Arto
Oud Junkie
Posts: 120
Registered: 4-1-2006
Location: Finland
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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How to keep oud humidified?
Hi friends,
I have a brand new Haluk oud with a fiberglass case. I bought the case for both protection and with the idea of having it easier to have some sort of
humidifying device the case especially during winters.
After I got the package, I noticed that my thinking had been a bit shallow... ;-) The case is pretty form-fitted, and there isn´t room in it for
some pierced-soapbox-with-wet-rag-in-it thing I use in my mandolin case. I had also thought of using those Dampit green snakes in the instrument, but
(I know you are all laughing already...) I had forgotten the rosettes.
Suggestions?
Arto
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billkilpatrick
Oud Junkie
Posts: 563
Registered: 1-3-2004
Location: italy
Member Is Offline
Mood: what?
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i'm sure your family will be very understanding about this, arto but i'm afraid you're just going to have it sitting in your lap - always ...
does the fiberglass case have a material lining of some sort? ... something you can moisten ever-so-slightly with a vapor spray or lightly dampened
cloth? you might also consider leaving the oud in its opened case for a while in a humid closet or small, non-centrally heated room.
... take it into the sauna every now and then for a quickie taksim?
ciao - bill
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Alan
Oud Junkie
Posts: 118
Registered: 9-30-2003
Location: Tampa Bay Florida
Member Is Offline
Mood: Mellow Yellow
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Here in Florida I don't have to worry about humidifying my oud but as a cigar smoker I have used several methods to humidifying my humidors. I would
recommend silica gel and an easy source is kitty litter. Ultra Pearls brand is pure silica gel and can be conditioned to hold a relative humidity of
50-70%. Do not use the clay type litter or the ones with the colored moisture indicators. It is not wet to touch so you can keep it close to your
instrument. Museums use this type of silica gel. You need to add a little water to it. One way is to place a bowl of gel in an air tight container
with a small cup of water place next to it. Put a small digital hygrometer in the container and when the relative humidity reaches the desired level
remove the gel and you can store it in many types of breathable containers. Even a small tube of nylon from a panty hose tied at both ends works very
well.
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Hank Levin
Oud Maniac
Posts: 90
Registered: 2-7-2004
Location: Medford, Oregon
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Buy yourself a real room humidifier and stop messing with these "in the case" ideas. The best I know for the $ is the Hunter Care-Free humidifier.
It's got a 4 gallon tank, and needs less cleaning than the others---and you can find it online for around $79 or so. Fixing a single crack properly in
your oud can cost easily double that.
And you'll be healtier too.
--Hank
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adamgood
Oud Junkie
Posts: 499
Registered: 6-27-2005
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Offline
Mood: 2.7 koma flat
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Dryness vs. Dampness:
ok guys this is something i'm always finding difficult to wrap my head around...i would love some ideas from you all...
ok, the weather changes, it becomes more humid. so the wood swells. what is that going to do to your ud's string height? higher or lower? is every
mmm, say, Turkish ud the same or do they all behave differently?
it's an embarassing question considering i've been playing stringed instruments for a pretty long time and i've probably been given the answer many
times anyway. but often i need to be hit over the head with stuff.
if i had to take a guess. when the humidity rises, so does the string height in relation to the fingerboard.
thank ahead of time
adam
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Jonathan
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1582
Registered: 7-27-2004
Location: Los Angeles
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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If you buy a humidifier, make sure you get one that tells you the humidity in the room. Too much humidity is bad, too. Some would even say worse.
I live in Southern California, and it can be very very dry, or very humid. So, I have a humidifier, and a de-humidifier.
Air conditioning dehumidifies, of course, but here the damp weather is in the winter, so that's why I had to get the dehumnidifier.
I posted a related post a while back, and was told to shoot for 40-50% humidity.
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