AKCinBE
Oud Addict
Posts: 34
Registered: 11-12-2017
Location: Brussels, Belgium
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Pyramid strings: tuning problem
Hello everyone,
I've got a Turkish oud from D. Rapakousios. He gave me the product codes for a custom set of Pyramid strings which I recently put on my instrument.
It seems that strings of the top two courses, especially the 2nd course (A strings), have a tuning problem. The higher up the fingerboard I stop the
strings, the more the tones produced by the two strings diverge, even though the open A-strings are perfectly in tune. Even playing the fifth position
(4th finger) doesn't sound nice.
Is this a string problem or a lutherie problem? I checked the instrument to see if the nut or knots at the bridge where different, but I can't see
anything.
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teslim
Oud Junkie
Posts: 106
Registered: 9-12-2006
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Mood: No Mood
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this is a problem of the strings, not the instrument, occasionally the unwound pairs are not made evenly thus causing discrepancy in the tuning ,
especially as you finger the strings higher up the neck, you can try reversing one of the strings in the pair that seems to be the problem and see if
it corrects the problem.. otherwise you need to get some new treble sets,, it is frustrating but solvable . the carbon fiber trebles seem to have this
problem more often then the rectified nylon,,, i like the density and sound of the carbon fiber a lot more so i am willing to deal with the
occasional inconsistent pairs,,,it is unusual for the pyramid customs to have this problem as they sell the highest quality ,, they may send you some
new ones if you contact them directly,,, i now use the kurchners and haven't had any problems ..best of luck
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2916
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Mood: Stringish
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The more dense the string the more a minor deviation impacts the intonation. If a standard variance in a string is .01 mm, that is equivalent to
1.6% difference on a .63mm string (typical for a carbon "a" string). The same .01 mm variation on the equivalent .750mm nylon string would be 1.3%
difference. This is magnified by the density difference—Carbon is about 1.8 times more dense than nylon. Nylgut is about 1.3 times more dense than
nylon. So denser strings are more subject to intonation problems, all other things being equal.
That said, there are some other ways of dealing with this — reversing the direction of one of the strings will sometimes make them work better
together.
Make sure there are no differences in the loops at the bridge. Even minor differences will change the length of one string, making them out of tune
more and more the higher up you go.
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Matthias
Oud Junkie
Posts: 473
Registered: 1-24-2007
Location: Badenweiler, Germany
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Mood: No Mood
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Which set is it? Give me the number of the set or the two single strings
Matthias
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