arsene - 6-23-2007 at 11:46 AM
Hi everyone,
My oud has some string buzzing going on, which is not such a very big deal because the buzz isn't very loud, but there's a certain point (near the
neckjoint) where the buzz is much louder than the actual tone.
It seems the neck is slightly warped and this is causing the buzzing. Or am I wrong?
Is there anything I can do about this apart from taking it to a luthier?
If I take it to a luthier, you think can I take it to a regular (acoustic) guitarmaker? I don't know any oudmaker in the Netherlands!
Lintfree - 6-24-2007 at 12:24 AM
Buzzing? Do I know for buzzing. A few questions: Which strings does it buzz on? Do you know how to raise the action or have you tried that yet? Is it
a Turkish scale (58.5cm) or an Arabic scale? Sometimes changing string brands can fix it, raising the action can fix it or taking the bumps and
valleys out of the fingerboard can help. There is a guitar maker named Theo Scharpak (sp.?) who can do anything and I think he's in Rotterdam. Try
different spellings for his last name on the internet and you'll find him. Ouds are not like guitars because they don't have frets and have short
necks and are braced totally different than most guitars. Try Theo. D.L.
arsene - 6-24-2007 at 05:22 AM
It's an Egypt made "Iraqi style" oud; I have LaBella strings on it, I'm not sure if it's Iraqi or Arabic scale, but it's not Turkish, thats for sure.
It's just a bit longer than Turkish scale, not much.
I've raised the action as high as I could while still keeping it playable.
It buzzes on EVERY string. I was thinking maybe I've put Turkish strings on it and the tension is not good? I know that on my Turkish oud the
LaBella's worked just fine.
I'm going to change string brand soon, but it's a rather expensive way to find out which brand doesn't buzz...
I know you know about buzzing I read your thread 
but I figured mine was a
slightly different problem since every string buzzes when pressed. And as I said, at one point, near the neckjoint, there's more buzz than tone.
I'm gonna try changing string brand for now - if nothing else helps, I'm going to contact Theo! Thanks for that btw
arsene - 6-24-2007 at 05:31 AM
I found him, Theo Scharpach 
arsene - 6-24-2007 at 08:04 AM
I'm pretty sure the LaBella set I had lying around was a Turkish set. Could this be the culprit?
Lintfree - 6-24-2007 at 11:29 PM
If the scale is a little longer than a Turkish scale then an Arabic set is best. It would have a .043 as the lowest string. Pyramid makes a set like
that. If that doesn't work then you'll have to check the neck and see where it buzzes. If it buzzes right next to where you pressed the string down
then it may be string wear on the fingerboard. How old is the fingerboard? Has it been played a lot?
arsene - 6-25-2007 at 06:54 AM
No it's brand new. It doesn't show any wear. It buzzes everywhere and gets worse the closer you come to the neckjoint, but once you play beyond that
(so near to the rosette) the buzzing is gone completely!
Anyway I've ordered a Pyramids Arabic set and we'll see with that!
Thanks!
Lintfree - 6-26-2007 at 04:01 AM
You may have a hump in the fingerboard up by the neck joint. Theo will be able to find that and get rid of it. Maybe the new higher tension strings
will get rid of it or lessen it. It sounds like the neck is bent backwards as well. As you hold the instrument up looking from the butt end of the
instrument sight along the fingerboard and check out the shadow the strings make on the fingerboard; are they straight, bowed back or forward? Do this
with the strings tuned up to pitch then do it with the strings slacked and note the change if any. Take a good metal straight edge and lay the edge on
the fingerboard between the third and fourth courses with the strings tuned up to pitch and look at the neck from the side and see where the light
comes through; in the middle, at both ends, not at all? This should give you a better idea what's going on. Let me know what you see. I've watched
Viken Najarian,Yuris and Henri do this many times. Lintfree
arsene - 6-26-2007 at 08:51 AM
Thanks Lintfree. I'll let you know.
arsene - 6-26-2007 at 09:42 AM
Allright - I checked it out w/ a metal straight edge and these are the results.
The neck is ever so slighly warped but not enough to be the cause of the buzzing.
It turns out the neck is indeed bent backwards slightly, exactly at the neckjoint... I compared it to my turkish oud which is straight all the way,
from bridge to nut. There doesn't seem to be a significant hump at the neckjoint, I think the bended neck is the culprit...
What to do about this? Shall I take it to Theo?
SamirCanada - 6-26-2007 at 10:08 AM
try changing strings or raising the ones you have at the brige. I remember when I got mine like yours the nut was too low that the strings were
touching the fingerboard at the nut height.
Dont take it to a professional luthier right away there are a few things you can try first.
There is also a finish on the fingerboard and eventualy it will wear down under the strings so but since its new you can probably go for a year with
no problems there. after that you will need to take the finish off the fingerboard and you could take the finish off the face as well. only good
things can come from this.
arsene - 6-26-2007 at 10:18 AM
Hey Samir!
I already raised the strings at the nut a little. How do I go about raising them at the bridge?
I was already thinking of taking the finish off. You think that would help the buzzing as well?
How do I do that, by the way, do I sand it off? With what kind of sand paper?
I know I'm asking a lot, but can you let me know how you went about sanding the face, what tools you used, etc? 
