Mike's Oud Forums

1954 Gamil George restoration

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 11:10 AM

Almost 2 years ago I accepted a project to restore an old Gamil George oud. The condition was a result of bad repair and neglect. The face seams were open, the edging had separated from the body in the lower section, the neck was loose and the pegbox damaged in the mounting notch. An inspection inside with a mirror revealed that the entire inside of the face had been coated with polyvinyl glue!

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 11:11 AM

here the edging has been removed, but because the body had been separated for so long the old tiles would not close the gap so new edge tiles needed to be fabricated.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 11:21 AM

The face was removed and the layer of glue was scraped off. All the braces had been gounted with polyvinyl glue as well, so each was removed and re-glued with hide glue.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 11:25 AM

Here a brace clamp ficture is used to mount the brace, while some of the excess glue can be seen in the upper section.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 11:28 AM

After the braces were all re-glued, all the seams were backed with parchment paper infused with hide glue.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 11:30 AM

Here is the shams with a new section added ( the bright white area). The roses were painted to match the color.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 11:32 AM

The body had several cracks and the inside paper was dried out, so the loose paper was scrapped out.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 11:33 AM

New parchment paper backing was applied to all seams except for the label.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 11:35 AM

The neck had been maounted with 2 long wood screws (they ruined my saw!) after the screws were removed the dowel was cut through to re fit the neck joint.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 11:38 AM

Here the neck joint has been re-fitted and a new dowel installed. There was a piece of the fingerboard overlapping the neck joint that had to be removed and replaced after the neck was glued on.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 11:41 AM

The peg box needed a new block at the neck end

zalzal - 12-12-2006 at 11:49 AM

Dont reply if no time...;the darkness of the bowl is natural colour of wood or kind of varnish. If so, is this going to be sanded or so??
I admire this craftmanship.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 11:51 AM

The bowel is Brazilian Rosewood, narurally very dark. It was refinished after repairing the damaged areas. The inlay around the roses and at the tail is very intricate with pieces of brass and mother of pearl as well as tiny pices of several colors of wood. The effect is striking once it was restored as you wil see.

Jason - 12-12-2006 at 12:19 PM

I can't wait to see the newly restored oud. That oud must be extremely valuable with an entire bowl made of brazilian rosewood

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 01:27 PM

The boxwood pegs were painted black and missing a couple of top knobs. The paint was removed, the pegs stained black with India ink and the top knobs replaced.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 01:32 PM

the pegbox was glued into the neck in the usual fashion

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 01:35 PM

the face was glued into the back, pulling the sides in with rubber bands with just enough tension. The blocks prevent the bands from pilling the face down into the body too far.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 01:38 PM

The neck was aligned with strings at each end of the bridge.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 01:40 PM

Edge tiles were fabricated by fist gluing laminate strips together

paulO - 12-12-2006 at 01:50 PM

Hi Richard,

Very lovely, super cool and unique looking detail work all around, wow. Thanks for taking the time to post the fantastic pictures of the work. You know I love this stuff !!

Best Regards,

Paul

SamirCanada - 12-12-2006 at 02:13 PM

Nicely done DOC..
I love those gamil georges ouds.

Mike - 12-12-2006 at 02:13 PM

Second that PaulO. Thanks for sharing this project Doc.

Way to go!

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 02:53 PM

Just wait 'til you hear it!
The edge tiles were glued on...

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 02:54 PM

after the entire edge is completed, the tiles are sanded flush to the face and body.

Hosam - 12-12-2006 at 02:54 PM

Hello Richard, beautiful oud and fine work! What kind of material is used for the white blocks on the fingerboard? Do you know if Gamil Goerge used the same bracing pattern on his other ouds or just for the larger ouds?

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 02:58 PM

Hours and hours of tweezer work replacing ity bity pieces of rosewood, MOP and plastic...oh man! It is sooo sparkley!

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 02:58 PM

here's a view from the top

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 03:00 PM

and the tailpiece inlay

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 03:06 PM

click here for the video.

Jason - 12-12-2006 at 03:10 PM

It sounds beautiful... very rich and full. Can we get an up close shot of the detail around the rosettes?

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 03:13 PM

there ya go - the video was done with a digital camera with the on-board mic, not a hi-fi sound. It has a much fuller tone with that "old man oud" gruff edge to it. It's vey inspiring to play, but it's now in the owner's hands, and he's a happy oudist now.

