MoH
Oud Maniac
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Registered: 7-22-2018
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Ebony Veneer to Cover Fingerboard - Dumb Idea?
I've had some buzzing from various positions on my oud for a while now, including the typical F on D strings and C on A strings. I sanded the
fingerboard down, and the buzzing is reduced, but it's still somewhat audible at those positions.
I'm concerned about sanding it down more, since the actual rosewood is only about 1-1.5 mm thick. I've read that some people have covered their
fingerboards with epoxy or crazy glue, but this seems easy to mess up, and it might apparently alter the sound of the oud.
So, I'm considering just getting a sheet of ebony veneer (like this: https://www.veneersupplies.com/products/AAA-Quartersawn-Ebony-Macass... ), slapping it on the fingerboard, and applying some sort of finish to make it more durable. It's about 0.6 mm thick, so I'd raise the nut a little
bit to compensate.
To me, this seems simple enough, but I haven't heard of it being done on ouds, and I've never worked with veneer. What do you guys think?
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
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Quote: Originally posted by MoH  | I've had some buzzing from various positions on my oud for a while now, including the typical F on D strings and C on A strings. I sanded the
fingerboard down, and the buzzing is reduced, but it's still somewhat audible at those positions.
I'm concerned about sanding it down more, since the actual rosewood is only about 1-1.5 mm thick. I've read that some people have covered their
fingerboards with epoxy or crazy glue, but this seems easy to mess up, and it might apparently alter the sound of the oud.
So, I'm considering just getting a sheet of ebony veneer (like this: https://www.veneersupplies.com/products/AAA-Quartersawn-Ebony-Macass... ), slapping it on the fingerboard, and applying some sort of finish to make it more durable. It's about 0.6 mm thick, so I'd raise the nut a little
bit to compensate.
To me, this seems simple enough, but I haven't heard of it being done on ouds, and I've never worked with veneer. What do you guys think?
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The first thing I would do is wait for the weather to change. Sometimes that's all that's needed to cure buzzes.
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
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My concern would be that if the fingerboard is uneven enough to cause buzzing, then that unevenness would come through the veneer as well, so you
wouldn't fix the problem. In addition, the veneer may not itself be perfectly smooth–the purpose of these veneers is not to provide a finished
fingerboard.
Ebony is typically more resilient than rosewood, so it may help slow further degradation, but overall this sounds like something a luthier should deal
with to avoid making things worse and to have a more long-term solution.
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SamirCanada
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Issa bad idea. Veneer is not that's stable with humidity but also because of the way it's sliced it won't actually be that hard. It will damage
The CA glue refinish is a better idea if you are confident in what you are doing. Don't use crazy glue. There are special types of glues for this.
Starbond is a good brand.
You can also replace the fingerboard with and Ebony one. Just remove the old one.
@samiroud Instagram
samiroudmaker@gmail.com
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paulO
Oud Junkie
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Dear MoH - listen to the previous voices of reason  !! Either have a luthier
repair/resurface the fingerboard, or replace the fingerboard - or you could as Jody said, wait for the weather to change....yes way ! Good luck.
Regards - Paul
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MoH
Oud Maniac
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Registered: 7-22-2018
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Thanks for all the replies guys. I guess the answer to my original question is: Yes, definitely a dumb idea.
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