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Kevork Mazloomian - mission improbable

Dr. Oud - 2-26-2007 at 09:12 AM

This oud belongs to Johnathan Varjabedian. It loks pretty bad, but the damage is mostly in the back.

Dr. Oud - 2-26-2007 at 09:12 AM

the front is intact, with some repairs

Dr. Oud - 2-26-2007 at 09:14 AM

the interior looks good

Dr. Oud - 2-26-2007 at 09:16 AM

The pegs are too deep in the box

Dr. Oud - 2-26-2007 at 09:34 AM

and the pegboc holes have bushings, although they are cracked. Probably end grain dowels.

Dr. Oud - 2-26-2007 at 09:35 AM

here's the label

Dr. Oud - 2-26-2007 at 09:36 AM

and one from Peter Kyvelos who did some repairs

Dr. Oud - 2-26-2007 at 09:38 AM

A new peg box block glued on

Melbourne - 2-27-2007 at 01:20 AM

Ouch.......

Though I'm glad to say that at least the ugly pickguard is off! I'm probably going to lose friends saying this, but one thing that puts me off Turkish ouds, and some Arabic ones; is an unproportional pickguard...i.e both sides dont mirror perfectly if cut in half. When I get a Turkish oud, I'll definitelty design my own pickguard....

Dr. Oud - 2-27-2007 at 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Melbourne
Ouch.......

Though I'm glad to say that at least the ugly pickguard is off! I'm probably going to lose friends saying this, but one thing that puts me off Turkish ouds, and some Arabic ones; is an unproportional pickguard...i.e both sides dont mirror perfectly if cut in half. When I get a Turkish oud, I'll definitelty design my own pickguard....

The main reason to make it asymetrical is to use the least sound deadening material on the face while providing protection where it's needed. A decorative raqma (pickguard) is often ineffective in protecting the face and many a good oud face is lost to damage from the mizrab/risha.

jdowning - 2-27-2007 at 09:35 AM

Nice kit of parts Richard! Three questions.
- Interested to see the bushings in the pegbox. Would you reckon these to be original or later additions? I asked this question a little while back on the forum but have you come across other ouds with pegbox bushings?
- The little blocks of wood under the bar ends are presumably for additional support but is this a feature commonly found on ouds? Seems like an extra complication to me.
- Is the banding around the edge of the belly half the thickness of the belly or is it full depth? I do not see a sign of the banding from underneath the belly.
Thanks
John

Dr. Oud - 3-2-2007 at 08:32 AM

-The pegbox bushings are certainly not original. I cannot image why someone would go to the extra labor to install bushings in the original pegbox.
-The support blocks under the brace ends are unusual although I do believe they were used by Fadel on the original Bashir design.
-I'll have to check about the edge band depth.

jdowning - 3-3-2007 at 08:24 AM

Thanks Richard - there would not be much point in fitting bushings except for repair work I agree - unless of course it was done as a decorative feature by the original maker? After all many oud makers spend a lot of labour providing decorative features such as inlays etc. most of which likely do not add to the functionality of the instrument.
However any plugging of a pegbox must introduce some weakness that is best avoided I suppose.
John

Dr. Oud - 3-5-2007 at 09:06 AM

First step is to get those loose ribs glued back. The blocks are holding the rib down on the neck and tail blocks.

Dr. Oud - 3-5-2007 at 09:07 AM

ah, that's a little better.

Jonathan - 3-6-2007 at 09:48 AM

It looks a lot better, Doc.

I am really grateful that you were willing to take this project on. For a while, I thought the oud would turn out to be little more than over-priced kindling.

The ribs are incredibly thin. They seemed like they were less than 1 mm. I know that there is shrinkage over the years, but do you think that they started out that thin, or is it just from agressive sanding over the years? In the few old ouds that I have seen in this sort of condition, it seems like the ribs are just amazingly thin, and I have never been sure if this was the intention of the luthier.

I wish I knew the date of this instrument. I can find no information at all on this Mazloumian guy. I am guessing that the instrument is from around 1920, but that is just a guess.

"No. 92"?? It seems hard to believe for a luthier that nobody has heard of, but I guess it is possible.

The top line, in Armenian, says "tiv 92". Tiv just means number, although on some craftworks (particularly carpets), I have seen it used to stand for "year", often with the first numeral of the year omitted. So, Tiv 897 would mean year 1897, with the 1 just being understood. I have never seen the first two digits omitted, however, so I doubt that the instrument is from 1892. I am going to keep asking around to see if I can find out any more info on this guy.

When I first saw the face, I thought that it was probably new, but I am interested in your thoughts. There is a splice in it, which I am guessing that Kyvelos put in there in 1974. So, perhaps the face was old at that time already (or else it might not have warranted salvaging it).

