Mike's Oud Forums

Dadarrio strings--available soon

Jameel - 8-29-2008 at 07:13 AM

Dear Friends,

I'm happy to announce that I'll be carrying Dadarrio oud strings in the very near future.

Dadarrio is an old company, and they've been selling oud strings for a while. Aside from their sometimes confusing tension information, these are good quality strings at a very fair price. I'll be selling their only oud set, the J95.

I will also be offering Dadarrio single strings in nylon and silver wound nylon. I'll have all the major gauges available on the website, and you can order any size you want in any quantity. This will greatly simplify getting odd gauges, replacing a broken string, or even assembling your own custom set.

I like Dadarrio's quality, and I've had good experiences with them. I've been using these single strings for at least 5 years. In fact, I've been using Dadarrio nylons (g and c' courses) on my personal oud for several months with good results. I also strung my most recent oud with Dadarrios for the plain courses. I also know people who swear by the J95 set for their Arabic ouds, as well as Turkish ouds.

Strings are a very personal thing, and there are people who just plain don't like Dadarrios. But for those who do, I'm glad to be able to offer these strings.

MatthewW - 8-29-2008 at 07:45 AM

Hi Jameel- as you say, choice of strings are a personal thing, but could you say a wee bit more about how these Dadarrio J95s compare soundwise/qualitywise to say Aquilas and Pyramid standard 'Arabic' strings?, Any chance of posting sound clips of an oud strung with each so we could hear the differences? thanks, MW :)

Melbourne - 8-29-2008 at 08:06 AM

Good stuff Jameel :)

When you say you'll be offering single strings with different gauges - does that mean you can put together customs sets for custom tunings?

Cheers

Jameel - 9-1-2008 at 04:55 PM

I'd say they are on par with the Pyramids. They are good quality. Hard to compare them with the Nylgut since it's a different material and produced a different sound. I personally wouldn't hesitate to use the Dadarrios at this point instead of Pyramid lute. They will be WAY less expensive. I don't have any sound clips of the Dadarrios. I could record a little clip though so you can hear at least the plains that I have on my oud right now.

Yes, I can put together custom sets. But more importantly, YOU will be able to assemble your own custom set just as easily as ordering a single pack of strings.

katakofka - 9-1-2008 at 05:28 PM

This is great Jameel. Custom Daddario !! add a client to your collection

spyros mesogeia - 9-1-2008 at 09:14 PM

:applause:

MatthewW - 9-2-2008 at 01:21 AM

hey Jameel, them J95s sound like a good buy, let us know when you have them ready, I'll try a set out! :airguitar:

MatthewW - 11-10-2008 at 02:05 PM

hello all- just wanted to say that I've tried some of these J95s from Jameel, and am very happy with the overall sound they produce, and with the gauges Jameel selected for me.
:) I am especially happy with the pair ( 0.22 gauge) for my high ff strings- I tried Pyramid and Aquilas which are all good but they never seemed to give me that really well rounded response for the double high ff on my 59 cm string scale oud, in Arabic tuning, that I wanted. These J95s do.
Though all ouds are different and respond differently to the same strings, has anyone else tried these J95s and have a similiar experience, especially with their high ff? regards, MW

katakofka - 11-10-2008 at 05:05 PM

Hi Mathew
I am familiar with the J95. On a 60cm scale the 0.22 ff strings give high tension. I assume they would be correct for a 58.5cm (the shortest is the scale the lower is the tension). I got from jameel the following set a month ago:
f NYL020 3.61
f NYL020 3.61
c NYL027 3.69
c NYL027 3.69
g NYL034 3.29
g NYL034 3.29
D NYL022W 3.67
D NYL022W 3.67
A NYL029W 3.70
A NYL029W 3.70
F NYL033W 3.58
F NYL033W 3.58
C NYL042W 3.41
Average tension 3.58
but still I didn't put it on my OUd, feedback to latter...
As you see I choose a 0.20 instead of 0.22 for the ff. I don't know how the response would be but now I am using a 0.20 from pyramid and these are great. So I assume the 0.20 from Daddario would be good too.
Best regards
Souheil

MatthewW - 11-11-2008 at 12:41 AM

Hi Souheil - let us know how the 0.20 J95s work for your ff.
regards, MW

katakofka - 1-7-2009 at 11:23 AM

This is the final set I arrived to manage with daddario strings:

Note Item tension
f NYL020 3.61
c NYL027 3.69
g NYL033 3.10
D NYL024W 4.18
A NYL028W 3.33
F NYL033W 3.58
C NYL043W 3.73
Average tension 3.59

So I have put these on my oud recently. The f Nyl020 is good, not too much tension on my 60cm stringlength oud.
The strings are great although I prefer the quality of the Pyramid lute strings but those are not practical for their cost.
the C and F can be tuned easily to A and E respectively. I am enjoying that tuning pretty much; I'll post a video very soon.
Best
Souheil

Jameel - 1-7-2009 at 02:54 PM

Glad you are enjoying the strings, Souheil! I look forward to the video.

abusin - 1-8-2009 at 04:33 AM

Hi Jameel & folks,

I will place an order soon to try this D'Addario's ASAP, my oud overall length is 63cm..
Do they come in that length at all? and from the posts above I can see he whole set is Nylon! do they come copper wound at all? for the DAFC!

Regards to all,

katakofka - 1-8-2009 at 10:57 AM

abusin
check that webpage
http://www.khalafoud.com/daddario.htm
Nyl** is nylon Nyl**W is silver wound
Also you find a PDF table in which you can choose the desired tension for a 63cm scale.
Best

abusin - 1-9-2009 at 03:38 AM

Hi Souheil,

Thanks my friend for the correction, I didn't notice the **W on your post silly me:rolleyes:

I will be trying them soon,

Thanks again buddy,

Salam

Kelly - 1-9-2009 at 12:48 PM

Hey Awad. I'll bring some Dadarrios over on Sunday.

I like the trebles, much clearer than Pyramid oud (orange) at the tension/scale length I'm using on the oval Moussa oud (61.5cm) The .020" gauge work alright for high 'f but I still prefer nylgut f' on the shorter length "nahat" oud- Horses for courses I guess


Regards

katakofka - 1-12-2009 at 02:55 PM

Here is a video in which I am showing the Daddario's
Tuning: A-E-A-D-g-c-f
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G6j7YSK_0M
As said above, the strings were ordered to be tuned C-F-A-D-...but both works pretty fine.
Note: this is the natural sound of the oud/strings no echo or any other effects are added

Jameel - 1-12-2009 at 03:02 PM

Very nice. Nice playing too. Warm sound. I like the D'Addarios, and for the price, can't beat em.

katakofka - 1-13-2009 at 08:14 AM

Hey Jameel
With an A and E instead of C and F renders the overall tension around 3.45kg; so nice to play with that kind of tension. Strings are soft, smooth, and respond perfectly !