journeyman - 2-3-2009 at 11:22 AM
Has anyone compared Pyramid strings with the Aquilla strings on their Sukar oud? I have Pyramids on my Sukar and I like them, but it is soon time to
change them and I'm curious about the Aquillas for this oud. I once compared Pyramids and Aquillas on a Ghadban oud and thought the Aquillas were
better, but on another oud, the Pyramids sounded better. So, all you other Sukar oud owners out there, any experience with this?
Cordially,
Roy
Sazi - 2-4-2009 at 04:53 PM
Hi Roy, I don't have a Sukar, but after trying both brands on one of my Iraqi ouds I came to the conclusion that the Aquilla's had a tone and attack
similar to and favoring the older more traditional style of playing, whereas the Pyramids had more sustain (which I preferred) also the Pyramids seem
to last longer. Hope this helps.
charlie oud - 2-5-2009 at 07:03 AM
Hi Roy, I have tried both Aquilla and Pyramid (oud sets not lute) on my Sukar and for what its worth here is my view.
The Aquilla set sound well. The trebles are very bright sounding and if you use a high 'f' this can sound too piercing for my ears. The trebles can
also sound a little harsh making a warm sound hard work to achieve. The bass strings have an attractive tone kind of 'open sounding' warm and
'transparent' with a strange hollow depth. My main concern with Aquilla is that the bass strings do not work well with the trebles on my Sukar, the
difference between the wound and plain courses is dramatically different. Some players may like this, I dont.
The Pyramid orange label set have much more warmth in the treble and are more bassy in tone and do not suffer from the plain versus wound problem.
They also allow more scope for personal tone choice. Having said that the plain strings are too thick for my liking and I currently use the Pyramid
Turkish set tuned to Arabic. These are excellent for my Sukar, perfect gauge and tension for me.
All said and done its each to their own. I may try Aquilla bass a with pyramid trebles some day. Good luck. Charlie
journeyman - 2-5-2009 at 09:29 AM
Hi Charlie,
Thanks for the info; this is very helpful. I never thought of trying the Pyramid Turkish set tuned to Arabic tuning. Humm....
Cheers,
Roy
rojaros - 2-15-2009 at 04:50 AM
Hello, did you try Daniel Mari strings?
They are a bit on the low tension side, but very consistent across the set and the wound strings are densly wound - a nice set by itself, and then if
you see the price they sell ... nothing to say. Certainly worth a try
best wishes
Robert