spirit
Oud Lover
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Registered: 8-19-2009
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Tharwat E. Oud top strings sound like through telephone
Two questions-Is there any way to make it so the two highest pitched courses of my Tharwat Saber electric oud won't sound like they are coming through
an intercom?
Does the Sukar 141 electric oud sound close to the Najarian e1000 compared to the Tharwat?
DETAILS:
I am trying to create a double neck instrument in order to switch from a bass instrument to oud live. For the bass instrument I have an instrument
with a body little wider than it's neck. It works to tie wrap it to the lower "rail" of the Tharwat electric oud. This can't be done with my Najarian
E2000 because there is no where to tie wrap to.
Using an archtop piezo pickup the Tharwat's lower pitched 4 courses sound close to the Najarian. But both with it's built in pickup AND with the
archtop piezo bridge I put on the top two courses sound like they are coming out of a small cheap speaker like an intercom or a telephone. I even
tried metal cumbus strings to make sure it wasn't just because of being Nylon courses and those courses still had that sound quality (maybe it's wound
strings that make's the difference?). The strings are anchored at the bottom of the instrument on the Tharwat, not on the bridge like all the other
ouds I have. Could that make such a dramatic difference? If so why the top two courses?
Any suggestions what might possibly bring the sound of the high pitched two courses up to the quality of the lower 4 courses would be welcome. I
usually tune (low pitch to high) d gg aa dd gg cc .
Or if it might be fundamental to the instrument- nature of the body wood or the like, then I would welcome knowing that.
In which case the next question is whether the Sukar 141 electric oud is close to the Najarian e1000 in quality?
( as the Najarian is expensive for such a makeshift experiment.)
I'm not a luthier, just a musician who needs to alternate these two instruments without the delay of putting one down.
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
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I don't know these specific instruments, someone else might.
But there are some generalities. I assume the top courses are nylon and (obviously) thinner, and not as strongly vibrating. Wound strings carry a lot
more energy, and have a much wider range of harmonics. It's not uncommon for the top courses to sound very different. Maybe the solid body (it is,
isn't it?) in addition doesn't conduct the vibration very well. I don't yet have a clear picture of how your pickups are installed, but maybe
experiment with some additional pickups, to get a better signal, and see what you can do.
If you have any electronics/soldering skills, Radio Shack sells a $2 piezo transducer (NOT the buzzers) that comes in a plastic shell. You crack the
shell carefully and remove the little disk that has two wires attached. This can be gently soldered/wired in to your existing circuit as an additional
source, or connected to a separate cable to experiment. Then try placing it at different locations, especially near the high side of the bridge. Maybe
you just need to build up a better signal from those weaker strings.
The trick is how to mount it on the instrument. I have had good luck with gluing the sensor on a thin (2mm) cork disk and using double-sided tape to
stick this assembly inside an instrument body, under the bridge. I understand your body is solid, but you can simply stick it to the top near the
bridge and see. Another good way is between a removable bridge and the instrument body. I don't know, but your bridge might be removable, and you can
sandwich a piezo in there. But there are many places you can try now that you have a cheap source of piezos: for $10 you have 4 to play with, and one
to ruin.
Although what you connect them into affects the frequency response (and the volume), typically these pick up the high and low frequencies especially
well, which is what you seem to be missing. You can try them temporarily in various locations and wired different ways into your setup, then if it
helps, make a more permanent, less fragile and more attractive installation.
[file]10721[/file] [file]10723[/file]
Obviously you should slice the cork to get a flat or whatever shape surface to best fit where you stick it. The cork acts as a vibration conductor,
you need some sort of spacer as the wires get in the way of directly sticking it to something flat. If you were to mount it on the instrument top,
you'd turn it over, cork side down. If you sandwich it between a bridge and a body you can sometimes dispense with the cork. It's cut and try.
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Christian1095
Oud Junkie
Posts: 454
Registered: 4-29-2008
Location: North Carolina, USA
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I could be the electronics in the Thawat Saber oud.... My Sukkar actually sounds pretty good with the nylon courses... The only knock I have on it
is that since its a solid body, I don't get the cool sympathetic vibrations like I get on an accoustic oud... but I also get no feedback... so it's a
tradeoff...
Also, realize that you'll probably have to run an solid body electric oud through some effects to make it sound good. I'm using a bit of reverb and
some very light chorus on mine.... If not, it sounds really plain and un-oud like.... I've tried the boss accoustic simulator box, but it just had
too much fuzz to be playable... but it really did a great job of modding the sound... I just had this aweful hiss...
Chris Walters
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