Idea about Oud Bridge
In June this year I bought my first oud. After some humid days I found on it a tiny gap under the bass side of the bridge, which reminds me of my
father's old poor-quality guitar. At first I was uneasy with its string tension as I always was with a guitar but soon I found some other factors.
The first is of course the humidity, but I fear I can't do much with it
Then is the glue used on my oud, which softens in high humidity & temperature and leaves an easy repairment.
Then comes the high bridge, which has a L shaped transversal surface (looking from side), a fine lever for the strings to pull it up from the oud's
face... I tried to compare it to a guitar's bridge but I found the guitar bridge somehow complicated and cannot tell how the force goes on it.
I am now thinking about regluing the bridge or even DIYing a new humidity-tension-resistant bridge in case the original bridge drops out entirely
later this summer. According to the principle of lever it should be either lower or covering a larger area on the soundboard am I right? While
the latter is more practical since the bridge's height cannot be that flexible. But a moment ago another design came to my mind as shown in the
attachment.
The bridge shall be made of two pieces of wood: a wider foundation super-glued on the soundboard to give it additional thickness, allowing the bridge
fixed on it to be lower.
I will be prudent to go the common way. But I am curious about my idea's value of practice. As a non physician I cannot analyse this one
scientifically. I'm not sure whether this method will indeed make a sturdier bridge. Also I'm afraid that the bridge may get larger and heavier than
it should be and that shall likely lead to unwanted change of sound.
So my friends have you any criticisms of this idea? And any guidance about selection of materials & glues?
Or maybe all the fixed bridges, with all guitar or oud variations, are actually the same from a macroscopic view: L model with the string-bridge joint
as the point of force?
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