 of the original- dammit.
I have not been brave enough to build an oud with the cut-through soundboard edge .the 3 ouds I've made all have half-binding where the edge strip is inlaid into 1/2 the thickness of the face. so since I'm redoing the original soundboard I'm hoping this will tell me a good bit about how that counter-intuitive oud construction detail works. It just seems crazy to make that much of the top weaker all along the edge joint, but many generations of oud makers have done it so. onwards-

aasuits - 2-7-2013 at 05:56 PM

the bridge is very small- the ledge at the top is as narrow as any I've seen. it's bored for 5 double courses but there are 11 pegs so I'm going to plug/rebore holes for 6 courses.,with a single bamm-bass.

David Parfitt - 2-7-2013 at 11:56 PM

Quote: Originally posted by aasuits  
And yes, there's obviously Armenian,Arabic and Roman inscriptions, but the more "cursive" at the bottom repair label and inside the soundboard looks Greek- take another look and let me know what you think.


Do you mean the part that I've circled in red below? That looks like Armenian to me...

All the best

David

hartun - 2-8-2013 at 01:17 AM

The printed writing directly below the photo reads in Armenian,

"Garbis Avedikian, Beirut"

the cursive writing on the back side of the face reads

"Partamios Apart...."

which you can also read in roman letters "partamios". the end of the second word is written in jumbled Armenian letters which is a style of writing used among craftsmen, i can't make it out. It could be Partamios Apartian although thats not a last name i've ever heard of. Im guessing Partamios did some work on an original Avedikian (Awadikian) oud. By the way mentioned in David's link was that Awad in a last name means oud maker. This is a coincidence or perhaps a pun, because Awadikian is just the arabic rendering of Avedikian which is a common last name meaning good news or gospel.

the cursive writing at the bottom of the original label (which david circled in red) also reads
"Partamios Apa..."

Partam is a very rare Armenian name. I've never heard of Partamios so I don't know if Partamios is a form used in Armenian or perhaps this was an Armenian from Greece. I can find out.

My credentials: I am Armenian American and can read write and sort of speak the language

jdowning - 2-8-2013 at 05:44 AM

The sound board now has a 'cut through' edge but did it originally have this feature rather than a half binding? You say that 'many generations of oud makers' have employed cut through edge binding - but what is the evidence for that rather than being a relatively modern practice? Of course, you now have no choice but to go with a full depth binding.

My old (early 20th C?) Egyptian oud has half binding but little now remains - just a few fragments - due to repeated past repairs that have thinned and damaged the edge of the sound board. My only alternative, if I am to restore the instrument with its original sound board, is to go with a full depth binding. I suspect that this situation may apply to those old surviving ouds that now have full depth binding.

As the repair label is of lesser importance than the original you might consider removing it by moistening the paper and applying some local heat to soften the (hide?) glue. With a bit of care it might be possible to remove the label relatively intact with little damage to the original.
A 'non invasive' possibility might be to examine the label under ultra violet light to help reveal what is on the original label. I have not tried this method but I believe that UV light is used to detect banknote forgeries so the necessary equipment may be available at your local bank or jewellers (if they will allow you access)?

You currently have four threads 'on the go' for this one topic. It would be easier to follow if all three additional threads (the images) were brought together under this one thread. Not sure how that might now be done but perhaps Greg could assist?

hartun - 2-8-2013 at 07:46 AM

well, should have searched google first! apparently apartian is a real armenian last name and not only that but there was a guitar maker by that name (in greece it seems?):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-fwXqDnpT0

partamios wasnt found in the master armenian name dictionary, but there is the name partam and perhaps partamios is a greek form of this. and also partamios could be slang for partoughimeos (bartholomew).

so, it seems this Garbis Avedikian (Awadikian) oud made in Beirut was restored or worked on at some point by another armenian luthier named Partamios Apartian, who also does not show up in the varjabedian oud website.

harry

jdowning - 2-8-2013 at 08:12 AM

At the other end of the light spectrum there is Infra Red. This may be a more promising way to try to read what is under the repair label. Using a zero lux (no light) night vision camera (such as a Sony DCR DVD200) fitted with an Infra Red pass filter it is possible to read print through a brown paper envelope.

