ArmoOudist - 7-29-2021 at 03:32 PM
I just restrung my oud this evening. The strings are so new that they can't even hold their pitch. I tune one pair after much struggle, only to go to
another one and have the first pair slip again after a few minutes.
I know strings need some time to stretch out, but is there any advice for helping this process along?
Thanks
Brian Prunka - 7-29-2021 at 06:37 PM
There are a couple things you can do. You can pull the strings gently from side to side to stretch them out and remove some slack, then retune.
Essentially you just need to tune the oud up many times, so this speeds up the process rather than waiting for the strings to slowly go out of tune.
Just keep tuning as frequently as possible.
Also make a point of always tuning UP to the desired pitch so that there is not extra slack in the pegbox due to friction at the nut.
Doing these two things means my oud usually stabilizes after about 1-2 days, rather than 5-6 days.
paulO - 7-30-2021 at 09:16 AM
What Brian said !
ArmoOudist - 7-30-2021 at 03:51 PM
Thanks for the advice, they were much more stable today. And they sound lovely!