Mike's Oud Forums

My new Necati Gurbuz oud

mavrothis - 8-10-2008 at 09:27 AM

Hey,

Just got back from Greece/Turkey, and I'm happy to show you my new Gürbüz (Gurbuz) oud that I picked up in Izmir. It is made of wenge and cocobolo, with spruce soundboard and ebony fingerboard, pegs.

It has a very nice sound, more on the modern side than I expected (compared to an oud of his from 1995 that I've played often) but still very good. I'm enjoying it very much, and I expect that it will open up nicely as time passes.

I definitely recommend him for his attention to detail and to customer requests, quality workmanship, very strong, even sound, and very reasonable pricing.

Here are some pictures...

mavrothis - 8-10-2008 at 09:28 AM

Simple and elegant details...

mavrothis - 8-10-2008 at 09:29 AM

The back...

mavrothis - 8-10-2008 at 09:32 AM

base detail

mavrothis - 8-10-2008 at 09:33 AM

pegbox

Greg - 8-10-2008 at 06:57 PM

Congratulations Mav,

It looks very nice and a worthy addition to your growing collection of fine instruments.
I am sure you had a fine time in Greece and Turkey, catching up with lots of interesting players. Did you do the Ross Daly workshops this year? If so, how about some photos?

Best wishes,

Greg

Abdullah - 8-10-2008 at 07:51 PM

Congratulations bro

play it in good health

best regards

mavrothis - 8-10-2008 at 08:24 PM

Hi Greg,

Thanks very much. I did not go to Ross Daly's seminars this year, but I'm sure they were wonderful. Hope you are having a nice summer.

Thank you Abdullah. :)

Take care,

m

veyselmaster - 8-10-2008 at 11:01 PM

Congratulations mavrothis

nice oud :)

best wishes

akram - 8-11-2008 at 03:46 AM

congratulation
how is the sound?

akram

mavrothis - 8-11-2008 at 08:20 AM

Hi,

Here is some audio of me noodling around on the oud.

It is still very new, but I am really enjoying the sound.

I may need to have the fingerboard shaved a little since it is more humid here (to eliminate some buzzing), but I'm going to wait about a year before I have any adjustments made to it. Sometimes this sorts itself out as the oud settles in.

Take care,

m

Jameel - 8-11-2008 at 09:15 AM

Nice one Mav.

Nice detail work, I like how he continued the face edge binding around the beard, and at the tail end. Classy touch.

Marina - 8-11-2008 at 12:19 PM

:applause:

mavrothis - 8-11-2008 at 12:22 PM

Thanks guys.

Yeah Jameel, I really liked that detail too. Very classy.

:)

m

Cocobolo and Wenge

nayoud - 8-12-2008 at 02:53 AM

Great Oud Mav

With Cocobolo and Wenge it must have a strong long sustain.....nice..Congrats

DanielH - 8-12-2008 at 06:13 AM

Congrats Mav!

I love the elegance and simplicity of the design - my favorite part being the repeated "beard" pattern on the tailpiece. And great wood choices - it's like a golden sunset back there!

- Dan

paulO - 8-12-2008 at 07:20 PM

Hi Mav,

Very cool -- love the understated looks, and the fine workmanship. It's a more 'modern' sound, but the bass is really has some great warmth already -- the mids and highs still sound a little stiff, but as you said, just give it some time. Enjoy guy. Take care.

Regards..Paul

Faladel - 8-13-2008 at 01:58 AM

Hi Mav

a very nice oud , I send you U2U.

enjoy :applause:

Edward - 8-13-2008 at 03:34 AM

Hi mav

very nice sound :bowdown:

mavrothis - 8-13-2008 at 04:15 AM

Thanks everyone. I think Mr. Gurbuz definitely deserves some recognition outside of Turkey. He does good work and seems to really love making these instruments.

Take care,

m

spyros mesogeia - 9-1-2008 at 09:07 PM

Kaloriziko aderfe
Oytaraaaaaaaaa
Na zhseis a to xairesai

panço - 9-2-2008 at 01:18 PM

hı mavrothis
its very nice
The bowl is color wonderful

SamirCanada - 9-2-2008 at 07:54 PM

Mav at 1:07

WTF!!! how did you do that???

are you that terminator that changes into liquid??
that was too much.

congrads.

Jason - 9-2-2008 at 09:05 PM

Love it

We need a new recording of you playing the caprice mav

mavrothis - 9-3-2008 at 02:55 AM

Wow, thanks very much guys.

Samir, I'm just using the picking technique that Yurdal taught us at the oud seminar in 2005. You pick in triplets across the strings: down-up-down-down-up-down...etc..., like you are just using the weight of your hand to "go through" the strings. I'll make you a video if you want to see what's going on, though I think some other people have already talked about this technique on the forum.

Glad you like it my friend. ;) As for the caprice, that will take some work, but I definitely appreciate the encouragement.

Thanks again guys, I hope the oud really opens up over the course of this year. I think I may go ahead and take it in for a light scraping of the fingerboard - the action is too low for this climate.

Take care,

mavrothis

SamirCanada - 9-3-2008 at 05:02 AM

you know I cant say no to a video plus its been too long since we have seen a video of yours.

Oh and Iam just going to throw this out there for you Mav...
we are having a gathering of oudists in montreal on the 20th of september.
Can you make it?

mavrothis - 9-4-2008 at 09:15 AM

Hi Samir,

I'm posting a quick video showing what I'm doing with my right hand. The angle on my wrist sometimes gets pretty extreme, but Yurdal's wrist did not seem this bent to me. I think he puts more "pressure" on his shoulder, sticking his elbow out more and allowing for a straighter wrist when picking.

The get together in Montreal sounds wonderful, but unfortunately I can't make it up this time. I hope that I will be able to visit before too long though, I really would love to come up.

Take care,

mavrothis

Angle sanding on fingerboard

mavrothis - 10-3-2008 at 12:15 PM

Hi,

I just got my Necati oud back from Haig Manoukian.

In addition to installing a pickup (he's the best with that, making 3-4 tries to see which placement sounds best), he angle sanded the fingerboard to eliminate most of the fingerboard buzzing I was having due to the very low action.

I think it's important to mention that angle sanding, in other words, removing more material from the side with the heavier, wound strings, is more beneficial than simply flat sanding a fingerboard with buzzing issues. It can allow for generally lower action and preserve more of the fingerboard material, instead of flat sanding and potentially removing more material than necessary, and raising the action more.

It is more difficult, but I definitely appreciate that now this oud can open up and play as it should.

I'm very happy with the instrument and the work by Haig, and when I get a chance I'll record a clip to show not only the reduction of buzzing, but also that the oud is playing more evenly and with more projection with the slightly raised action.

Take care,

mav

paulO - 10-3-2008 at 02:16 PM

Hi Mav,

The fingerboard work sounds like a great idea. I dislike buzzing much more than I dislike somewhat high (but tolerable) action. To me, buzzing kills the tone and sustain of the notes, and ends up changing a persons playing -- you want to be careful not to lay into a note too hard, just to avoid excessive buzzing..looking forward to hearing the sound clip.

Regards..Paul