Don't have a night vision camera? There are a number of tutorials on YouTube on how to easily convert cheap (or expensive) digital cameras to night vision. As the IR technique may (or may not) be useful for others as an aid in reading obscure text on instrument labels, I plan to run some trials to see what might be achieved and will report back as a future separate topic.

reminore - 2-8-2013 at 04:08 PM

for what its worth, an armenian friend translates the inscription as bardamios apartan - you can make this out in the latin script below...

coincidentally, there was a luthier in greece making guitars in the 40's -50's named 'apartian'...

aasuits - 2-9-2013 at 07:40 PM

I've re-bushed all the pegholes with hard maple. They are bored out with the same taper of the 1:30 peg reamer that I'll use for the pegs. I'm re-tiling the edges of the pegbox that had missing bit. After I got it together and trimmed back the maple plugs I used a litle shellav, just the darkest button shellac I usually use, dissolved in Everclear. It matched very well on the tiles and was dark enough on the maple to look nice. I wasn't going for making the bushings invisible.I used viola pegs and got the shafts at a point where they are narrow but solid enough to be plenty strong. The original pegs ( or at least what was on this oud for quite some time) you can see were actually squashed/compressed from the pegbox- not good!
I cut half-round splints and glued them in where the reesha had dug gouges in the very soft soundboard. There were a total of 9 by the time I filled all of them, with some scraps of the softest widest grain pine I had in the scrap pile . These will be under the mizraplik I'll glue on, I have some nice burly walnut veneer for this. It will extend much higher under the large shamsa where the reesha action was.

[file]25790[/file] [file]25792[/file] [file]25794[/file] [file]25796[/file] [file]25798[/file] [file]25800[/file] [file]25802[/file]

aasuits - 2-9-2013 at 07:57 PM

here's the stained maple pegs with compressed shafts.I've made more pegs and fitted even more than I want to recall and rosewood is hands down the best stuff I've used. It has the right combination of hardness , takes a fine finish, and the resins seem to have the just-right effect of stickiness and slipperiness. Ebony has a lot of natural silica in it and will abrade pegholes more than many other choices. This may very well be an inside job perpetrated by violin makers who are thereby assured of plenty of repeat fixes. don't scoff, violin makers have suggested this to me.
I have used African blackwood for pegs which is hard as iron, a beeyotch to turn, but absolutely beautiful and excellent for pegs . It is a rosewood specie,dalbergia melanoxylon and is maybe the finest of all the rosewoods for pegs. I just don't use it so much because it is probably 3 times harder to work with than other rosewoods, but the super dark brown and black with dark gold highlights is luscious. it is superb for fingerboards also- and quite expensive- so I reserve it for just some special applications.



[file]25808[/file]

aasuits - 2-14-2013 at 01:24 PM

I had a large shamsa that miraculously fits! I'm making 2 small ones. I use a Finnish birch plywood that I sand down on both faces to get it to an optimal thickness- not too weak and not too heavy.I had a Delta scroll saw that I found was way too much machine for shamsas, sold it immediately. Just a jeweler's saw and my eyes are much easier, faster and more controllable for me.
and a bonus, this is a magnificent South Indian Saraswati Veena I'm working on simultaneously- you don't want to do the fret job on one of these.

[file]25826[/file] [file]25828[/file] [file]25830[/file] [file]25832[/file] [file]25834[/file]

ALAMI - 2-15-2013 at 05:10 AM

From the Arabic script, it appears that the name of the guy who repaired the face is:
First Name: Tanyos (common Lebanese name) or Tatyos (armenian Name)
Last Name: Apartan or Apartian.
The year is most probably 1936 and not 26

the Garabis Awadikian Label is similar to the Awadikian (Avadikian) I have. It is very common among Lebanese Armenians to change the "V" that does not exist in Arabic Alphabet to "W", the very common Armenian name Vartan is pronounced in Lebanon Wartan.

shamseen and some braces in

aasuits - 2-17-2013 at 05:48 PM

glued in the shamsas. I used a piece of acrylic sheet under the weights to distribute the pressure better over the slightly uneven table.
I glued in a few braces to help flatten out the soundboard too. After the braces and shamseen were in the table was feeling much more solid and is giving a nice ring when tapped.

