Friends - I have a nice Turkish oud with one of those oversize black plastic pick-guards. The instrument is about 10 years old. Is there a safe way
to remove it and substitute a lot smaller one?Hank Levin - 4-19-2005 at 10:21 AM
Depends on what adhesive was used. If a spray adhesive was used, you may carefully tease up one corner of it, and bleed toluol or xylol under it using
a syringe. (You may need more than one syringe, as the solvent will deteriorate it rather quickly.) Don't rush it, and let the glue dissolve or soften
as you gently pull up the old scratchplate.
If the glue was hide glue, you may be able to soften it with alcohol. If you try to use water, hot or cold, you'll probably pull up so much woodgrain
it'll be a disaster. You could even compromise the center joint in the face.
A warm spatula, one of those long, narrow flexible ones that look like a big palette knife, is probably the best tool. Don't get it hot enough to
scorch the face. The end should not be so sharp that it cuts into the spruce and creates a disaster.
You may be able to use a hair dryer and heat it gently. Be very careful about using heat on a Turkish oud--by the time the top is hot enough to
release the scratchplate, it may be hot enough to release the braces underneath! --HankGabriel - 5-11-2005 at 12:14 AM
why dont you sand it offDr. Oud - 5-11-2005 at 07:38 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Gabriel
why dont you sand it off
3 reasons:
1. You will probably sand some of the face off to get all the glue out, This can ruin your oud permanently.
2. You might bust loose some braces with the pressure on the face while sanding. This is an expensive repair job.
3. If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times NEVER SAND THE FACE, PERIOD!
ok?