Interesting how the purfling surrounding the rosettes is right at the edge--not as common in Turkish ouds.

Finally, about the mizraplek. I don't mind the asymetrical look, but was that a later development? Don't almost all of the old Turkish ouds have a simple oval? I am not sure how long this lasted, but it would seem unlikely to find a Turkish oud with an asymetrical mizraplek before the 1940s.

Again, Doc, thanks!

Dr. Oud - 3-6-2007 at 11:29 AM

The ribs are very thin and I can't imagine anyone building this way. I would surmise that they were sanded down by refinishing over the years. The end result will likely be a bit bumpy as it's no longer possible to sand the mating edges any more. I plan to build up the inside with parchment paper as soon as the remaining loose rib is glued down. When the missing rib is replaced I'll have to take the rose up to get inside for the final seam reinforcement.
I don't believe it is over 50 years old. It just doesn't have the look and odor of a 19th century instrument. But who knows?
It's possible from the color that Keyvelos replaced the whole face. perhaps you might write him for some more history on it. Especially the rationale for the cut down rose.
Many Turkish ouds used the plain oval shaped pickguard and some more elaborate shapes, but they're usually symmetrical. antique Turkish ouds

Jonathan - 3-6-2007 at 11:47 AM

You mean not before 1957?
No, I think it is a lot older than that. I am going mostly by the appearance of the label--the style of the writing, the manner in which it was written. Not in ball point pen, but in ink (fountain pen? quill?)
And, Kyvelos' repair was over 30 years ago.
Still, it's anybody's guess at this point. Either way, thanks.

Arto - 3-11-2007 at 03:38 AM

"Many Turkish ouds used the plain oval shape and some more elaborate shapes, but usually symmetrical. antique Turkish ouds"

Sorry for sidestepping the topic, but I looked at Veyselmusic link above and noticed the Armenak Kalfayan oud claimed to be from 1826. I´ve never seen a bowl like that with radiating ribs - in yayli tanburs, ok, but not in an oud, a lute or a mandolin. Fascinating and beautiful, but difficult to make I suppose, especially on a bowl that is not regular half-hemiphere like yayli tanbur´s. Is this oud a lonely example of this construction?

PS: The tanbur pictures I have seen with this construction have beem yayli tanburs with membrane tops. Has this been used in mizrapli all-wood tanburs, too?

Arto

Jonathan - 3-12-2007 at 08:14 PM

I have corresponded a bit with Ceniz Sarikus regarding that oud-- he says that it is the only oud with that construction that he has ever seen, and he has a strong grasp on historic ouds in Turkey.

Dr. Oud - 3-13-2007 at 07:47 AM

I removed the rose to get access inside and stored it in an old cd jewel case (with the center carved off)

Dr. Oud - 3-13-2007 at 07:48 AM

This view shows the edge cut through for the banding

Dr. Oud - 3-13-2007 at 07:54 AM

I cleaned the dirt and dust off the inside surface to prepare it for parchment paper reinforcement. The old paper lining is dried out and needs to be scrapped off to get good adhesion for the parchment. The support blocks were added and the glue is different than the synthetic glue used to mount the banding.

al-Halabi - 3-13-2007 at 08:55 AM

Jonathan,

I share your sense, based on the label alone, that the oud is older than 50 years. I have some experience with French manuscripts, and although I can't pinpoint an exact time period here, the hand and the various flourishes of the script (for example in the capital P in "Paris") reflect a style that was common in the early decades of the twentieth century and earlier. Mazloumian was apparently an immigrant who must have learned to write in one of the Western-style schools set up by communities and missionary groups in Anatolia and other parts of the Middle East, in which this style of writing was taught in the late 19th and early 20th century. The label could very well be from around 1920, give or take a decade.

Have you checked for information on the luthier with Armenian communal organizations in Paris? The Research Center on the Armenian Diaspora in Paris might be able to help or refer you to someone who could. Their web site suggests a developed program of research and documentation:

http://www.crda-france.org/0en/home.htm

Jonathan - 3-14-2007 at 06:58 AM

It is interesting that you mentioned the Protestant/missionary schools in Anatolia. I actually have quite a few examples of this writing from one of these schools in the central Turkey region from the early 19 teens and, yes, the script on this label resembles the script from that school somewhat. Of course, I think this sort of script was not just taught in those schools, but that highly curved "fancy" style was a bit more the norm in Europe and, perhaps, America during that time period. Not just a missionary thing, but the style of the times.
This particular oud also caught my eye because of the name of the maker: Mazloumian. It is not an uncommon name, but I knew that it was the name of a family in my ancestral village in central Turkey, a portion of which settled in Paris in the early 19teens. I doubt that it is the same family--the odds just seem against it, but I would love to find out more.

