rojaros - 10-1-2008 at 07:10 AM
Hi everybody, as I reported in
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=7841#pid493...
I bought this oud cheaply in ebay and to check its quality I did a first repair by myself. (See the thread above).
I found the Oud has an acceptable sound but was quite unplayable.
As I reported later it turned out that the neck is getting very concave.
I brought the Oud to Matthias Wagner who did a wonderfull repair of the peg box and neck.
As there was still an issue with one place buzzing a bit I brought this oud to a friend of mine who lives in the same village and happens to be one of
the really great guitar makers for classical guitars, and he also plays Oud.
On first sight he identified the oud as what it somehow is: a not so expensive egyptian oud. But then, when he played it, he had to admit that the oud
has something very special to its sound and that making it work was absolutely worthwhile.
So he helped me to bring away the buzz with some wonderful tools he has, and some really good advice.
Then he strongly advised to remove the finish on the sound board which firstly didn't look well and secondly turned out to be some simple alcohol
based finish.
He taught me how to remove the finish.
All this work hapend last weekend and the oud turned out to have been a sleeping beauty. Through removing the finish it changed from a cheaply looking
to a dignified instrument
Here a picture:
Continuation
rojaros - 10-1-2008 at 07:13 AM
During this work I also changed the bridge system and this is maybe interesting - I saw this issue discussed here in the forum.
I had to remove the headplate of the bridge because it buzzed, so I decided to experiment with another string fixing on the way. I turned out to be so
good that I'll probabely keep it.
rojaros - 10-1-2008 at 07:20 AM
And this is a little less esthetic look onto the newly shaped bridge.
It has its headplate removed and has a bit aof a slope so that the strings have all a clear stopping point and they are introduced from the opposite
side with a knot on them.
I obtain exactly the sound I envisaged and this system helps also to make the string distance a little wider than the string holes, with the help of
little indentations filed into the wood.
rojaros - 10-1-2008 at 07:25 AM
before the bridge was like this. You can see the old headplate of the bridge and also the varnish on the sound board reflecting the light...
Hope you can enjoy this tranformation proces as I do!
best wishes to everyone
PS when I come to I'll post a little sound file or video...
corridoio - 10-1-2008 at 08:04 AM
Hi Rojaros
this way of attacching strings was discussed in an old post
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=7554#pid473...
reading that maybe there are more contro then pro
but anyway if it doesn't work you can always go back to the traditional way
ale.
rojaros - 10-1-2008 at 11:31 PM
Thanks for your consideration.
It seems the only contra I can see is the increased torque on the bridge. In the case of my oud it seems that the distance of the effective attachment
point to the sound has not been increased (it's maybe even shorter because the neck has been made straighter so the action can be lower now).
Also I tend to prefer lower string tension, so the oud is now tuned to b insted to c as the highest string.
As can be seen on the pics I didn't use wooden beads but just tied the strings in double knots so that they don not slip through to string hole.
And of course I can go back to classical string attachment as well by adding some nice headplate onto the bridge.
Greg - 10-2-2008 at 09:29 PM
Rojaros,
what a wonderful transformation If it sounds as good as it looks, you have yourself a great instrument.
Thanks for sharing the story and including the nice pics.
Regards,
Greg
rojaros - 10-3-2008 at 06:31 AM
I will record a bit in near future so I'll share with everybody the sound...
best wishes