[file]25876[/file]

[file]25906[/file]

shamseen

aasuits - 2-17-2013 at 06:05 PM

shamseen under weights

[file]25908[/file]

Nondas - 2-17-2013 at 08:55 PM

I was the other bidder, but I wasn't fast enough, glad to see that it is being restored, hope you enjoy it. What did happen to the old mpastas (pickguard)?

aasuits - 2-18-2013 at 06:27 AM

I'm preserving all the pieces. The original pickguard is some kind of plastic imitation tortoise, and it was very crudely made and useless to protect the table- all the reesha strokes were just above the top edge!

onwards

aasuits - 2-21-2013 at 06:39 PM

getting all the last braces in. after all were in, the soundboards has a nice ring.I'm contemplating whether to take down the brace just beneath the big shamsa to about 3-4 mm in height, as seen on a Manol brace pattern , or just copy the braces as they were.

[file]25982[/file]

aasuits - 2-21-2013 at 06:52 PM

so here it is with all braces, and a label detailing what I have done for restoring this orphaned oud.
I was trying a bunch of different scraps for the edge binding. Walnut,maple and cherry all cracked when I tried to bend them, but some yew worked very nicely. This was one of the more time consuming parts of this job as the bindings need to be very close fits. You don't want to spring/force them when you glue them on.The edge of the soundboard is not quite smooth or regular as a result of being busted up but the binding must be as close as possible. a few areas where there's just a little too much gap- maybe .5- .75 mm- will have glue in them but I'm going to put in a very thin paper reinforcement just at the inside edge of the lining. so I'm going to glue the edge binding before glueing/taping the top. It's crucial that the binding is close to the edge of the bowl- too much overhang can distort when you start taping down/ glueing the table.
My pal Rick "Uti" Hunter dropped by yesterday with his wonderful old Nahat oud, which was much more bashed up over the years than this Awadikian. The top had been badly abused and the back had been bashed in several places. But, the sound of this oud is glorious-proof that what might look beyond rescue, is rescue-able.
I took some measurements off his nut and bridge and I should be able to adapt the Awadikian oud to 11 strings without too much squeezing of the layout.

[file]25984[/file]

pic

aasuits - 2-21-2013 at 06:59 PM



[file]25986[/file]

piq

aasuits - 2-21-2013 at 07:02 PM

piq

aasuits - 2-21-2013 at 07:04 PM

edge binding

aasuits - 2-22-2013 at 05:57 PM

I installed the yew edge binding strip.After glueing it up as tight as I could manage I glued in some thin Japanese paper reinforcements on the join between the edge of the table and the binding- on the inside.
The top is fitting nicely , I used masking tape markers around the bowl to show where the ends of the braces are- these points need to be especially noted when glueing the top to the bowl.
I hope to have this oud strung by the end of next week.yeehaw.

top fitted

aasuits - 2-22-2013 at 05:58 PM

it's beginning to look like an oud again.

Ararat66 - 2-23-2013 at 03:03 PM

... and sound like one soon ...

:airguitar:

Leon

aasuits - 2-23-2013 at 06:08 PM

glued on the neck/pegbox. hopefully Monday will get the old fingerboard off by heating. if that doesn't work, just chisels and scrapers until I can get the new one fitted. I've got a snakewood and rosewood fingerboard I'd made a while ago and it may also miraculously fit, like the big shamsa. Snakewood is fantastic stuff, way harder than ebony, and perfect for fingerboards. Expensive as hell though, about the costliest wood I've ever used. A lot of wastage when you start cutting up logs- probably better to just buy trimmed pieces.I'll have to make a new beard too. perhaps the god of oud-rescue wanted this oud to come back to life...

