Mike's Oud Forums

5 holes oud, not the cool one!

spyblaster - 12-20-2014 at 01:15 PM

A customer brought this oud for maintenance. The pick guard had loosened so I had to remove the old glue and install the pick guard again, and this is what I saw. Unfortunately this Turkish student oud had no ID card in it.
Here is all I can say to the luthier: Come on dude!

[file]33777[/file]

mavrothis - 12-20-2014 at 07:12 PM

Looks like the mice got in. Did they manage to get out? :)

bulerias1981 - 12-20-2014 at 09:55 PM

You know... I've removed some pickguards in my day and I have seen some weird stuff happening underneath, including holes like this!!

Hasan - 12-20-2014 at 10:38 PM

how does the oud sound now with those nasty holes? :D
i read that old arabic ouds had a leather soundboard with no holes. one day the great Zeryab woke up and found out that a rat made a hole for him in his soundboard. full of sadness and anger, he picked up his oud and played. he was shoked! it sounded better :D then holes became standard. :D


Jody Stecher - 12-20-2014 at 10:56 PM

Many years ago (43 of them, if I'm counting right) a neighbor of mine built an oud with a mule skin soundboard. It was the head of conga drum. And this oud sounded great. I don't remember if it had a sound hole or not. And I don't remember the bowl. I don't remember a rat either. But we had a family of raccoons in the back yard.
Quote: Originally posted by Hasan  
how does the oud sound now with those nasty holes? :D
i read that old arabic ouds had a leather soundboard with no holes. one day the great Zeryab woke up and found out that a rat made a hole for him in his soundboard. full of sadness and anger, he picked up his oud and played. he was shoked! it sounded better :D then holes became standard. :D


SamirCanada - 12-21-2014 at 06:23 AM

I have seen a similar situation where the top was Pine wood and a knot was under the sound board, the knot dried and had fallen out so there was a hole.

I honestly dont know what kind of effect it would have had on sound. as bad a it looks, I dont think it would have a huge effect to have holes under the pickguard.

jdowning - 12-21-2014 at 06:38 AM

Note that - according to the early iconography many of the oud like instruments had no visible sound holes cut into the sound board. Indeed an oud without soundholes would still work - sound being radiated from the sound board vibration - it just would not 'benefit' from the 'Helmholtz' bowl air resonance phenomenon.