newlife_ks
Oud Junkie
Posts: 119
Registered: 6-12-2016
Location: Germany, NRW
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Strings buzzing
Hello everybody!
Playing my oud I often have strings buzzing, mostly when playing open strings. I believe the reason might be that strings are touching. My suspicion
is that the holes in the bridge are too close. In fact the distances vary a little, not every pair of strings shows the same distance which is about 3
mm from string to string. String action at the neck junction is 4 mm, but that can't be the reason, because the buzzing sounds metallic. If you want
to do me a favour, please measure your bridge holes and post the results.
Greetings from Klaus in Germany!
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bulerias1981
Oud Junkie
Posts: 770
Registered: 4-26-2009
Location: Beacon, NY
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Mood: John Vergara Luthier Lord of the Strings instrument making and repair
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This is a very common issue with many of the stringed instruments. I'm sure its also well documented here in the forum, however I can tell you what I
come across commonly when working on ouds.
The strings could be too low at the nut
The slots in the nut at cut incorrectly
The fingerboard could be grooved (etched from wear and tear)
The fingerboard is warped or doesn't have the proper relief
The rosette(s) may be loose in some spots
The braces might be loose (you can knock on the face and see if there is a flapping sound)
And many more.
Please describe your situation and provide some more photos so we can have a better understanding. Also, what make is the instrument?
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Christian1095
Oud Junkie
Posts: 454
Registered: 4-29-2008
Location: North Carolina, USA
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I'll look tonight... but check to see that you don't have two string rubbing together in the pegbox - I've had issues where the dd course and the AA
course overlap a bit and it creates this weird sympathetic buzzing noise
Chris Walters
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newlife_ks
Oud Junkie
Posts: 119
Registered: 6-12-2016
Location: Germany, NRW
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@bulerias1981
The strings are 0.2 mm at the nut. Slots are ok (newly done nut), fingerboard ok, rosettes ok. The oud is by Fatih Ameen from 2011. Apart from that
there is nothing more to describe than I already did.
@Chris
No buzzing from the pegbox!
I already made a phonecall to Matthias Wagner without much success. Maybe I should use heavier strings which when hit hard don't touch each other!? I
dont mean to say that I play my oud so hard, my rishas are thin and flexible. But maybe heavy strings make less oscillation. At the moment I play
Pyramid lute strings combination Matthias recommended to me with a tension slightly below 4 N.
Greetings from Klaus in Germany!
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2939
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Mood: Stringish
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That it an error, typical tensions range from 30-39N for fixed-bridge ouds, and up to the low 40s for floating-bridge ouds.
I've played many ouds with tension around 32N without buzzing. It is extremely rare that buzzing is caused by the strings unless they are very old or
an entirely incorrect set (such as meant for a different tuning altogether) was used. Once in a while, a defective string might cause buzzing, but
again that is quite rare.
Any tension 35N and up is not the "cause" of buzzing unless there is a defect in the oud. Sometimes higher tension strings will buzz less, but it is
only because they are hiding an underlying problem, not because the tension was too low before.
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