Dr. Oud - 12-31-2006 at 12:52 PM
I've begun restoration of an old Arabic oud for an old friend.
Dr. Oud - 12-31-2006 at 12:53 PM
the back
Dr. Oud - 12-31-2006 at 12:54 PM
the fingerboard has a herringbone inlay, wild, huh?
Dr. Oud - 12-31-2006 at 12:57 PM
the face
Dr. Oud - 12-31-2006 at 12:58 PM
The shamsiya is warped and has pulled the edgeing away from the surrounding face. Removing it was a real challenge, after finding it was trapped under
the braces at the sides. I had to squeeze a small razor saw in and remove the corner of the brace.
Dr. Oud - 12-31-2006 at 12:59 PM
with the rose out we can see the label - translation, anyone?
Hosam - 12-31-2006 at 01:18 PM
Very nice Richard!
The label says:
Work of Suliman Dawood Alhadad in the American (building?) Dar Alsalam
28 th of (month) 1923.
Translation
spyrosc - 12-31-2006 at 01:41 PM
The month is "khaziran" or June in the "Syrian" naming style of months.
Good luck Richard
Spyros C.
Jason - 1-1-2007 at 02:50 PM
That fingerboard would make me dizzy 
oudplayer - 1-1-2007 at 02:59 PM
hey doc
Did your friedn buy this or found it or where he get it from i like it alot
btw the pick guard i like its nice .
thx sammy
Dr. Oud - 1-1-2007 at 04:34 PM
The owner bought it on ebay for $100!
oudplayer - 1-1-2007 at 06:49 PM
hey doc
well worth it
thx sammy
Dr. Oud - 1-6-2007 at 11:04 AM
Here's a pic of the notched rose hole side brace. Do not use this feature as the only thing it does is make repair more difficult.
Dr. Oud - 1-6-2007 at 11:06 AM
TWith the rose removed, the edge of the hole is very fragile and broken in several places. Parchment paper is cut to overlap the seams and will be
glued inside the hole edge for reinforcement .
Dr. Oud - 1-15-2007 at 01:32 PM
Now that the big hole is reinforced and the edging replaced I can begin repairing the lower bout problems. Both eyun (small roses) are separated from
the face as well,
Dr. Oud - 1-15-2007 at 01:33 PM
so I'm gluing the down and will reinforce the edging after they are flush with the face.
Dr. Oud - 2-3-2007 at 01:14 PM
The neck end of the pegbox was chewed up..
Dr. Oud - 2-3-2007 at 01:15 PM
So I removed the back plate, and whoa! the entire pegbox was blocked, the back plate was just a veneer-
Dr. Oud - 2-3-2007 at 01:16 PM
Then I cut a piece of veneer and ironed it on with hide glue-
Dr. Oud - 2-3-2007 at 01:17 PM
The face was still rattling after I had glued most of the cracks, so I started pushing up from the inside all around and discovered this edge was
unglued-
Dr. Oud - 2-3-2007 at 01:19 PM
so I reglued it
excentrik - 2-4-2007 at 12:38 PM
wow doc- looks good- how much do think an antique like this is worth (after restoration)?
I have an old oud my uncle built in the 40's. the neck is broken and repared a hundred times- the original face is gone and replaced by my other
-shoemaker- uncles shoddy work (plywood from the 60's!)...
If I can afford it- I'd like to get it restored....
anyway- looks great, we are always surprised by your work, doc-
tarik
Dr. Oud - 2-6-2007 at 08:38 AM
The value will depend on the sound once it's playable. If it were mine I wouldn't sell it unless I couldn't play it any more, then it would be worth
several thousand dollars to me (if it has the sound I expect from an out of this maturit)y. I'm a little concerned with the age of the face. It's near
the condition where it could fail under string pressure, but time will tell. Even so, with the face replaced with an accurate reproduction using the
original braces, the soumd can be ressurected as I ahave xperinced with the Hamza Usta and Gamil Georges. I'm curious if this maker was an ancestor of
Mahmoud Haddad who built ouds in Syria during the era of George Nahat & Fils. A mystery to be solved no doubt.
Dr. Oud - 2-12-2007 at 10:27 AM
the neck was fitted and glued on
Dr. Oud - 3-5-2007 at 09:09 AM
I noticed that the pegbox didn't fit the neck notch, dang!
Dr. Oud - 3-5-2007 at 09:10 AM
when I removed the backplate veneer, I founf there was a full length insert in the pegbox.
Dr. Oud - 3-5-2007 at 09:12 AM
so I made a new end block to sprread the walls out to fit the neck. It has my new patented foot extension to better support the pegbox stresses. I put
in a couple of pegs to align the holes whilst clamping.
Dr. Oud - 3-5-2007 at 09:14 AM
that looks better
Dr. Oud - 3-5-2007 at 09:15 AM
then I fitted a new bakpl and glued it up
Dr. Oud - 3-13-2007 at 07:55 AM
here's the new lemon wood back plate
Dr. Oud - 3-14-2007 at 07:23 AM
pegs fitted, pegbox mounted
Dr. Oud - 3-20-2007 at 02:11 PM
so I strung it up and discoverd to my amazement - a very unique feature. Can you tell what it is? The first correct answer gets a free tour of Dr.
Oud's workshop.
Peyman - 3-20-2007 at 03:29 PM
It's left handed!
Dr. Oud - 3-20-2007 at 03:55 PM
YES! Congratulations. Your prize can be claimed in Vancouver, WA. (or equivalent value $.50) U2U for directions. Well, that wasn't so hard after all
so the next quiz will be tougher. I'll leave the first peg out to string it up right handed and see how it sounds. The bracing looks pretty
symmetrical as much as I can see anyway.
Peyman - 3-21-2007 at 04:23 AM
Thank you Doc. I'll come by if I am in the area. BTW, I like the fingerboard pattern. I thought maybe there is a 3-D shape hidden in there...
Dr. Oud - 2-29-2008 at 04:18 PM
done at last!
Dr. Oud - 2-29-2008 at 04:20 PM
the back
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMuUWvioUFo
paulO - 2-29-2008 at 04:47 PM
Cool sounding -- really neat restoration Richard. I like it !!
Regards..PaulO