[file]26022[/file] [file]26024[/file]

aasuits - 2-24-2013 at 07:14 AM

removed the old fingerboard. There was a trough down the treble side, worn down from years of playing. Based on the wear , someone must have really loved this oud and played it quite a lot.
The old fingerboard came off pretty easily- the glue was so dried out and brittle it gave way without much fight. The neck core is very fine grained spruce or pine and was built up on the edges of the neck with additional pieces.There was a chuck missing on the edge of the neck. I had a busted Indian rosewood peg which cut up fine for a replacement bit.
I have some new Japanese milled-tooth files that are rapidly becoming some of my favorite tools. They cut aggressively but are easy to control and made rapid work of flattening out the top of the neck for the new fingerboard. from lee Valley, where else.
The reglued joint at neck and pegbox is solid. Once the fingerboard is glued on, just that little part at the nut end of the neck reinforces and stiffens the neck quite a lot.The original walnut fingerboard was not very hard stuff and a much harder wood will be a good fix.

[file]26050[/file]

aasuits - 2-25-2013 at 09:40 AM

Chiseled out the beard, and cut down the fingerboard. It was a slightly different appearing taper with the stringers so I redid it to have a nice taper in balance with the shape of the neck.

strung up!

aasuits - 2-26-2013 at 05:45 PM

Took the clamps off this AM and worked on the fingerboard. There was a buzz but after using the Japanese milled tooth file and checking with an engineer's square got it super flat.Took down the nut a bit so the strings just clear at the end of the fingerboard. These Japanese files are a godsend. even using good sharp files of various kinds, fine tuning the slant on a fingerboard has taken me more than a day's work in the past, I did it in less than 2 hours with the milled tooth file. It was so smooth I just rubbed it with fine steel wool after the shaping was done.
While working on the Surinam snakewood fingerboard, the grain came out in a spectacular way. it was OK when I started but snakewood is weird stuff and if you get it cut at just the right angle you reveal a wonderful grain that really looks like serpent pattern.I was delighted that with so little taken off it worked . I was very anxious to see how this oud would sound and put some super cheapo Alice oud strings on it. it was promising but the strings seemed a little flabby. I found a set of Mari strings, got those on and the sound was wonderful. I'll try to get something together with a passable sound recording and share what happened.
It's basically done, I'll touch up the edges of the bowl and pegbox with a little french polish. I'll take the strings off again and oil the fingerboard- I use walnut oil with a drop or 2 of lavender oil in it that I warm up on the stove and rub on. I let it sit for 1/2 an hour and then rub it off and shine it with a soft cotton cloth- the shine is lovely.
This was a hugely instructive restoration for me.The braces were unique and work beautifully- I'll leave it up to fellow oud enthusiasts to see what they think of the sound.I was very surprised and happy that the soundboard, which looked like such a disaster, went back together so nicely and the sound really honks.
If anyone has any sound clips of other Awadikian ouds, I'd love to hear any.

piq

aasuits - 2-26-2013 at 05:46 PM

mo' pix

[file]26092[/file] [file]26094[/file]

piq

aasuits - 2-26-2013 at 05:48 PM

piq

freya - 2-26-2013 at 07:05 PM

Hi,

I'd be interested to know which milled tooth files you used on the fingerboard. Any from Lee Valley perhaps that you would suggest when starting with good flat stock?

E.g. http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=63451&cat=1,42524

Fine, xfine, or medium?

Thanks.

files

aasuits - 2-27-2013 at 10:43 AM

8" fine was best.

BaniYazid - 3-3-2013 at 08:49 AM

congratulations, thank you for sharing your work.

