These were sitting around for a few years without tops. I got the tops on last Fall and got them strung up this week. They need to settle in a bit and
be adjusted but they sound promising. Very simple details except for two of the raqma that I used some old marquetry ovals I had lying around.
First oud is one I got from a forum member a few years ago but really wasn't happy with the sound of. I went with a full-figure bear-claw Sitka with
about 40 grain lines per inch - old stuff. Very stiff and I left it a bit too thick. Might benefit from some higher tension strings.
The second oud was a huge old cheap Egyptian instrument that I went with Cedar on the top and very lightly braced. Boomy.
The third oud is just an unfigured Sitka but a bit thinner and sounds promising.
All three need to sit around for a little while and settle in. Then I've got some adjusting to do - mainly get the string height at the nut just right
and put some relief in the middle of the fingerboard to optimize for low string height and minimal buzz.
I used some East Indian Rosewood unbent guitar sides for the fingerboad - just right at 1.8mm before profiling. All the tonewood came from http://www.alaskawoods.com/
Some soundfiles in a few weeks when everything is settled and tweaked.
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