jazzchiss
Oud Junkie
Posts: 217
Registered: 12-20-2004
Location: Madrid
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Tuning problems with the nut
I got a professional oud. Everything is o.k. except than tuning goes by jumps. The nut is made of oak, and the wounded strings make a big noise as the
rings of the strings advance on the nut.
The maker told me to put some soap on the nut, but if didn’t improve.
What else can I do?
Thank you.
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itziks
Oud Admirer
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hi
soap works ok if your nut was made from bone. since it is made of wood - talc powder would be a better solution.
you add put it also at the tuning pegs and holes.
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SamirCanada
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Actualy the verry best solution I have found to be is to take a regular graphite pencil. and aply some to where the strings go by.
If that doesnt work you can make a nut out of bone 
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peppeo77
Oud Junkie
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I agree that tha pencil graphite is the best solution. try to put A LOT of it in every hole of the nut. It solved my problems both on my ouds and
guitars.
Best wishes, Peppeo.
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Jameel
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Replace the nut with bone. Oak is probably the worst material for nuts.
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Dr. Oud
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| Quote: | Originally posted by jazzchiss
I got a professional oud. Everything is o.k. except than tuning goes by jumps. The nut is made of oak, and the wounded strings make a big noise as the
rings of the strings advance on the nut.
The maker told me to put some soap on the nut, but if didn’t improve.
What else can I do?
Thank you. |
Jameel is right, oak is too soft for the top nut. On the other hand, it doesn't look like oak to me. The main cause for the noise you hear is the
windings of the strings jumping over the leading or trailing edge of the string groove. You could smooth the string grooves at each end so there is no
sharp edge, but I'd insist that the maker fix it. If it is indeed oak, it needs to be replaced with bone or a harder wood like ebony or rosewood, or
some hard synthetic material like corian or glass filled delrin.
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jazzchiss
Oud Junkie
Posts: 217
Registered: 12-20-2004
Location: Madrid
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Mood: Improvising
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Thanks, my friends. What would I do without you?
I’ll try the graphite solution and, if it doesn’t work, I’ll make the nut replaced with bone. Unfortunately I can’t send the oud back to
Lebanon for this small repair.
The nut is oak indeed, as says the certificate of fabrication Nazih Ghabdan gave to me. I didn’t ask for the nut material before buying, but I
didn’t expect to have ‘the worst material for nuts’ .
I think there are quite a few owners of Ghabdan’s ouds in this forum and I didn’t read anything about nut problems. Nobody have an oak nut?
Regards.
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