hello,
I just received my first oud, and am thrilled that this site exists. I looked for an answer to this but was unable to find it.
The thinnest course of strings on my new oud will not tune with each other correctly. And as you play up the neck the notes get progressively
worse. Up to a 20 cent difference by my tuner.
the middle courses are OK and the lowest single string has a very bad buzz around the mjor third.
Does the knot tied at the bridge adjust the intonation and string height if adjusted? Is this common?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.paulO - 11-16-2006 at 07:44 PM
Hi Billinpit,
The two worst strings on the oud for matching intonation are the top strings. (In my case the D strings). You might try the old trick of taking one
off and turning it around, this may or may not help. You might end up just having to get another pair.
You can adjust the height of the lowest string at the bridge (raise it a little) to try to minimize the buzz. If the buzzing stays, then you might
have the fingerboard checked, and worked on the get the buzz out. You could also try a slightly heavier guage string on the 6th (lowest).
Good luck, I'm sure many others will chime in.
PaulOpeppeo77 - 11-17-2006 at 07:41 AM
Which kind of oud you have and what is the type and gauge of strings are you using? Arabic strings may buzz on a turkish oud, and on some ouds (e.g.
Sukkar's ouds) you can set the action of the strings from inside the bowl. Maybe the oud is brand new and it will stop buzzing with a correct string
tension. Let us know...
Ciao ciao, Peppeo.adamgood - 11-17-2006 at 08:03 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by billinpitt
Does the knot tied at the bridge adjust the intonation and string height if adjusted? Is this common?
it can, try it out on your high treble strings. could just need new strings, there's always a bad one in a bunch.
RE: the low string, first i would just try quick and dirty method of sticking some paper under the lowest string, at the nut. the point being of
course to raise the string and the action, so fold paper as many times as needed. if you don't have to raise it too high before the buzzing goes away
that that point then you're in business, try to shim up the nut. otherwise maybe the fingerboard would need a (hopefully subtle) planing.
Adambillinpitt - 11-17-2006 at 11:30 AM
Thanks for the advice. You knowledgable good people probably get tired of answering the same types of questions.
My oud is an intermediate Turkish style. I was told that it should be tuned (low-high) D<G<A<D<G<C. I believe the neck needs
planing on it.
I made a short recording of it and sent it to the place I bought it and they agreed and are sending me a return authorization. Hopefully they
will send me a better one. Thanks everyone. peppeo77 - 11-20-2006 at 07:57 AM
You are using an arabic tuning on a turkish oud...Which set of strings have you put on?
Ciao, peppeoAlan - 11-20-2006 at 12:43 PM
Quote:
You might try the old trick of taking one off and turning it around, this may or may not help
From my experience this does help with intonation problems. Buzzing is another problem
