pirsultan - 4-17-2007 at 04:13 PM
Could someone help me out with some advice on the lightest guage strings for a Turkish ud? I have an ud by Cengiz Sarıkuş (Veysel Sazevi)
made in 1988 which is the standard Turkish ud string lenght. I have until recently tuned this instrument at Arab oud pitch but I have just now put on
some Pyramid Turkish strings and they seem very high tension. The action on my ud is a little higher than a lot of the ud I see now (certainly the
Ramazan Calay ud I have seen and the Hasan Sarıkaya ud I also have). The Sarıkuş string hight ud is about 5 or 6 mm where the neck
joins the body. The action though a little on the high side is still very easy to play - although a lot easier when I tuned down to Arab tuning. Which
brings be back to the point of this message. I want to tune this now to Turkish tuning and I found the Pyramid strings good but with a pretty high
tension. Are there other sets that are readily available that would be lighter?
Just thought I would also mention that I saw list member Paddy Montgomery playing at the National Folk Festival (Australia, Canberra) over easter. He
played with his group Dionysus and played mostly bouzouki but also bağlama and ud. What an astonishing player for one so young!
many thanks in anticipation
Paul
Monty88 - 4-17-2007 at 06:00 PM
Hey mate,
You were there? Thanks for watching! What stage did you see us on?
Thanks for your kind words also! We were really happy with the way the shows went.
I wasn't happy with my oud playing that much.........I was also using a Turkish oud, but it was in arabic tuning. I'm going to get different strings,
i usually use turkish level tuning............I just tuned it back up, and the strings are really high now, the actions gone up! Also there is some
sinking in the soundboard now.
I'll post a new thread on this soon.
pirsultan - 4-17-2007 at 06:37 PM
Hi Monty
I saw you play at the Troubadour - the full set - and some of the set at the Village Stage. I spoke with you and gave you the bağlama strings. I
played the Alevi music on the bağlama. Just wanted to let the rest of the list know what a great player you are. How long have you been playing?
Unless you started in nappies (diapers for our US friends) you can't have been playing that long. You are clearly a natural. It was great to see a
young band like yours playing great Greek and Turkish music.
As for the ud, it came over really well, despite your misgivings. The lower tuning gives a nice rich deeper sound and there was good sustain. I have
used my Cengiz ud in Arab tuning for most of the time I've had it (since 1993) but after seeing Yuval play and trying his Ramazan Calay ud I decided
to string it up with Turkish stringing. I don't think it has raised the action on the ud, it was always on the high side, just the tighter tension
seems to accenuate that fairly high action. The neck and sound board of my Cengiz ud is straight, certainly not warped, it just seems to be a higher
action instrument. It has not changed over the 12 years or so I've had the instrument. Although I am a little concerned as to whether the higher
tension might cause problems and I may take it back down to Arab pitch if I can't get lighter strings.
cheers
Paul
Monty88 - 4-18-2007 at 07:26 AM
PAUL ITS YOU!
AH man i've been telling people about you, and i'vebeen needing your contact.
So now I know your on here. BEAUT! It was a pleasure to see you play, was wonderful!
Thanks for your words man, can you send me a u2u with your contact details if possible? your email would be great.
Nah I only started playing bağlama maybe, 4 years ago now. but thanks for your words, i really apreciate it from yourself!
regards,
Paddy