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manuel
Oud Lover
Posts: 16
Registered: 5-2-2012
Member Is Offline
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aquila strings END OF PRODUCTION
Hallo to you all,
i see AQUILA stopped producing OUD STRINGS.
do you know if anyone else produces NYLGUT strings?
thank you all
manuel
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1373
Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
Member Is Offline
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I've been told by several reliable sources that Nylgut is Aquila's invention, patent, and property. No one else makes these strings. Have they
actually stopped producing the gauges used in their various oud sets or simply ceased packaging these gauges as "oud strings"? It would be a big loss
if their treble strings were no longer available. But I'd be surprised if those gauges were not available simply as "music string". I will investigate
and report back.
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manuel
Oud Lover
Posts: 16
Registered: 5-2-2012
Member Is Offline
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Yes, I'm going to do the same.
i will come back with some news.....
bye
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1373
Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
Member Is Offline
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Aquila Update
I have been in touch with Curtis Daily at Aquila USA. He affirms that Aquila ceased packaging and selling oud strings a few months ago. He still has a
few sets of various kinds (but no more 13o) and he can be reached at
aquilastrings@gmail.com
Brian Prunka at oudstrings.com has *some* Aquila sets and singles left. He can be reached at
info@oudstrings.com
once these sellers are out of Aquila stock and if (as it seems) they cannot replenish them, there are still sets available from various internet
sites. All the usual suspects. And eBay sellers have them too. For now.
I got out my digital micrometer and after measuring 3 times I have discovered that Aquila nyglut "Classical Banjo" first (d) strings are the same
gauge as the cc in their Arabic 13o set (.57 mm) and that the Classical Banjo third string (G) is the same gauge as the gg in their Arabic 13o set
(.76 mm). I haven't found anyone yet who sells these except as parts of sets. But the sets can be got fairly cheaply for those who are desperate for
that luminous sound that nygut produces on *some* ouds.
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Matthias
Oud Junkie
Posts: 473
Registered: 1-24-2007
Location: Badenweiler, Germany
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Hello friends,
let me tell you, that I still have a lot of sets of the Aquila Nylgut Aoud sets on stock + several single strings. You will find them in my online
shop:
http://music-strings.de/index.php?k=239
I do have
--> 86 arabic tuning sets
--> 18 turkish tuning sets
The quantity is not shown, but you cannot order more than what is on stock.
Best regards
Matthias
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aquila
Oud Maniac
Posts: 51
Registered: 2-3-2004
Location: Italy
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Hello to everyone
This is Mimmo the aquila owner.
I saw your comm here.
yes, we stopped the productiona while ago.
we done this choice because we heard that many complaints about the sound quality of our strings. We had a bad feeldback fro Morocco.
Do you have some suggestions? Maybe we can reconsider this solution reducing the variety of oud sets that we offered. they are indeed too much
maybe we can keep in production the arab 11 string F and C medium tensione and the Turkish med tension of the most common tuning and just the 13
string arab oud only. Or it is better the light tension? which are your suggestions!
Mimmo http://www.aquilacorde.com,italy
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2939
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Stringish
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Hi Mimmo,
There were some tuning problems people experienced, mainly it seemed with the thinnest strings.
Overall many people really like your strings, but it does seem more sensitive than nylon or PVF to unison tuning issues (I think because your strings
are dense and thus comparatively thin, there is less margin for variation).
I think this could be fixed by including an extra high string with every set, in case there is an issue. The additional cost wouldn't be much, and I
think it would be worth it to people to have a spare.
Based on my experience, the most popular set by far was the 13o set (CFAdgc' light tension).
The 16o, 59o and 9o sets were pretty popular, but only about half as popular as the 13o.
15o, 57o, 6o and 5o were somewhat less popular.
A lot of people just want to buy the nylgut trebles, 25o,26, 33o, 34o, 35o, 42o, 43o, 44o
The Turkish sets don't seem too popular, I have had reports that even the 'light' tension is too much for many Turkish ouds.
So if you were just going to offer a few options, I would suggest:
One set that was basically like the 13o but had slightly lower tensions on the 5th and 6th courses so that it could be used for any combination of
C/D/FF/GG tuning
59o set, but add an extra low F string: most people that use this tuning expect a 12-string set, not an 11-string set.
Possibly the 9o set, but again lower the tension of the lowest two courses to accommodate a range of tunings.
Offer the full range of treble pairs listed above.
