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Lowering action

ilovegreentea - 9-20-2016 at 11:30 PM

Hi everyone! i have an Abdel Hamid Haddad Turkish model oud. I find that the action is slightly high and would prefer a lower action. Does anyone have any experience lowering the action by filing the nut? It's a teeny weeny higher than the fingerboard. I was hoping to bring it down to at least the same level. What do you think?

SamirCanada - 9-21-2016 at 06:04 AM

Very bad idea. it will buzz and you will not lower the action.

if you want to shorten the nut you also have to remove some that fingerboard material at the nut, it seems like a lot of ebony there so maybe its an option.

otherwise the only real way is to reset the neck.

stos - 9-21-2016 at 09:40 AM

Hello!

I cannot help you sorry but im curious about your oud

can you tell us more about? i didnt knew haddad was doing turkish oud?

thanks !!

newlife_ks - 9-21-2016 at 10:10 AM

Hello!

If the action at the nut is about 0.2 mm I believe it is ok. I'd rather try first to lower the strings at the bridge by pushing the loops down as far as possible, if they aren't anyway. Loosening the strings may help, but is not necessarily required. The blunt edge of a pencil will do the job.

ilovegreentea - 9-21-2016 at 08:20 PM

Hi! Thank you all for your advice! I better not do anything to the nut or the bridge and the moment. There was a very thin piece of paper beneath the nut which I've removed. It did lower the action by a little bit I'd say. It's much more comfortable!

@Stos: I got this oud from my teacher's student sometime around April. He loves to travel and bring ouds back to sell. I understand it's a Turkish model but doesn't really sound Turkish after playing some other Turkish ones. Or maybe it's not even a Turkish model! Haha! Anyway, I didn't know who the maker was back then and was only told it was from three brothers living quite far away from Tunis. I'd say its a mid range model, definitely better than the average student model. It came with Arabic tuning string but I've changed them to Turkish to play some Tamburi Cemil Bey!

Dr. Oud - 9-28-2016 at 11:22 AM

The height at the nut can be as low as 1/2 mm as long as the open string does not buzz it's ok. The strings at the bridge can be lowered by first loosening the string, then rotating the knot down toward the face. The height at the neck joint then should be 3-5mm. Lower may cause buzzing, higher will make it harder to play.

Turkish string lengths are around 700mm. Arabic is longer, from 750 - 800mm. If your oud is longer than 750mm, tuning it higher to play Turkish modes may cause damage to the face when the bridge rips off due to too much tension.

Brian Prunka - 9-28-2016 at 12:20 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Dr. Oud

The height at the nut can be as low as 1/2 mm as long as the open string does not buzz it's ok. The strings at the bridge can be lowered by first loosening the string, then rotating the knot down toward the face. The height at the neck joint then should be 3-5mm. Lower may cause buzzing, higher will make it harder to play.

Turkish string lengths are around 700mm. Arabic is longer, from 750 - 800mm. If your oud is longer than 750mm, tuning it higher to play Turkish modes may cause damage to the face when the bridge rips off due to too much tension.

It will definitely be harder to play when the bridge rips off.