Its been a while since I posted anything useful but here's a quick little experiment I'll share with you. I just changed the strings on my Jameel oud
and I thought I'd try out an idea I had inspired by the "ball end" classical guitar strings. Check this out:
More...
LeeVaris - 5-4-2008 at 04:34 PM
The idea here was to create a sort of "ball end" by wrapping the pair of strings around a small bead. This makes a very firm point of contact with the
bridge and I thought it might have an effect on the sound. Here you can see how the string passes over the bridge and there is a very clean point
where the string"stops" to transmit its vibration. I was thinking that it would have a more profound effect on the sound but in practice it is fairly
subtle. I'm going to take these off pretty soon because it raises the action a little bit too much (even though I tie the strings up as much as I can
on this oud) AND I'm a little worried that there is a bit more rotational torque applied to the bridge with the strings pulling this way.
more...
LeeVaris - 5-4-2008 at 04:36 PM
This method does make a very clean looking attachment at the bridge – I think it might be very attractive with natural wood beads. Any thoughts?Sazi - 5-4-2008 at 04:50 PM
Hmm, interesting stuff, I notice it also makes the scale length a bit longer, perhaps if you lowered the height of the bridge and angled the top so
the point of contact was at the front it might solve a few problems?nayoud - 5-4-2008 at 05:33 PM
Interesting
What's more interesting is the horizontal bone piece on the bridge, I just changed the saddle on my Larrivee guitar to bone and it made a big
difference in tone, brighter with more sustain ... I wonder how an oud might sound with a vertical bone or Fossilized walrus ivory saddle...?
Good Luck
HishamAndy - 5-4-2008 at 06:04 PM
Yes,very interesting and appears to be worth experimenting with. Maybe tying the strings and then making a double pass. A lower profile bridge would
take care of the problem with the string hight. Best wishes.OudandTabla - 5-4-2008 at 07:47 PM
Interesting, but I think you're right about the torque on the bridge- the strings pull about twice as far off the soundboard then they would strung
normally, so you probably have quite a bit more pull on the bridge. Not worth the risk on a beauty like that!!SamirCanada - 5-4-2008 at 11:00 PM
Its a good idea.
I think one would have to make the bridge with this idea in mind though.
change the angle of the bridge so that instead of resting on the back of the bridge, the strings would touch on the front.
Also the bridge should be made lower so that the beads are flush with the face. That would reduce a bit of the torque and obviously make the action
playable.
good find Lee!Jassim - 5-5-2008 at 02:04 AM
its not good
how long well be the string now its more than the normal maybe 2 mmJassim - 5-5-2008 at 02:06 AM
and it well buzzoudplayer - 5-5-2008 at 04:08 AM
hey lee
kool MOD. how does it sound. nice to see soem kool posts again if it works or not.
I was thinking of this years ago and asking around why dont oud strigs have balls at the end if the strings?
thx sammyJameel - 5-5-2008 at 05:37 AM
Hmmm....
There are some issues here (already pointed out). First off, why the buttons? Why not just tie the strings together in front without the buttons?
I think if one wants a the saddle effect, this is not the best way to go about it.
One advantage though. You'll have 6 times warding-off power against any evil-eye curses to your oud.
Warding off evil
LeeVaris - 5-5-2008 at 06:57 AM
Yeah... I was hoping to ward off evil notes and bad buzzes - lol
As far as the sound goes I notice a very slight... very slight increase in echo – like there might be just a tiny bit more overtone ring out. Hard
to say - but not worth the other drawbacks and I'm removing it as soon as I get a new set of strings. I've lowered the tension a full step to avoid
damaging the oud though I think that its not that big a problem as these are fairly low tension strings to begin with.carpenter - 5-5-2008 at 07:19 AM
I repaired a couple of bowl cracks for a guy, and he wanted his action improved from the cheese-slicer style. It was strung up the
through-and-over-the-top way, with knots . Somebody previous had monkeyed around with gluing on their idea of a saddle, and so on. Long story short
(for once) I rebuilt the bridge and put the strings on with wraps as usual. The action immediately turned most playable, but the best part is, he said
"Hey! Now it sounds like an oud!"
Hmm. There could be something to that.LeeVaris - 5-5-2008 at 05:23 PM
Well... this will be replaced tomorrow, hopefully and I'll report on the difference as it will be easier to assess comparing one new set to another. I
don't think the sound changed much one way or another though.Oud Freak - 5-6-2008 at 07:24 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Jameel
One advantage though. You'll have 6 times warding-off power against any evil-eye curses to your oud.
Good one Jameel, I was going to say it A horseshoe is missing though rojaros - 10-1-2008 at 10:55 AM
Hello LeeVaris and everybody eles
I did some experimentation with the system you proposed and I also have been thinking beout for a while.
A horseshoe is missing though