Mike's Oud Forums

String action with long fingerboards

Omar Al-Mufti - 9-11-2016 at 04:46 AM

Hey guys...hope you are all doing fine.
I need your help here....what are the available methods to reduce strings action on an oud with long fingerboard?
Second question....would gluing a new fingerboard over the old one be an option?
I thought that I could also dand the fingerboard more from the nut side.......but I guess I need to go down 1.5 mm to win 0 5 mm at the joint........this means too much wood should be removed...I don't want to risk weakening the structure at the end of the neck where it meets also the pegbox....

Brian Prunka - 9-11-2016 at 05:57 AM

If the action is really bad, a neck reset may be required.
In some cases, you can just put a new fingerboard on top of the old one.
You should really take the oud to a luthier and have them evaluate it.

Omar Al-Mufti - 9-11-2016 at 06:17 AM

Thanks Brian
The action is about 2.7-2.8 mm. It is not bad now at all, but I think this will increase by time....the oud is 2 years old.....the action originally was so...... It's not that it went high due to time and tension .....still I want to have the right startigy in case it gets worse.....honestly I have another oud with 1.9 mm action.....much better playability. So if there is an easy way to do it...I might go for it
Is removing the old fingerboard and gluing a new one hard job?

Brian Prunka - 9-11-2016 at 06:45 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Omar Al-Mufti  

Is removing the old fingerboard and gluing a new one hard job?


You don't have to remove the old fingerboard necessarily, depending on the existing fingerboard you might be able to just to put it on top of the old one.
But yes, it requires a great deal of skill to do properly.