I think I will have to contact Kyvelos, as doc suggested. There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle that just don't seem to fit--the cut down rosettes being just one example.

Thanks, al-Halabi for the tip--I will pursue it.

jdowning - 3-14-2007 at 09:02 AM

Richard - Thanks for the detailed images showing the 'cut through' banding arrangement around the edge of the belly.

Jonathan - 3-14-2007 at 11:42 AM

Isn't it always that way? I understand that the purfling does not go through the spruce around the rosettes, but the outer banding is added on after the face is put on. I thought that it was always done that way.

jdowning - 3-14-2007 at 12:40 PM

Not on the oud that I am restoring. The banding around the edge of the belly is half the thickness of the belly and glued into a rebate cut around the edge - the way it would have been done on an early guitar or lute.
This seems to be an uncommon way of banding an oud but there are a few things about my oud that seem to be a little out of the ordinary (compared to modern oud construction methods) and I was hoping that these peculiarities might give a clue about where and when it was originally made. At present the current best guess is Egyptian, made around 1920 but I am open to other informed suggestions. Unfortunately, the edge of the belly is now so deteriorated that it will have to be repaired with a 'cut through' banding to the full depth of the belly. Not a problem but another variation from its original state in order to restore it to working condition.

Ronny Andersson - 7-2-2007 at 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Oud
-The pegbox bushings are certainly not original. I cannot image why someone would go to the extra labor to install bushings in the original pegbox.
-The support blocks under the brace ends are unusual although I do believe they were used by Fadel on the original Bashir design.
-I'll have to check about the edge band depth.

yes it was used by Mohammed Fadel on his Bashir model. Makers like Yaroub Fadel and Fawzy Monshed drill a hole trough the side of bowl in to all the bracing and fill it with a mix of glue and sawdust. Dont ask me how they remove a broken soundboard...

Dr. Oud - 3-21-2009 at 08:26 AM

Well, some progress at last! Some ribs have been repaired and re-mounted and the inside is fully lined with parchment paper (except the last 2 ribs). I have 1 more rib to restore the ends, and one rib and separator strips to make and fit in.

paulO - 3-21-2009 at 08:50 AM

Hi Richard,

Thanks for keeping us all up to date on this fascintaing (sp?) restoration, much appreciated !

Regards..Paul

Dr. Oud - 3-22-2009 at 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ronny Andersson
.... Makers like Yaroub Fadel and Fawzy Monshed drill a hole through the side of bowl in to all the bracing and fill it with a mix of glue and sawdust. Dont ask me how they remove a broken soundboard...

I've seen a few other brace end pins used as well. There is a small nail or pin through the rib into the brace. The filler is only to hide the nail head on the rib surface. To remove the face you'd have to push the pin into the brace until it clears the rib, or use a sawzall with a metal cutting blade like I used when removing wallstuds in my carpenter days.

Jonathan - 3-31-2009 at 09:01 AM

Thanks, Doc, for the update.

patheslip - 3-31-2009 at 09:54 AM

'fascinating'

(Am I pedantically offering spelling advice to Paul0 or commenting on this project? )

Dr. Oud - 6-7-2010 at 02:15 PM

Update -the Mission Improbable Mazloumi is back on the bench. Closer inspection showed that the braces were wrong - too thick, too many, and one directly under the bridge. I removed them and installed braces of the Manol design. Because it was post card thin, the back was lined entirely with parchment paper (pure cellulose fiber infused with hide glue). The neck was removed (tenon sawed through) and re-set (with a dowel). The flat grained pine patch in the face was replaced with a vertical grain piece of old spruce. A tortoise shell replica plastic pickguard was installed. Some corner kerfs were added at the bottom bout corners to support damaged areas, as face there is about 1/2 mm thick. The back is complete and the old finish removed. As I was about to string it up, I realized that the pegs were installed for a left hand player. The peg holes had been filled with bushings, so it may have been originally right handed anyway. The brace design is compensated for standard stringing, and the owner is a right hand player, so the pegs will be restored to a standard configuration.
The pictures show the bare back, previous braces, the new brace design, the inside liner, the front, and the pegbox.

It's done!

Dr. Oud - 7-22-2010 at 06:44 PM

finally, but it was worth it. This oud has a lot of character and class. Who has an oud from Paris, France? Yea, there's an audio/video file..

Jonathan - 7-24-2010 at 11:39 AM

That looks amazing, Doc. I can't wait to see it!

paulO - 7-25-2010 at 09:42 AM

Hey Jonathan,

Nice oud man, and Richard -- lovey work, as usuall. It sounds and looks great.

Regards..Paul

Jonathan - 7-31-2010 at 07:46 AM

The oud arrived safe and sound, Doc, and I am very very very happy with the results.
This was quite a project, and the quality of your work really shines through on this.
I am very grateful.