rojaros
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String Tension on Turkish Oud Recommendation?
Hello Oudists,
has anybody a serious recommendation on string tension for turkish Ouds.
As I reported in http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=8222 I just got a verys nice Copcuoglu Oud.
When I tune it to d a e b G D my feeling is that with the strings that came with the oud the over all tension is a little bit too high.
Do you have any string recommendation for turkish oud?
Again thanks for sharing your knowledge
best wishes
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paulO
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Hi rojaros,
First, I have to say -- Nice Oud ! The LaBella and D'addario sets have what I'd call moderate tension. d a e b G D is just a little bit away from d
a e b F# C# -- one of the musicaravan sets are guaged for as low as d a e b F# B. The LaBella and D'Addario sets have "moderate" tension. If the
action feels too "stiff" somethings out of whack. Check with Hank Levin (http://www.musicaravan.com), or Jameel Abraham (http://www.khalafoud.com/) for string sets that'll work for you. Good luck.
Regards...Paul
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rojaros
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Thanks!
Today I put a La Bella Arab set tuned to c (CFAdgc) and it feels right in the tension.
Mabye the set that came with the oud wasn't right... (?)
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Ararat66
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Hi Rojaros
It may be worth considering the age of the oud, the stiffness of the strings may be partly due to the newness of the soundboard. Once it gets played
the soundboard begins to wake up and the strings feel (ironically) less wooden. I have noticed this with my oud (Tasos Theodorakis oud) - now it
plays like a dream (I now have to learn to play it like a dream ).
I was talking to a very good guitarist friend the other day about this. He has a very nice handmade flameco negra guitar, and evn though it is a
number of years old he says when he first picks it up the strings are not very responsive and sustain is harsh and limited ... but after about 20
minutes of playing it is as if a tonal light switch is pressed and the whole thing comes alive.
Just a thought - if the tension is genuinely too much for this oud then a lighter set may be your best bet - but I would imagine it has probably been
constructed to really sing with the higher tension strings.
Cheers
Leon
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Ararat66
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... oh by the way that is a fabulous looking oud - congratulations.
Leon
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rojaros
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Thanks!
The Oud is built 1994 and looks like having been played quite a bit...
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corridoio
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hi rojaros
my advice is to talk directly with Matthias or Jameel, they have a large choice of brand of string and most important the knowledge to manage all this
phisical stuff and so you can manage with them the right balance of tension for your oud.. and I agree with Leon it's a real beutiful oud
ale.
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rojaros
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Thanks a lot for detailed response.
I know what you mean with the switch and also with the singing at higher tension. The instrument is new to me and I don't want to overstress it by
putting a too high tension on it.
One phenomenon is that the sound board seems to lift up a bit under higher tension and there is a kind of a slight dip towards the sound hole.
Is that normal with turkish ouds?
best wishes
Robert
| Quote: | Originally posted by Ararat66
Just a thought - if the tension is genuinely too much for this oud then a lighter set may be your best bet - but I would imagine it has probably been
constructed to really sing with the higher tension strings.
Cheers
Leon |
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rojaros
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What I mean by the dip in the soundboard maybe can be seen on the following picture.
When I put a ruler from the bridge to the closer edge of the soundhole, the deepes place under the ruler is few millimeters lower then the ends of the
ruler.
Is that allright? Or should I lower the string tension?
For this picture the Oud is tuned d'aebF#B with a standard D'Addario oud string set.
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paulO
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Hi Robert,
The photo's a little whacky with the pickguard reflecting the edge of the triangle, but this doesn't look like much of a dip to me. I've seen them
much more dippy than this..and like Richard (Dr. Oud) had told me many moons ago, that the dip is built in.
The D'Adario set info is posted here --
http://www.juststrings.com/dad-j95.html. I've never used tension measurements, but I haven't had any trouble with these guages using d a e b A E
on any oud built in the US since 1975. Plus, you're tuning lower than I on the Bass strings, so you should be okay. Heck the older LaBella sets used
to have a .042 wound string for the single Bass !
How does it feel to you now that you've changed strings ?? It'll take about 2 weeks for the new set of strings to "relax" and stop feeling stiff. Last
resort, take it to an oud maker and have them check it out. I know it's a tough deal though, since you don't want to harm your oud.
The difference for me is, the ouds I've been playing are all sort of close to Karibian size/string length..which could be somewhat shorter than the
modern instruments. Hope this helps a bit.
Take care, and enjoy the oud.
Regards...Paul
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SamirCanada
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look at how thin that top is!!
must sound soo nice.
like it was said.
the Dip is there on purpose to keep the strings from striking the face.
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Ararat66
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My Tasos has a similar dip - it is definately built in because it is flat across the face (from side to side), so the dip is not the face bowling
inwards.
Can't believe the thinness of that face - I bet it's an absolute corker of an oud.
Leon
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rojaros
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Thank you all for contributions.
I also feel that this oud is wonderful. When I get more aquainted with it, I will upload some recordings.
It's calming to know that this little indentation is not a big issue or even intended.
I went back to the old strings because I didn't like the sound of the oud with arab strings - it just didn't feel right.
I ordered aquilla strings at Khalaf so I will report how the things work when I get them.
best wishes to you all
Robert
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