Oudistan
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What kind of wood is this?
Hello all,
Last year, I purchased an oud on impluse from "Music Spot" store in Bahrain as I left my oud in the U.S and had an uncontrollable urge to play.
The oud sounds amazing, very crisp, like an excellent moving bridge oud, but I'd like to know what it's made of.
I asked them through instagram about the type of wood, they said it's palisander. It does not look like any palisander I've ever seen.
I also asked an oud maker about it, he said it's most likely an inferior wood from Pakistan but did not know the name of the wood.
Can somebody confirm what type of wood this is?
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SamirCanada
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my best guess is that is Zebrano wood. Also known as Zebra wood.
but the pattern is too perfect and repetitive. Almost like a printed plastic veneer in that it has no pores and grain variation.
Are you sure it is wood? can you take a picture from the inside of the bowl if there is no rosette, we can see what the other side of the ribs look
like.
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Oudistan
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Quote: Originally posted by SamirCanada  |
...but the pattern is too perfect and repetitive. Almost like a printed plastic veneer in that it has no pores and grain variation.
Are you sure it is wood? ...
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Omg, you're gonna love this..
You're right in saying that "the pattern is too perfect".. That's all think about when I look at the wood closely.
Also, there's something "different" about the inside of the oud.
It seems it has been sprayed with some black plasticy material (feels almost like carbon fiber, but it's not)
I thought it was strange but couldn't make anything of it!
At first, I though maybe they glued 3 different types of sheets of cheap wood randomly and then sliced them from the side and used the slices as ribs
which explains the black stuff (to hold the thin slices together?)
Well, I did some research after reading your response.. zebrano wood, veneer, etc.. and I found out that the rabbit hole goes deeper than I thought it
does (LOL)
The bowl is indeed covered with "Reconstituted Wood Veneer"!
I actually found a Chinese merchant on AliBaba who sells the exact veneer my oud is made of  (Attached)
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/0-60MM-thickness-Amara-Recons...
This is why the inside of the oud is covered in black, to hide the actual wood used to construct the bowl.
Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCUZdvGpISQ
I guess I'm going to have a word with the owner regarding their sales ethics and honesty.
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SamirCanada
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Ha! Yes I thought it looked like plastic veneer. It's actually impressive they were able to make a oud with that. I think it's usually pretty thin...
On the flip side it doesn't move with humidity so it could be durable depending on the kind of glue they used.
In the end if you like the sound and it was cheap it's all good. Also chances are the store has no idea it's not real wood.
But one thing for sure it's definitely not cheap wood from Pakistan. Lol some people talk out of their ace.
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samiroudmaker@gmail.com
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Oudistan
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It wasn't "cheap" by local prices, I paid close to $1,000 for the oud.
It does sound great I must say, but I thought it was authentic wood.
The store is a front for the factory.
Check this oud out (attached), it's on their instagram.
Unlike my oud, this one looks artificial but people are asking about the type of wood with no response..
They should at least say it's not real wood and claim "innovation" instead of not saying a word at all.
They also sell ouds covered with veneers that look exactly like real ebony, rosewood, etc.. (Attached)
I hate to say it, but this is unethical unless they state clearly that they're only covered with veneer.
Here's their instagram acct:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BevwrjYhbhW/?taken-by=musicspotbh
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jdowning
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But the outer surface of the bowl is real wood - just as plywood is real wood. It is reconstituted veneer an interesting material that I had not come
across before. A straightforward description of how it is made can be found here
http://www.looklikesdecospan.com/en/Reconstituted_veneer/
So a stack of wood veneers is glued together as a solid block under pressure and the cured block is then itself sliced into sheets of thin veneer
between 0.4 mm and 0.6 mm thick (paper thin!). The various layers of the wood in the reconstituted veneer sheet can be made to replicate natural wood
species by use of dyes. This type of veneer is made using fast growing plantation trees such as poplar, basswood, obeche etc so is environmentally a
positive thing.
How this veneer is made into an oud bowl would be interesting to discover. I suspect - being very thin and flexible - that it is formed around a solid
mold under pressure with some kind of synthetic glue or binder behind to hold it all together and provide increased mechanical strength. So yes there
may be some plastic involved behind the wood surface veneer. So it is no surprise that the complexity of the operation might come with a cost.
Does it matter? Perhaps not if the end result is a superior, well made instrument at relatively low cost - compared to an inferior relatively costly
instrument made from solid rare tropical hard woods.
I don't think that there is any scientific evidence available that supports the idea that the material of a bowl significantly influences an
instrument acoustics. The geometry of a bowl does but not the material from which it is made as long as the bowl is made thick enough to be rigid. I
have known some lute bowls moulded from rigid plastic that have been satisfactory acoustically - but most lute players want replica instruments made
like the historic originals from wood.
I agree though that the company should explain about the manufacture of the bowl and perhaps sell the ouds as innovative providing superior acoustics
for relatively low cost, beneficial to the environment etc.
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SamirCanada
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Nothing wrong with reconstituted wood veneer. However, due to the absence of grain variation and wood pores, I actually think this is plastic like a
formica type of material.
In the end if it sounds good...
@samiroud Instagram
samiroudmaker@gmail.com
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