madzub
Oud Addict
Posts: 34
Registered: 5-14-2005
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string buzz fix
Greetings oud friends: My Sandi Turkish oud has developed buzzing on stopped notes on the 3rd and 4th courses (which from what I read are the typical
sites for this kind of buzz. It's a 7 year old instrument with broken in Aqila strings.
The problem is always worse in summer -- that might be a clue that it's a loose brace -- but that's an amateur's guess.
I've searched the forums and found a couple references to putting a piece of wood under the loops. Here's one excerpt:
"""I had some string buzzing because the string height at the bridge was too low and stopped strings would buzz against the fingerboard as a
result. Dr. Oud pointed out that is possible to adjust the string height by pushing the bottom of the string loop at the bridge higher. In the end I
cut a small length of wood that I place between the sound board and the underside of the sting loops while the strings are in place but not a full
tension. It's easy to flip out the piece of wood (popsicle sticks work well) after the strings are at tension and the string height will remain as it
was before removing the piece of wood (within reason, of course). """""
My query: I don't seem to have good enough understanding or abstract mind to picture this exactly, and don't want to guess. Does anyone have
a picture of this strategy in action?
and of course does anyone have any other advice......
thanks all in advance -- Peter aka Madzub
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SamirCanada
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Registered: 6-4-2004
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Hi Peter,
how are you doing my friend?
sorry to hear about the buzzing on your oud.
you can usually tell what is exactly the cause for your buzzing by doing these 2 following tests.
when you say is it buzzing at the 3rd or fourth position is it on a particular string? or on all the strings at that position.
if it is only for a specific string at that specific location. Then look under the string at that precise location. is there any significant wear of
the fingerboard? usualy this happens under the f of the 3rd string or the C of the 4th string. they are "popular" notes if you will and if its the
case then you will have to flatten your fingerboard with a flat square sanding block. if you do plan on doing this you have to sand down the whole
fingerboard not just the spot where there is a groove.
otherwise that would make the problem worse.
If there is not wear on the fingerboard and it is still flat. Then it may be a loose brace. You can check for this by playing the same note but on a
higher or lower string. this not will usualy be way in the fingerboard. But regardless if it buzzes sympathetically then you have a loose brace. to
further comfirm this you can give sharp little taps on the face. go trough the brace positions on the oud. when you reach the loose brace it will
rattle.
If the buzzing appears at the 3rd and 4th position under all the strings. then the face of your oud has possibly drooped a little and made the action
too low. You can remedy this 2 ways. By bringing the neck up. * basically a neck reset*
or by tying your loops further up on the bridge. this is just temporary because putting the strings higher will increase the torque so it may
aggravate the face situation further.
You can do it without a block of wood. when you tie your strings, make sure you give no slack to the hoop so it cant go down as much when you tune it
up.
I hope this helps you.
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madzub
Oud Addict
Posts: 34
Registered: 5-14-2005
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Hey Samir -- good to hear from you man! The buzz problem is on the 3rd and 4th strings, and continues at various points on those strings with varying
intensity. The worst is at the octave. There is no or little buzz lower down on these strings when played softly, it worsens with the intensity of
the striking of the string.
So I'm thinking (and hoping) that it's not a situation for sanding.
thanks for writing -- hope all is well................
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madzub
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Registered: 5-14-2005
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p.s. to last post -- the problem is worst at the fifth, not the octave....typical guitar player thinking when I wrote it the first
time, i.e. where the fingerboard meets the body.
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Stepan
Oud Admirer
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Registered: 2-20-2010
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I found this thread while trying to repair an oud I bought (new but in horrible condition). Your advice helped me a lot.
The popsicle worked good but using one (flat on the body) and one upright (against the bridge) worked better. Now I've noticed one side is closer to
the neck than the other so I plan to break a piece of the bottom/flat piece so it raises it about 1mm on that side and lowers it in on the other. 
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