Edward Powell - 3-3-2013 at 09:55 AM

Quote: Originally posted by aasuits  


ok here goes, a lot of pix of the patient as it arrived in ER.any help with the Greek label, much appreciated.
I wouldn't be hidebound about use of hot hide glue. The Lee Valley fish glue behaves exactly as hot glue does, it's just way easier to use. I've used it for 10 years with no issues at all, and my luthier pal who turned me on to it sells his string basses in 5 figures. He wouldn't use the fish glue if he didn't stand behind it.




holy smokes i never saw such wide grained wood in my life! Is that spruce?

me neither!

aasuits - 3-3-2013 at 04:26 PM

hello Edward- yes, I never saw such wide grain on a soundboard either. I think it's just pine, seems pretty soft. I have to get a decent recording of a good player on this oud- I think the sound is wonderful.
I was very intrigued about this wide grain and what sort of soundboard/ tone it could possibly produce, so I was quite amazed when I got it reassembled. All the cleats- I think I counted 12 splits in the soundboard of varying degrees of severity-didn't seem to impair the sound production of this soundboard.all in all it was a very revelatory illustration of braces + soundboard= tone.

Edward Powell - 3-3-2013 at 04:34 PM

great job! I don't think how wide the grain is has any effect on strength or tone... I think it is just cosmetic. Same goes for mulit-piece soundboards.

yup

aasuits - 3-3-2013 at 07:42 PM

I am pretty convinced of that, about grain in soundboards, now. also multiple pieces. it would be most illuminating to try to make a simple analysis of a bunch of vintage ouds in the various traditions of building and try to compare grain and multiple-pieced soundboards and see what we could conclude.
the open-edged soundboard- with just the narrow binding helping to hold it to the bowl-also is really intriguing.

Edward Powell - 3-4-2013 at 01:12 AM

to be honest this is something I never figured out... how most ouds' soundboards do not even come to the edge... the only thing connecting the edge are the tips of the braces!... then you have this wimpy bit of purfling and that is supposed to keep the SB on the bowl!? ...well it seems to work. But when ever I have made higher tension instruments like this, there are ALWAYS problems coming.

Edward Powell - 3-4-2013 at 03:07 AM

and what are you doing with this VEENA???

...there is a player from Mumbai who want me to make for him a VEENA with oud making techniques!

jdowning - 3-4-2013 at 10:44 AM

No better example of wide (and wild) grained oud sound board than the seven course # 0164 oud in the Brussels M.I.M. (image previously posted on this forum by Danielo). This oud probably dates from around the end of the 18th to early 19th C.
Note the multiple piece soundboard (some panels being close to slab cut) and the pin knots! No idea of what it sounds like though.

The characteristics of what potentially makes a good sound board are known well enough (stiffness to weight ratios, low internal damping etc.) and a good luthier should be able to select the best material for a sound board, by experience, from a wide choice of sound board material even if it means joining smaller pieces to make a multiple piece sound board.
Grain width, orientation, degree of grain deviation etc. may or may not make a difference acoustically - it all depends upon the skill of the luthier and the required end result.

Some classical guitar makers today are building sound boards with stiff centre panels and less stiff 'wing' pieces to achieve the acoustic result they are seeking. It is possible that the old oud makers may have done the same thing to vary the cross grain stiffness of their sound boards - for whatever effect.



Brussels Oud.jpg - 94kB

turkish/armenian/levantine?

aasuits - 3-23-2013 at 07:10 PM

I've been studying lots of pix of vintage ouds of Syrian, Greek, Armenian builders. This Awadikian oud presents some interesting questions. The overall shape seems somewhat more Armenian/ Turkish as does the placement and proportions of the shamseen. The inlaid back and tiled pegbox seems distinctly Syrian/ Levantine.
I'm wondering if the bridge was copied, or used, from the original soundboard when it was replaced in 1936. Most of the old Armenian ouds have the other style bridges with a broader bottom 'shelf' tapering to a triangular shape.I plan to do my next oud based on this venerable beauty,and will use the Syrian style Nahat bridge with a central ledge.
I had to replace the bridge on this Awadikian, a few days after it was done the ledge sheared off the bridge from the string pull and being weakened from plugging/drilling new holes. The grain orientation was totally wrong, it was parallel to the face, the weakest possible choice. I redid the bridge with the grain perpendicular to the face and the sound remained superb- will get a sound clip up soon, possibly with a nice demo by a surprise oud virtuoso...........!