Josh
Oud Addict
Posts: 32
Registered: 10-7-2008
Location: UK
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left handed and other questions
Hi, I have bought a 'no name' £100 floating bridge oud to play with, I have been a proffesional guitarist in my time so i can get some sounds out of
it thanks to the great tutor videos on mikouds site :-) Any way I am left handed, hence my reason for getting a floating bridge, ( so i can get the
intonation right) the thing i did overlook was the tuning pegs ( besides them being crap on my cheap oud) the one nearest the neck gets in my way as
its really close to my fingers with it being upside down Is it possible to get a left handed peg box? And how difficult would it be for me to fit? ( i
have some limited experience of guitar modifications etc). I also need to change the nut as that is wood and not very good, I was thinking bone, is
that what people use? and regarding removing the pegbox and nut, how do you go about 'unglueing' these things? thanks, Josh
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SamirCanada
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Registered: 6-4-2004
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Hey Josh,
can you explain in more detail why you got a floating bridge oud?
I have never heard of this reason.
Making a pegbox can be quite tricky.
You probably wont be able to get away with only reaming the holes again and using "fat" pegs. unless the curent pegs are extremly thin.
anyways this is inprobable.
so anyways making a new pegbox is the other option.
You can try to make it out of the same wood the original is with but if your not sure you can use something like walnut or maple.
a hard wood that hard but not harder then the pegs you are planning on using.
this is how its made.
http://www.khalafoud.com/Jameel_OudConstruction5.htm
you will need a few tools and it may not be as practical as having it repaired by a luthier who allready has the tools.
you will need to have acces to,
-a bandsaw or a jigsaw or a coping saw (if you want to do it by hand)
-a bending iron ( you can get away with using 3 sheets or so of veneer's on the bottom instead of the bottom plate)
-a block plane or (you can get away with different grits of sand paper with a flat sanding block which you will need anyways)
-a Peg reamer, (specialized luthier tool)
-some hardwood pegs (rosewood, ebony, box wood etc..)
- wood finishing products. ( you will have to finish the bare wood with something)
- patience,
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Josh
Oud Addict
Posts: 32
Registered: 10-7-2008
Location: UK
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| Quote: | Originally posted by SamirCanada
Hey Josh,
can you explain in more detail why you got a floating bridge oud?
I have never heard of this reason. |
Thanks for the reply.
On guitars at least the different strings exhibit different intonation qualities , with (if I recall correctly) the thicker strings requiring a
slightly longer scale length than the thinner strings, Guitars with a fixed bridge are angled slightly for this reason, I just assumed it would be the
same for the oud.
I don’t think I currently have the ability to make my own peg box, but I think I could fix a readymade one to my oud. Would an oud maker make a
left-handed peg box do you think? And would a simple functional one with tuning pegs be expensive?
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MatthewW
Oud Junkie
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Josh, Jimi Hendrix, as you know, played his guitar left handed! 
I bet he would have done the same with an oud! 
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Dr. Oud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1370
Registered: 12-18-2002
Location: Sacramento, CA, USA
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Josh
On guitars at least the different strings exhibit different intonation qualities , with (if I recall correctly) the thicker strings requiring a
slightly longer scale length than the thinner strings, Guitars with a fixed bridge are angled slightly for this reason, I just assumed it would be the
same for the oud.
I don’t think I currently have the ability to make my own peg box, but I think I could fix a readymade one to my oud. Would an oud maker make a
left-handed peg box do you think? And would a simple functional one with tuning pegs be expensive? |
It's not possible to make a pegbox wihout fittng it to your oud . The fit of the pegbox to the neck must be precise and every oud is a little
different. If your pegbox has 12 pegs you might just take out the first peg and string it from the second peg with 11 strings (most oud string sets
have only 11 anyway).
Without frets there is no intonation issue, your fingers will adjust to the pitch (or they're supposed to you know). There's also a different load on
the face when you reverse the strings, so there may be a change in the balance of volume, but this is not pre-determinable.
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