SamirCanada - 6-26-2007 at 10:53 AM
ok first you can raise the loops at the brige by tying the strings higher using a shorter loop in which the strings rests in. It should take care of a
lot of buzzing maybe enough to make you happy with it. If it was a really professional grade instrument I would say take it to a pro luthier but if
your willing to experiment you can try to use a Finish remover. Because this stuff on the oud is not a soft french polish but rather a heavy
polyurethane. so you will need more then just sand paper or else you will end up wasting too much time and effort. Make sure the finish remover you
get is safe to use on antiques and doesnt affect the wood at all. Also make sure the bowl, the neck and the sides of the pegbox are covered with
somekind of protective tape. Because you want to keep the finish on that and a small drop of the finish remover will ruin it. I find using steel wool
works better then sand paper for this and so you can use a not too course steel wool and go at the face and fingerboard lightly after having applied
some finish remover. Most times you need to apply the finish remover for a few minutes and let it disolve the finish. you will see it creates bubles
in the coat of finish. Unfortunately It isnt what will fix the buzzing your probably have now but it will open up the sound and it will reduce the
wear on that fingerboard. Since its inevitable to have your fingerbaord wear down with that finish on it you might aswell remove it from the face at
the same time.
Hope I didnt confuse you. If you need help dont hesitate to ask. more importantly do this only if you feel confident enough in your hands and ability
because its easy to ruin it.
arsene - 6-26-2007 at 11:49 AM
Allright, thanks Samir, I'll have a look at it.
I've raised the strings at the bridge by placing a little wooden thing under the loops, in essence enlarging the bridge. I've also sanded a bit at the
neckjoint and already the buzzing is almost gone, but not all. So that helped.
Maybe if I put actual Arabic strings on it the buzzin will be really gone.
arsene - 6-26-2007 at 12:33 PM
Oh, one more thing: what exactly is steel wool? (English is not my native tongue... 
)
SamirCanada - 6-26-2007 at 01:34 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_wool
arsene - 6-26-2007 at 01:41 PM
Ah! I see... In Dutch it's called "Staalwol".. wasn't that hard to figure out, actually.
So what type do I use... 0? 1? Or a bit coarser, like 3?
As for the buzzing, Should I continue sanding the neckjoint area? there's no hump so it won't solve the problem of the bent neck, but I'll probably
solve the symptom (buzzing) don't you think?
Do they always put thick finish like this on Arabic (Egyptian) ouds? I have a Turkish oud with no finish at all on the face/fingerboard.
SamirCanada - 6-26-2007 at 02:02 PM
this isnt exactly a "professional" instrument. you dont typicaly have this type of finish on higher end instrument. In egypt the feeling is that if it
shines it will sell. Perhaps most of the people looking for a nice professional ouds will make a difference but for the common tourist or enthousiast
there is no difference. I bought it like I said for pick nicks. I wasnt expecting much to begin with.
how are you sanding the joint? just with paper? or with a sanding block?
the sanding should be to aim towards making the fingerboard more strait thats all. if its now strait and it has no bumps or valleys then your not
really fixing anything.
arsene - 6-26-2007 at 03:12 PM
I'm aware of that, but I don't want it to buzz even at picknicks! I did it with
a sanding block, to make the transition to the fingerboard smoother. Anyway its just fixing the symptom, not the problem, but like you said, there s
not much to lose here 
SamirCanada - 6-26-2007 at 03:46 PM
yes sanding block is the way to go. the flatter the better.
once the fingerboard is flat and its still buzzing the problem is obviously elsewhere like in the action being to low. Iam thinking that changing the
strings to Aquila strings or other ''heavier'' arabic strings will corect the problem.
Lintfree - 6-26-2007 at 11:27 PM
Arsene - You said it's an Iraqi style oud. Does that mean that the bridge is moveable like a mandolin or do the strings tie to the bridge?
As for steel wool I wouldn't use it because small pieces of it break off in the pores of the fingerboard wood and then rust and it can give you blood
poisoning! Use something else like fine sandpaper! Most good luthiers use a file to flatten a fingerboard and it takes years to learn to do that. And
I don't know if sanding is a good idea unless you know what and where to sand. And don't sand the finish off the top! I know only a little about
repairs from watching good repair people and I've made one guitar and I would NEVER sand a finish off the top of anything. Be careful and go slowly.
Good luck. D.L.
arsene - 6-27-2007 at 03:38 AM
Well, it's advertised as an Iraqi oud but it has a normal bridge and I think it's normal Arabic scale, although the bowl is less deep than my turkish
oud.
I solved lots of the buzzing by raising the strings at the bridge and making the transition body/neck smoother, and I think a string change would
completely solve it, so for now I'll leave it at this...
I already have a nice Turkish oud that sounds very decent and has great playability, but I really wanted to check out the Arabic sound and got this
oud to practice on as it was quite cheap and I heard the sound was not bad.
I still need to get a decent Arabic oud for when I get better, I'm looking into several Shehata models, and Mike recommended me ouds made by Mourad
al-Turky (from Gawharet al Fan), for the smaller wallet 
Anyway thank you everyone for your help! I haven't been a member for long on this forum, and if it wasn't for you guys I would probably never have
discovered the oud like this!