SamirCanada - 12-12-2006 at 03:25 PM

NIce oud and sounds really nice.
Thanks for sharing.

samzayed - 12-12-2006 at 03:47 PM

Dr. Oud,

Do you happen to have the following information on this oud:

(1) Width of the soundboard
(2) Depth of the bowl
(3) string length

Thanks,
Sam

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 04:27 PM

I lost the measurements in my recent move and didn't re-measure it because it was assembled by then and the brace locations are what's really important. sorry.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 04:32 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hosam
Hello Richard, beautiful oud and fine work! What kind of material is used for the white blocks on the fingerboard? Do you know if Gamil Goerge used the same bracing pattern on his other ouds or just for the larger ouds?
The white blocks are plasctic, probably bakelite as it is fairly hard and brittle. I have not worked on other Gamil Georges so I don't know what he used on other ouds. The braces on this one are very different than the Nahats I have seen. George used short and wide braces, the Nahats employed tall and thin ones. They both work, it's all a matter of balance and proportion.

Jameel - 12-12-2006 at 04:36 PM

Whew! I'm worn out just watching! Nice job. I wish I could get that much done in the space of one day! ;)

Interesting bracing stats. Very interesting. Not often we get to see the inside, and it's a treat when we do.

Thanks so much for posting this.

Can we hear a better sound clip than the video? Those camera mics just don't do the job. Even on my father's expensive video camera it lacks any warmth.

Dr. Oud - 12-12-2006 at 04:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Jameel
Whew! I'm worn out just watching! Nice job. I wish I could get that much done in the space of one day! ;)

Interesting bracing stats. Very interesting. Not often we get to see the inside, and it's a treat when we do.

Thanks so much for posting this.

Can we hear a better sound clip than the video? Those camera mics just don't do the job. Even on my father's expensive video camera it lacks any warmth.
Hey, you can do it in one day too. You just have to use your time machine or run around the world in reverse to spin it backwards each day. Do it about 600 times and you're good to go.
Yea, the bracing is very different, but it works. Different strokes and all that.
I made a recording on my minidisc but haven't been able to off load it yet. I'll be working on that.
here a pic of the back. It has a solid beechwood neck and is kinda heavy, but it's gor the sound we all want and plays real nice.

oudplayer - 12-12-2006 at 04:50 PM

hey doc

very nice job with the project. whast yrs next . btw howmuch would a Gamil Georges oud cost now.
another question what the advantge and the diasadvange of a small toa larger bowl bc i am short and stubby :D the enxt oud i want would be a small bowl thast why i like my haluk turkish oud bc its small,
but why si a small bowl louder or did i just make that up
thx sammy

paulO - 12-12-2006 at 06:26 PM

Dear Richard,

One amazing oud -- the picture of the back makes me wish I'd seen it in person, and of course the old oud sound...very inspiring indeed. Take care.

Paul

Mike - 12-12-2006 at 09:44 PM

Doc O...you are awesome! Thanks again for sharing this restore project. What a beauty, eh? That last photo is great. You really brought that bad boy back to life. The oud looks spectacular. You are a master my friend!

Dr. Oud - 12-13-2006 at 09:46 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by oudplayer
hey doc

very nice job with the project. whast yrs next . btw howmuch would a Gamil Georges oud cost now.
another question what the advantge and the diasadvange of a small toa larger bowl bc i am short and stubby :D the enxt oud i want would be a small bowl thast why i like my haluk turkish oud bc its small,
but why si a small bowl louder or did i just make that up
thx sammy

Every oud has it's own price, it's up to you to decide wether it's in your budget. This oud will not be for sale I'm sure, the owner is very pleased with it and thinks it's the oud he's been waiting for all his life. I'd sure be happy to have it.
The size of the bowel has little to do with the volume of sound, only the resonant frequency of the bass response. It's the soundboard and it's construction that produces the sound, the bowel is only to reflect back the bass soundwaves. The Hamza Usta I restored was smaller than a standard Turkish oud but was very loud.

oudplayer - 12-13-2006 at 11:42 AM

hey doc
wow very powerfull this is what i like in a oud .very much so
awesome oud u restored and great movie i like it alot.
thx sammy

Dr. Oud - 12-18-2006 at 09:36 AM

I thought you guys would like to see how much glue and other crap was removed from the inside of the face-

great job doc!

muthada - 12-19-2006 at 01:32 AM

paulO - 12-19-2006 at 05:13 PM

Hi Richard,

Man what a mish mosh of glue residue...and assorted muck. That's like taking a mute off the oud !! Take care.

Paul