Laith
Oud Addict
Posts: 38
Registered: 2-25-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: getting better
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Making an electric oud
Does anyone have any instructions/suggestions on making an electric oud? A friend of mine's father is a guitar luthier and I figured an electric oud
would be a good way to start out. Plus maybe we could modify the look a little (the mahagony toilet seat-look could have something added to it...)
Any help would be greatly appreciated. By the way, I generally am nit super impressed with the sound of electric ouds, but I just purchased the
Fishman Aura pedal for nylon string instruments and it made an amazing diffence and it has 16 presets and blend knob to truly tailor the sound. It
really blew me away.
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Dr. Oud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1370
Registered: 12-18-2002
Location: Sacramento, CA, USA
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Mood: better than before
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2 things I learned from an experienced electric guitar maker
1. use a solid piece of wood with resonant characteristics. The laminated bodies or flat toned wood don't resonate, and the resonance provides the
sustain.
2. Don't scrimp on the transducer. A good saddle transducer + pre-amp costs ~ $200. Pickups on a guitar are fuindamental to the sound. cheap pickups
don't work.
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Laith
Oud Addict
Posts: 38
Registered: 2-25-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: getting better
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thanks for the info Richard
It's probably going to take a few runs at it before we get something playable....If it all works out I'll make sure to post pics of it
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Laith
Oud Addict
Posts: 38
Registered: 2-25-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: getting better
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I just realized I was replying to Dr. Oud!
I know you are deffinately the person to get information from about ouds! Quick question---I know very little about wood samples, but would Koa make
a good wood? I've always loved the look of koa. Thank you again
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Dr. Oud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1370
Registered: 12-18-2002
Location: Sacramento, CA, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: better than before
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Most electric guitar bodies are made from clear mahogany, ash, or maple. I made my solid electric oud w/ mahogany using a Baggs ribbon transducer and
on-board 5 stage pre-amp. It works great. I found some European beech that has a very resonant tap tone - I'll use it for the next one. You need to
prop the piece up on one corner and thump it to see if it rings or is a dud. Walnut would probably work as it's a tone wood too. You just need to test
the piece you use.
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Laith
Oud Addict
Posts: 38
Registered: 2-25-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: getting better
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Thanks for the wood suggestions
I've heard about checking the wood by thumping it. I've noticed most electric ouds I've seen have been mahogany. Another quick question, Najarian
makes and electric that has the top face of an oud, if one was to do something like that and cover up the back as well, would that effect the sound?
I've been seeing these flat back ouds on ebay, would that be almost the same situation. Hope I'm not bugging you with all this. Thanks----Laith
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Dr. Oud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1370
Registered: 12-18-2002
Location: Sacramento, CA, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: better than before
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If you electrify an acoustic oud, you risk getting feedback at high volume levels. Since a flat back oud has an acoustic face it will resonate, maybe
too much, and feedback like an acoustic oud round back. The solid body does not feed back, so you can turn it up as much as you like, just like a
solid body electric guitar.
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