Lintfree - 5-29-2007 at 05:06 AM
Does anyone know what the finish is on the faces of Mustafa Copcouclu's ouds?
aytayfun - 5-29-2007 at 05:59 AM
As ı Know neither Copcuoglu nor the other Turkish luthiers never use any polish on the face. But on the back of the ouds most the known shellac
is lac Gommalackin turkish.
Lintfree - 5-30-2007 at 12:58 AM
The oud I have came from Copcouclu's shop with a finish on the face. In no way does the finish hinder the sound. On the contrary, it has an amazing
clear and defined sound, loud and even all the way up the neck on every string which is unusual to say the least. The face is slightly yellowish and
looks like European spruce but it may be Oriental spruce or Turkish spruce. The reason I ask is that the finish is very hard and has been sanded to be
a matte finish. I was wondering if anyone else had an oud top finished in the same manner. D.L.
Finish on Face
ALAMI - 5-30-2007 at 07:26 AM
A friend of mine asked me to pick a Fadi Matta oud for him.
Fadi is a very minimalistic luthier, he does one model (7 course moving bridge with adjustable neck) he says that he is concentrating on one design to
be able to bring it to "near" perfection in a lifetime. He uses almost exclusively Palissandre and Erable for the bowl and fingerboard and Epicea
spruce for the face. Most of the wood comes from France where he worked many years before going back to Lebanon. His ouds are played by Charbel
Rouhana, Bassem Rizk and many other oudists.
So I went to Fadi's place and I was surprised to see a oud with a finished face. He told me it is Kamalaka (in the arabic pronounciation) and that the
origin is the french "Gomme Laque" (which explains the turkish Gommalackin mentioned in Dr Tayfun post)
and to make a short story long 
I was surprised by the beautiful sound of the oud
with the finished face and it was an occasion to compare 2 identical ouds made by the same luthier, the same month (or 2) using the same wood from the
same stock, the only difference between the 2 ouds is the finish on the face. I had only my cellphone to vid Fadi Matta playing both ouds. The one
with finish has a slightly less powerful projection and seems a bit more "closed" but the sound is definitely more oriental.
I sent the 2 videos I am posting to my friend and he chose the one with the finished face and I would have done the same.
I think that in the world of oud no rule is absolute and some luthiers can do a great work by breaking them
1- Oud with Normal Face
2- oud with finished Face
***mp4 videos, will open with quicktime or real player***
SamirCanada - 5-30-2007 at 09:37 AM
Kifack ya Alami.
Merci for the videos. very nice sound
2 questions if you dont mind.
How do I get in touch with Fadi Matta? and where in lebanon is he situated?
Thanks
ALAMI - 5-30-2007 at 10:28 AM
Hi Samir
Mashi El Hal, thanks for asking.
Fadi is located in Zouk Mikael near Jounieh (10 kms north of Beirut)
His email is : nas2_lb@yahoo.com (better to write in French)
His Celphone Nbr : ++961 3259633
I was encouraging him to build a website but the guy knows nothing about computers and he is worried that it would push him into a "commercial" way of
oud making, he likes his situation of low volume - high quality
oudipoet - 5-30-2007 at 07:32 PM
hi alami
first of all i would like to thank you for the videos secondly i was wondering what can you tell us about fadi`s oud prices?
thanks.
Jameel - 5-30-2007 at 08:08 PM
Thanks Alami for this interesting post. I like the sound of the finished oud. It's also interesting to hear that Fadi is concentrating on one model
only. I think this is a great idea, and one that I'm trying to follow (mostly because my oud-making time is limited). I have a Shehata with a finished
face and it's very nice sounding. I think tradition dictates most of the preconceptions about the oud, and there is nothing wrong with taking the oud
to the next level, without of course trying to make it sound like something new, but rather refining it's existing sound. I think the Nahats achieved
this, and now it's happening again since the Nahats did not pass on their legacy. Let's hear it for modern oud makers....keep up the good work.
Kamalaka is in english: shellac (aka french polish)
Jameel - 5-30-2007 at 08:12 PM
By the way, Alami, what strings does Fadi use on these two ouds?
ALAMI - 5-30-2007 at 10:53 PM
Fadi Matta oud prices are around 1250 $. (plus or minus 20% depending on wood and wood age)
I agree with Jameel that there is plenty of room for modern luthiers to experiment new things without changing the nature of the oud.
I play a Matta since a year and the sound (specially bass) is starting to mature in a very nice way, the adjustable neck is a very nice feature, in
the new model I got for my friend there is a new double ring system that can also control the tension along the neck.
As for the strings, high quality strings are not available these days in Beirut , Fadi uses on his ouds a brand called "Marie", I think it is french
and it is around 20$.
I installed on my Matta the high tension (39 N)custom Pyramid set I got from you Jameel and they are great their touch is very nice and it was like
adding an amplifier to an already loud sound, I would like to try a wound gg.
Your help was also great regarding the low-tension custom sets I installed the Pyramid on the 115 year old Arja and the Aquila on the Nahat. The
Aquila are good except the g but I prefer the lower diameter of the Pyramid
jazzchiss - 5-31-2007 at 01:28 AM
Hi, Alami.
Thank you for the videos but the finished one is tuned lower than the other, and probably because of that it sounds sweeter.
oudman - 5-31-2007 at 02:30 AM
Mari strings are by the same makers as "la bella"...
Copcoulu's oud
barbatzan - 6-5-2007 at 08:17 AM
Hi LIntfree and all,
I bought an oud from Mustafa Copcoulu in 2000. It's a beautiful ous and has a grat sound. no finish on face which gives it the brighter/louder sound
that I especially like.
The only thing wrong with it when I brought it back to the US, I noticed a small crack about 1.5 inches long on the extended part of the ebony
fingerboard. It's hardly noticeable and does not affect the sound. But, if anyone knows how I can best fill that crack, or should I leave it alone? I
appreciate any reply.
Kamran
Lintfree - 6-5-2007 at 10:58 PM
Hi Kamran - I had a similar problem. Take a piece of copyer paper and put it into the crack to see if it is just the fingerboard that is cracked or
the top as well. If the paper goes further than the thickness of the fingerboard then the top is cracked underneath. You may need to have little
patches put on the inside and the crack filled. You can get a good classical guitar guy in Austin to do that for you. Getting the rosette out to do
this can be a problem if it's glued in there tight.
I think that a finish on the top, if it's a hard finish it gives an edge to the treble. A lot of modern flamenco guitars use a thin hard finish and it
seems to help tighten up the treble. Ouds may be the same. This Copcuoclu I have with the finish on the top has more highs and overtones than the
unfinished ones I've played. It also looks like it has a European spruce top, that yellowish color. It could be that too. I'm basically guessing. A
lot of variables. Need coffee.
barbatzan - 6-6-2007 at 05:40 AM
Thanks Lintfree. I think it's just the fingerboard, it must have happened in the plane coming over. Yeah, I know someone here who should be able to
fix it. Thanks for advice.