For all you Arabic experts out there, care to lend a hand?
I have most of this label figured out, but thought I'd get some help. I can't figure out the year on this label, or the other text besides the names.
Also, has anyone heard of the maker?
Check out the funky springs running under the soundboard! I still have to peek inside and see what these are all about.
Thanks!Jameel - 7-26-2008 at 04:59 AM
Jameel - 7-26-2008 at 05:02 AM
Jameel - 7-26-2008 at 05:03 AM
Jameel - 7-26-2008 at 05:04 AM
Jameel - 7-26-2008 at 05:06 AM
carpenter - 7-26-2008 at 06:22 AM
No idea about the label, but I suspect the springs are some kind of on-board reverb, like springs for reverb in guitar amps. I bet they're not whammy
bar springs ... What's it sound like?
I've heard of internal sympathetic strings on other instruments, but never springs. Wonder what they hook onto - pop the hood; I'm curious.Marina - 7-26-2008 at 06:30 AM
Mohamed Teufik al Fares and sonsamtaha - 7-26-2008 at 10:24 AM
That looks like a 1930 meelady, which means 1930 AD ...amtaha - 7-26-2008 at 10:34 AM
Oh, I messed up reading the request, but it is hard to figure out
First line: Work
Second line: Mohamed Tawfique Al-Faris and His Son, Saad Al Deen
Under the youngster photo there is "Serial Number: 106" and "Bowl No: --- "
Then it says
"Invention [not visibile] with a 'zanbouri' spring and a shamseyya on the back and a photograph and many shapes"
This is literal translation, and the [not visible] is possible oud.
Under this comes a line saying "Unprecedented"
Under this, on the right, there is year and month, and there's a "34" next to the year. Nothing next to the month.
Then there's is the 1930 AD on the left that I've mentioned before.
The last line, "Mosajjal", possibly means that the invention is patented.
The Year
spyrosc - 7-26-2008 at 12:57 PM
I see the left hand side saying 193? M (meelady) which would imply 193? AD (Not sure it says 1930 but it could), but also I think the right hand side
seems to say 1341 H (Hijri). We might be able to confirm the 193? date by converting from the Hijri year.
It might also be that the month is not blank, but it might say "SAFAR" which would be the 2nd month in the Hijri calendar.
Hey Jameelo, I saw this on eBay some time ago, did you get it ? I thought the OudDude got it.
Spyros C.jaron - 7-26-2008 at 01:05 PM
Jameel, how on Earth did this object come to you? I love this kind of thing- can you post picture of the instrument as a whole? Is there some kind
of shams on the back?
I agree with carpeneter that the springs could function as a reverb unit- another possibility is that they are snares. There are some traditional
North and West African instruments with snares built in.
The ngonl, a bass kora, sometimes has snares on a crown inserted at the end of the neck for a fuzz effect. You can tune the fuzz by how tightly the
crown is fitted. There are places where both ngonis and ouds are played.
The Year
spyrosc - 7-26-2008 at 01:09 PM
Assuming that the last (barely visible) digit of the Hijri year is a 9 (could be, looks like a 1), then indeed the AD year is 1930. I just translated
it.
So it is very probably 1930
Spyros C.Jameel - 7-26-2008 at 02:06 PM
Thanks everyone for chiming in. I appreciate it. Looks like a pretty old oud.
I wonder what country these guys are from?
I don't know how it sounds. Haven't strung it up yet. But those springs have me wondering.Peyman - 7-26-2008 at 03:44 PM
I saw this on Ebay a while back. The makers are Persian migrants(therefore the "Al-fars" in the last name) to Egypt and their attire shows the Qajar
era style. I wanted to bid on it but decided not to. It's a unique instrument in terms of that history. I wander if their descendents are still making
ouds.SamirCanada - 7-28-2008 at 02:06 PM
2 request Jameel.
can we see the rest??
can we hear it???
Did you buy this oud? I am sure once you restore it it will make a nice classic oud.chaldo - 8-31-2008 at 01:37 PM
I repeat Samir's question... can we see it?
This looks really interesting...sorry for being so curious.
chaldoDr. Oud - 12-28-2008 at 05:53 PM
okay - I received this oud for restoration. The pegbox was too long, with a formica back plate and the neck was too short. The face was missing some
edge tiles, and the roses were loose, but otherwise intact. Here's a side view...Dr. Oud - 12-28-2008 at 05:56 PM
Here it has a new neck and pegbox...Dr. Oud - 12-28-2008 at 05:57 PM
Here's the restored front -Dr. Oud - 12-28-2008 at 06:03 PM
and the back -
The springs are attached to the neck and tail block just below the braces. You can hear the springs with the strings muted on this video:Melbourne - 12-28-2008 at 07:42 PM
Nice restoration =P
What's problematic with a long pegbox? is it just an aesthetic thing? I always though there would be a benefit because the pegs would be further
apart and therefore easier to operate.Dr. Oud - 12-29-2008 at 03:51 AM
The long pegbox prevented the oud from fitting in it's case - notice the side view before and after. The pegbox should be at a length and angle to
equal the depth (or less) than the body (except the electric designs). So a loge pegbox is ok, but the mounting angle should be adjusted so that the
oud face is level when resting on the end of the pegbox. I was going to just cut it down to 11 pegs, but the neck was also over 1/2inch/13mm short, so
a new neck & pegbox was chosen from a traditional Syrian design.FLIPAX - 11-16-2009 at 07:19 AM
