Mike's Oud Forums

La Bella ou80 Turkish tuning

slev - 8-16-2024 at 09:38 PM

Can these be tuned EABEAD CFbead etc ?
Will be used on Turkish oud.

Brian Prunka - 8-17-2024 at 08:31 AM

According to the LaBella website it's made for GABead', which certainly doesn't seem correct. Based on the gauges provided, I would expect it to work best as C#F#Bead'.

Tuning to EABead would concern me as the tension on courses 5 and 6 would be rather high and might damage the oud.

Pyramid 706 is made for the EABead' tuning if I recall correctly.

Or you could make up your own set of LaBellas, or just get separate strings for courses 5 and 6. I'd be inclined to use something like .030 for A and .040 for E.

slev - 8-17-2024 at 08:49 AM

Pyramid 706
Sounds good to me thank you for the suggestion out of curiosity if I went to guitar Center, do you think they would have the strings I need because I’m sure they sell strings individually, too kind of tired of doing things online it’s getting kind of expensive

maraoud108 - 8-17-2024 at 09:15 AM

Hi Everyone,

In my studies with Ara Dinkjian he told me at some point that he endorses La Bella strings. I can ask if he has a custom set that he uses if you'd like, but I think he may just use these pre made sets.

In my experience studying with him and listening to his music, he tends to tune his older ouds D G A D G C and his newer Faruk oud E A B E A D.

I have been using this set on my Merjanian oud, tuned to E:

https://www.labella.com/product/ouviv-t/

They sound really wonderful after a month or two.

I've recently tuned it down to D and it is also great.

Brian Prunka - 8-17-2024 at 02:20 PM

Quote: Originally posted by slev  
Pyramid 706
Sounds good to me thank you for the suggestion out of curiosity if I went to guitar Center, do you think they would have the strings I need because I’m sure they sell strings individually, too kind of tired of doing things online it’s getting kind of expensive


You might be able to but they might only have one brand as singles, if it's not LaBella it might be D'addario. They are decent strings also, but they feel a little stiffer than LaBella. At those gauges they are similar tension (in the .022-.026 range LaBella and D'addario can be very different).

Brian Prunka - 8-17-2024 at 02:24 PM

Quote: Originally posted by maraoud108  
Hi Everyone,

In my studies with Ara Dinkjian he told me at some point that he endorses La Bella strings. I can ask if he has a custom set that he uses if you'd like, but I think he may just use these pre made sets.

In my experience studying with him and listening to his music, he tends to tune his older ouds D G A D G C and his newer Faruk oud E A B E A D.

I have been using this set on my Merjanian oud, tuned to E:

https://www.labella.com/product/ouviv-t/

They sound really wonderful after a month or two.

I've recently tuned it down to D and it is also great.


I tried the LaBella Vivace Arabic strings and I found the tension rather high on some of the strings - I can't imagine these strings being a whole step higher. I know Turkish ouds often use a bit higher tension but I'm a bit surprised to see these suggested for EABead'



slev - 8-17-2024 at 08:06 PM

So, looked at the pyramid 706 and if you look at the recommended tuning that has nothing to do with EABEAD, what I mean iis says G for the largest string that's that's high tune it low and E will be like a slinky on the piano keys / fingerboard....?

I need these strings before Friday of next week if there is a link to a set on Amazon IL go that route.

This doesn't need to turn into a debate on the best strings I just want to add new strings and play ???? but not damage it!!!


p.s
on my floating bridge, Arabic Oud I run pyramid FADGCF and I can down tune the strings to EAbead and it sounds okay sustain is sloppy but, I enjoy it! if I need to stick with Arabic tuning let me know what strings to get The length is 27 inches from top to bottom of Oud

Brian Prunka - 8-18-2024 at 08:41 AM

The length that matters is the "vibrating string length" (VSL) also called the "scale length" or just "scale".

This is the length of the part of the string that actually vibrates when you play, measured from the inside of the bridge to the edge of the nut. On a Turkish oud this is almost always 58.5cm, on Arabic ouds I've seen everything from 57cm to 63cm.

If you look at the 706, it says the low string is 6.7Kg tuned to G, which is a crazy amount of tension. Normal is 3-4Kg. So this is some nonsense and the string is fine tuned to E. A rough calculation suggests that if this is accurate, tuning it down to E is about 4.4 Kg, which is fine and still on the high side (not uncommon for the low single string). It's probably a tiny bit lower than advertised because the package says it's average tension for 58-60cm.

There might be some confusion in that the note written as G in Turkish music but is actually a sounding D normally. Or who knows. D'addario had the wrong tuning and tensions on their Turkish oud set for over 20 years. I wish I was kidding.

Most players of Turkish oud I've met seem to prefer the Kurschner or Ozten strings, but I know very few who use the "old" tuning.
It's weird that all these manufacturers are listing the low string as G, I've never heard of anyone tuning that way.






slev - 8-23-2024 at 09:57 AM

The la Bella ou80 sound very bad and the EA strings can’t do E but can do A for the pair but it’s TIGHT. And the sound from the middle E strings sound not at all like an oud.


This oud was made by ethnic musical as per the label inside.

I have these in my amazon cart:
Which of the two is best and won’t give me that bright metallic sound.
Aurora A00-109
Or
Volume Premium P109.

The prices are exactly the same $29

Brian Prunka - 8-23-2024 at 11:42 AM

Sala is not providing enough info to determine anything about the Aurora. The Volume P109 explicitly says it's for modern tuning so that won't work.

Kurschner or Ozten are the main ones that Pro Turkish players use, but again almost all professionals use the 'modern' tuning, not the one you are trying to use. They appear not to give any information about the contents of the set and claim that they are suitable for "all tunings" which is absurd.
If you got the "low tension" Kurschner that might be your best bet.

What I would recommend is getting Pyramid 706 if you want an inexpensive set.
Or, Aquila also has a set that says it's for the old style tuning. They have a different sound that may sound great on your oud, or maybe not.

Or you get one of the above, throw out the strings for courses 5-6 and get strings suited to your tuning. Above I suggested .030 for A and .040 for E, but that might be a bit high actually. A might be better at .028-.029 and E at .035-.036.


If you want a premium set, get the following "lute" strings from Pyramid:

d' - PVF .48
a - PVF .63
e - 1008 (light) or 9085 (med)
B - 1014 (light) or 1114 (med)
A - 1116 (light) or 1017 (med)
E - 1028 (light) or 1029 (med)

Most strings sound a bit metallic to begin with and they mellow out with use.

slev - 8-23-2024 at 12:59 PM

Thank you for the information.
Due to just over all the labella strings sounding cheap on other ouds, I’ve decided no more money wasted on that brand.
I purchased low tension kurschner and they will be here Sunday. I’ll restring using CFbead and report back soon ????

slev - 8-23-2024 at 01:00 PM

Quote: Originally posted by slev  
Thank you for the information.
Due to just over all the labella strings sounding cheap on other ouds, I’ve decided no more money wasted on that brand.
I purchased low tension kurschner and they will be here Sunday. I’ll restring using CFbead and report back soon ????

I figured out how to quote you. Again thanks and what a great idea ditching the top lower strings and adding appropriate tension string, I’d have to do that with the ee strings well, if you shoot me a pm I can send you a sound sample