Mike's Oud Forums

broken tanbur

marctanbur - 3-23-2014 at 03:01 AM

I purchased a tanbur from a reputable company in Ankara. They shipped it to me uninsured (after telling me it was insured), and it arrived with the spruce soundboard cracked. The company in Turkey will not return my emails, so I am stuck with a broken tanbur. I found someone to remove the soundboard, now I need to find someone to put a new one on. And I don't want to end up spending as much to fix it as I spent to buy it. Does anyone have any advice for how to proceed?
Pining away for spruce in Nova Scotia....

Lysander - 3-23-2014 at 03:25 AM

I'm sorry I can't help with your issue, but it might be pertinent to mention the name of the company here lest any of us come across similar issues. Someone here may even know of them personally and be able to assist.

Dr. Oud - 3-23-2014 at 04:38 AM

A crack in the soundboard is a common repair for any stringed instrument. You could try your local violin or guitar repair shop. The repair is simply to rub glue into the crack, then dampen the wood on each side of the crack to swell it shut, and keep it damp until the glue sets. You could use any glue formulated for wood, but not polyvinyl (white), or epoxy (unless formulated for wood), or cyanoacrylate (crazy glue) - unless you get the one formulated especially for wood. Be sure to wipe off the excess glue from the surface around the crack before it hardens.