yaki
Oud Admirer
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flat oud soundboard
hi everyone,
I'm making a flat oud. i made the frame from Ash and the back and top from Poplar. what type wood the soundboard should be? if you can give an exemple
of wood please.
i saw that in flat instruments like guitar usally tapping some wood also on the back, its to strong the board or for the sound?
about the grif - what the lenght it should be? is that matter or just the lenght of the string matter? what is the ideal lenght from from the bridge
to end of the neck?
thanks a lot!
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1373
Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
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I was interested to read that you are using poplar. This is a wood that Gibson used for the back and sides for their "A model" mandolins. It was a
less expensive wood than maple but it colored the sound of the spruce sound boards in a lovely way. Very nice tone wood in my opinion.
What do you mean by "top" please? (usually that would means the sound board) but I know you mean something else.
Also what does "grif" mean?
The ideal vibrating length of the string from nut to bridge depends on the type of music to be played and on the tonal properties of the woods.
Turkish ouds typically have a scale (vibrating length) of 58.5 cm or sometimes a bit less. Arabic ouds tend to have a longer scale.
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yaki
Oud Admirer
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Registered: 1-1-2019
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Hi Jody.
first, thank for your comment.
i chose to use poplar becouse its have an interesting sound and it was more available and cheaper then other wood - wich great for a first project .
when i said top i mean to the stripe woods i should tap on the "face" of the oud from behind - the braces.
grif mean the neck.
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Dr. Oud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1370
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Location: Sacramento, CA, USA
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Mood: better than before
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The string length is in proportion to the length of the body. The bridge is located at the bottom 1/4 of the length of the body. The measurement to
the neck joint is 2/3 the string length so the neck is 1/2 the length from the body/neck joint to the bridge. Braces typically are located at the
widest part of the body usually at the midpoint of the body length, and at intervals above and below that. The tallest brace at the center is 15mm
high x 4mm thick, the other braces get shorter but remain the same thickness except the tone brace. No two are alike. 4mm thick is ok for all except
the Arabic tone brace which is only 1mm thinner.The "tone brace" is two braces forward of the bridge, and is usually made lighter to excite more of
the face. The Turks cut this brace down, the Arabs make it thinner. The vertical location of this brace should be placed lower than the plane from the
bridge to the neck block. Otherwise the face wil twist around the bridge brace and create a hump at the tone brace and interfere with the string
clearance.This can be a concave top edge or the side ribs cut down to provide about 4mm clearance below the plane of the face. Make it a gradual
clearance, not just the tone brace.
Locate a brace midway from the bridge to the tail. Place the brace forward of the bridge at the same distance to the rear brace, so the bridge front
edge is at the midpoint. The tone brace is usually midway from the bridge to the center. This location can be adjusted for tonal response, you'll
have to experiment to find the sweet spot. The top braces are just locqated evenly to the neck block.
The neck block must be aligned with the bottom of the bridge and the tail. The neck is set back 2mm at the top nut for string action.
The top or face or soundboard can be many different woods, as long asit is light weight with stiff long grains. Turkish ouds are usually Spruce, Arabs
often used cedar, sometimes pine. I've never seen anything else for an oud soundboard although walnut is used on other instruments. The Turkish face
is 2mm thick at the center, tapered to 1 1/2mm at the edges. The Arabs are larger and so thicker, 3mm center to 2mm at the edge.
That's it in a nutshell (I think). Follow this formula and it will work. Deviate at your own risk. I have seen some ouds made with the Torres fan
bracing system and they sound like guitars. Ancient history shows some oud faces with a skin face like a banjo. Go figger.
Or, just buy my book "the Oud, Condstruction and Repair", based on a 1910 Hanna Nahhat, one of the grand masters of Arabic oud makers. It's all in
there with pictures and dimensions and erthangvplu support for one project or one year. $40 at:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/richard-hankey/the-oud-construction-and-re...
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