grassyknoll - 2-12-2019 at 09:29 PM
Hi all,
Great to be in the company of such a talented international community
So I got quoted $56 CAD for a set of 7 pyramid lute bass strings, directly from Pyramid, including shipping. Not too bad, really, considering they
would likely last quite a while.
Then i get this thought: What if the difference in price between orange label and super Aoud is because the basses are actually "pyramid lute"..
It was an enticing thought, in my present financial crunch.
Does this thought, or wild hope, have any validity?
In the catalogue super Aoud costs almost double what orange label does, and it is stated these strings have longer life, and "effortless playing,"
despite the fact that it's a far heavier set - at least treble-wise - than their other sets
Those characteristics (longer life and effortless playing) I've heard attributed to pyramid lute. ..
Can anyone enlighten me? Are the basses of Super Aoud better quality than Orange label? If so, are they actually the same as pyramid lute, or is there
a middle stage of quality?
De-mystify, anyone?
Brian Prunka - 2-13-2019 at 10:17 AM
I don't think so.
The wound third of the "Super Aoud" set is better than the one in the #650 set, in my opinion (by the way, I sell this pair separately if you want to
try it here). Though like with all strings, which one works best on your particular oud may vary.
But this pair is not equivalent to any of the similar strings from the Pyramid Lute line, as far as I can determine. It's also $4.50 per pair rather
than listing at $6.85 per string. The silver plating looks different as well, perhaps the lute strings are purer silver?
The trebles are definitely not the same, as the Lute strings are rectified and the Super Aoud strings are not.
The biggest difference between the "oud" and "lute" strings are that the variety of windings and core composition mean that one can get a huge variety
of strings that allow you to vary the tension and sound in very small increments, so that you can get a precisely tailored set for your oud. So the
idea of a pre-packaged set defeats the a big part of the advantage of these strings. Even if the "Super Aoud" set used strings from the "Lute" line,
it wouldn't be the same as a tailored set.
The most noticeable areas where the "Lute" strings can make a difference are on the third and fourth courses (d and A on a standard Arabic oud).
Where most string makers offer just a few choices here (.022 to .025in for d and .027-.030 for A), Pyramid offers 13 choices for d and 9 for A.
Half of those choices for d are lighter than a standard .022 string from anyone else, while maintaining a full, warm sound and good durability/life.