Mike's Oud Forums

Which strings on 58.50 cm arabic oud?

danieletarab - 10-16-2018 at 01:34 PM

Hi oud lovers!
I have a reduced price faruk turunz arabic oud (string's lenght 58,50 cm).
I use traditional C arabic tuning. A the moment I am using arabic LaBella strings for F tuning (of course I don't use the ff string). I love them but tension is a little bit too high. I don't want low tension (which I generally get when I put standard C tuning strings that are built for bigger ouds), but I would like to find something in between.
Any suggestions for medium tension C tuning strings for 58.50 cm arabic oud?
Thank you very much!

MattOud - 10-16-2018 at 02:56 PM

Hi Daniel,
I just put a set of Daniel Mari strings on my Sukar Oud 58.5 a couple days ago and am surprised how nice they sound! I have tried pyramid orange, aquila, la bella, d'addairio, and some others and I was surprized how nice these are for how cheap! For how inexpensive, I would give they a whirl... I am tuned from low to high DGADGC
I got mine off ebay... They are still settling in tuning wise, but are very nice!

DavidJE - 10-17-2018 at 01:20 AM

Daniel,

Zeynel Demirtas, who makes the soundboards at Faruk's place, recommended these Pyramid Lute strings for their Arabic ouds:

C 1240
F 1025
A 1018
d 1012
g PVF 0,68
c PVF 0,59

I've had a Türünz Arabic oud for about 4 years and tried lots of strings on them. These are my favorite by far.

Jody Stecher - 10-17-2018 at 07:04 AM

On two different Arabic ouds (tuned C FF AA dd gg cc ) with 58.5 scale I have been happy with Arabic string sets from MusiCaravan and from D'Addario. I have also had success with Pyramid lute strings.

danieletarab - 10-18-2018 at 03:27 PM

Quote: Originally posted by MattOud  
Hi Daniel,
I am tuned from low to high DGADGC


I will give a try! I use exactly the same tuning :) Thanks a lot!

danieletarab - 10-18-2018 at 03:29 PM

Thank you everybody! I will try all of your suggestions!

DavidJE - 10-19-2018 at 12:04 AM

Daniel,

I actually tune my Arabic oud DGAdgc too. Here are the Pyramid string gauges for that tuning:

D 1035
G 1021
A 1018
d 1012
g PVF 0,68
c PVF 0,59

danieletarab - 10-19-2018 at 11:34 AM

Quote: Originally posted by DavidJE  
Daniel,

I actually tune my Arabic oud DGAdgc too. Here are the Pyramid string gauges for that tuning:

D 1035
G 1021
A 1018
d 1012
g PVF 0,68
c PVF 0,59


thank you! and how will you define the tension? light? medium? high?

DavidJE - 10-19-2018 at 11:49 AM

To me it's medium. :)

Brian Prunka - 10-22-2018 at 05:42 PM

Quote: Originally posted by danieletarab  
Quote: Originally posted by DavidJE  
Daniel,

I actually tune my Arabic oud DGAdgc too. Here are the Pyramid string gauges for that tuning:

D 1035
G 1021
A 1018
d 1012
g PVF 0,68
c PVF 0,59


thank you! and how will you define the tension? light? medium? high?


Tensions:

37N - D 1035
35N - G 1021
36N - A 1018
42N - d 1012
33N - g PVF 0,68
44N - c PVF 0,59

Average tension = 38N, which is medium-high.
For most ouds, I try to keep maximum tension under 39N and average tension between 30-35N. I'd be inclined to try a .54mm for the high c and 1011 for the 3rd d. Depending on the oud, 1017 for the A.

MattOud - 10-23-2018 at 06:45 AM

Thanx for that info Brian! I had wondering about the best tensions for this tuning...
btw- how does one determine the tension if the manufacturer has not listed on the string pack. For example, i checked 4 string packs i have here(Aquila reds, pyramid oranges, d'addario j95's, and the Daniel Mari's...and only the d'addarios have a tension listed, but in lbs and kgs using a scale length of 23 1/4"(590mm).
I notice on your website comments for the DM strings that they used to use a smaller nylon strings in this set i have, but have since upgraded to a larger diameter because of complaints those strings were too floppy. I would love to know the tension on the DM's.

I wanted to also say that after a week now with the Daniel Mari's on my sukar, that i think i have found a really nice combo for this particular OUD. I understand that not all Sukars(or OUDS for that matter) sound best with the same strings set and so we must try different sets until we find one we like....but i really like these on this particular sukar. They project and sustain really nice. Another users(in your site comments) said he tried them on his Ghadban OUD and loved them. What is your opinion of these(if you have tried which i imagine you have), and am i going to hear a drastic difference in sound if i tried, say a good set of pyramid lute strings which are more expensive?

Brian Prunka - 10-23-2018 at 12:51 PM

You're welcome.
In the case of Pyramid, they make and sell a slide-rule type calculator for their specific strings. There's not really a way to calculate string tensions of wound strings without knowing, in some form or other, the linear density of the string. Gauges do not give you enough information because the composition of the string can vary quite widely between manufacturers and even between strings of different gauges from one manufacturer (for example, D'addario's .025in string is lighter than their .024in string due to differences in composition).

Pyramid lists tensions on their oud string sets (based on 61.5cm for the Arabic sets if I recall correctly). I believe LaBella does also somewhere. Mari is about 90 years old and his factory is really tiny, just a few employees. I don't think he's going to be doing any in-depth testing. They seem to be pretty light tension.

Nylon tensions can be more or less calculated using string calculators on the internet, since the linear density of nylon is constant. Same goes for PVF. Plain Aquila is supposedly the same density as gut, though when I did calculations based on that I got slightly different results than Aquila's own tables. It was close though.

One could construct an experimental apparatus to tune strings attached to a scale to measure tension —I think someone on the forums did this once.

If you like a set of strings, by all means stick with them.
To me, Pyramid Lute are a significant upgrade on most ouds, but in some cases the difference between a set that's around $10 and a set that's around $50+ may not be worth the extra money. Occasionally, an oud will just work better with one set of strings or another. LaBella lute are quite nice also for the wounds.

One thing the Lute strings are great for is if you have an unusual oud (very long, very short, old and delicate) or are doing something less common (like tuning down a whole step). The lute strings allow you to fine-tune the set to exactly what you need.

MattOud - 10-24-2018 at 10:47 AM

Thanx again for that info Brian. I am sure we will all benefit from this knowledge and the importance of seeking out the correct strings. You are doing the right thing, Daniel, by asking about suggestions on the tension.

I learned the hard way of why we should know what strings may work or not, when i once put a set of strings on my one oud, and woke up the next morning to a mess of tangled strings and a broken off bridge :) Thankfully it was not a Turunz or something of similar quality....and i have since had it repaired, lesson learned!