DaveH - 1-30-2008 at 06:15 AM
Apologies for the corny title. Benjamin's stringing problems reminded me of a longstanding question of my own. My oud is strung Fadgc'f' and I have
wanted for a while to get wound strings for the g course, rather than nylon. This is quite a fine gauge for wound strings and Aquila (the strings I
normally use) don't do one. I don't think pyramid do either. I'm told LaBella do, but couldn't find reference to a set which includes a wound g on
their site. Does anyone have any idea on this one?
D
farukturunz - 1-30-2008 at 07:02 AM
Hi DaveH,
I have long been using 1007 code wound string of Pyramid Lute series for g's. This string sounds very well and has a good harmony with the nylon and
the other wound strings on my ouds.
Greetings
Mike - 1-30-2008 at 09:51 AM
Hey Dave,
Have you tried switching to tidy whities? Sorry mate...couldn't resist. Speaking of underwear, have any of you guys seen the Hanes commercials with
Michael Jordan and Cuba Gooding Jr.? Funny stuff!
On a more serious note, I too use Pyramid lute string sets for my ouds. I like the wound g course a lot. I don't have the individual course numbers on
hand now, but I can get them later today when I get home. I think they are on here somewhere as well. Try using the search feature.
All the best,
Mike
P.S. I think Nazih uses this set as well and can recommend a set for you.
Oud Freak - 1-30-2008 at 11:57 AM
Dear All,
Mr. Ghadban has used the wound g string for a while around the year 2001, but not anymore. He tried the idea when the great Wadih El Safi wanted it on
his ouds. Nowadays Mr. Ghadban is using Aquila strings and they work very well and very harmoniously on his ouds. Anyways it is a matter of taste, I
personally prefer a more conventional g string.
charlie oud - 1-30-2008 at 02:04 PM
Dave, Have you considered savarez?, they do very fine gauge wound strings and are very high quality. Charlie
Melbourne - 1-31-2008 at 01:42 AM
Ok heres my experience,
I am currently using a wound g on an iraqi tuning, the sound is a lot higher and different to a plain g of course, but the string is an aquila, and
the details at the back of the envelope are: Diametro 88 Tipo D. Very thin string, but still I think it could be thinner, because the pitch is quite
high, and if your so used to the older school arabic sound, it can take a while to get used to it. But this is on a shorter string lenght oud 585 - I
dunno how it will work on a longer string length, would be even higher.
DaveH - 1-31-2008 at 03:43 AM
Many thanks to all of you. I think I'll try the pyramids. Your posts reminded me that I have pyramids on my baroque lute but calculating which I need
based on the string chart for that is much too complicated for me. I'll take Ustad Faruk's advice.
OF - my oud came from Nazih with labellas but he recommended the aquilas and I agree with you, they really suit his ouds - give a nice flexibility to
the tone on the top courses and make a long string length feel shorter. I think what I'll try is using all aquila and just replacing that one course
with the wound.
Charlie, I'll try and get hold of the Savarez too and see how that works out.
Mike, I tried out the tidy whities - great for the bases but a little fuzzy in the treble. I think I'll stick to nylgut (though it does bind a bit
sometimes). Melbourne, my oud is 60cm so as you say it may be a bit too tight for an aquila which is already tuned up from D.
Bye for now and thanks again, o knowledgeable ones.
Mike - 1-31-2008 at 10:24 AM
Hey Dave,
I have this set of lute strings.
Tension ~3.5:
c'c' - 0.650 nylon
g'g' - 906 wound
DD - 10095 wound
AA - 1016 wound
FF - 1024 wound
C - 1238 wound
Best,
Mike
DaveH - 2-1-2008 at 01:57 AM
Thanks again for the info Mike! Really appreciate the support of you and all the other veteran oudists on this site.