A separate 13 string set is not necessary, just make the extra 42o pair available to add to the 13o set.
Your "normal tension" set is actually rather high tension by oud standards (normally oud sets are between 3 and 4kg, I believe yours is 4.2,
correct?), so your "light" tension sets are actually the most normal.
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1373
Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
Member Is Offline
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Dear Mimmo,
the sound quality of your strings is excellent on many ouds. I have been happily using only Aquila "light" strings on one of my ouds for several
years. I am told they don't sound good on some other ouds but no one brand of string sounds best on all instruments. For instance I use your nylgut
Classic banjo set on several of my 5 string banjos and these banjos now sound better than they ever have. But on some other banjos other kinds of
strings sound better.
The problem with your oud sets is not the sound, it is the gauge. Your "light" Arabic oud string set is at the very edge of safety for most ouds with
a scale of more than 59cm, and that means most Arabic ouds. The other Aquila Arabic string set is probably too heavy for safety. I haven't tried them
but I can well imagine the sound being poor.
There is a secondary problem and that is sometimes your plain nylgut unwound strings do not intone exactly the same within a pair. This seems to occur
often enough to take notice. I am not having this problem but others have reported it. Not only am I not having a problem, but your treble strings are
my favorite and I would be sad not to have them available.
Your plain unwound nylgut strings combine very well with other kinds of wound strings. (The reality of oudists is that some players will use mixed
sets, even using a different brand for each string!). If I may make a suggestion, it would be a good thing and good business for you, if you would
sell your "light" treble unwound strings (in their present gauges and perhaps in a future truly lighter gauge) separately from a complete set. I know
that all gauges of plain nylgut may be purchased in 120 cm lengths but the price is very high that way and there is a lot of waste because there is
too much length for one oud string but not enough for two.
A second suggestion would be an Arabic oud string set that is a bit lighter than the one that has been available. At 61.5 scale the sound of your
recently discontinued "light" set is excellent but a bit too tight for getting optimum vibrato.
Thank you, Mimmo.
Jody Stecher
Quote: Originally posted by aquila | Hello to everyone
This is Mimmo the aquila owner.
I saw your comm here.
yes, we stopped the productiona while ago.
we done this choice because we heard that many complaints about the sound quality of our strings. We had a bad feeldback fro Morocco.
Do you have some suggestions? Maybe we can reconsider this solution reducing the variety of oud sets that we offered. they are indeed too much
maybe we can keep in production the arab 11 string F and C medium tensione and the Turkish med tension of the most common tuning and just the 13
string arab oud only. Or it is better the light tension? which are your suggestions!
Mimmo [url]http://www.aquilacorde.com,italy | [/url]
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aquila
Oud Maniac
Posts: 51
Registered: 2-3-2004
Location: Italy
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Hi guys,
I found out which is the problem in matter of intonazion of the upper strings.
So this problem is solved. The new nylgut go up in tune in a very fast way also.
I will think what to do.
For sure I will delete some sets. They are too much
Please give me almost two weeks
Ciao
Mimmo
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2939
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Stringish
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Thanks, Mimmo!
Glad to know you figured out the intonation issue. Otherwise, there are many people who like the sound of your strings. Including, I might mention,
Simon Shaheen.
best regards,
Brian
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Luttgutt
Oud Junkie
Posts: 578
Registered: 1-10-2009
Location: Norway
Member Is Offline
Mood: Curious
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Hi Mimmo!
Good to know.
I agree With most of what the guys Write above..
I have used Aquila light on two of my ouds for some time now, and happy With them..
But the wound dd strings never worked for me. I think they are too thin.
And concerning the low strings, I actually use BEADgcf, and the tention on CF are allready too low for me. So I would actually like a higher tention
on those (not lower) :-)
Thanks and keep up the good work.
The wood might be dead, but the oud is alive.
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aquila
Oud Maniac
Posts: 51
Registered: 2-3-2004
Location: Italy
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Hello guys,
Mimmo again
Brian... may I ask you alitte help? I would like to send you a set of arabic tuning model 13O with re balanced 5 & 6th basses.
And a RED SERIES unwound for the 3rd. I would like to know if it is ok.
Maybe it is a revolution.
I already made the suggestion you gave me.
a few sets and the spare ff. Sorry, I cannot offer others spare nylguts for business considerations.
BTW: the next nylgut be made yellow brown like gut and not white
ps Brian. if you like to help me mail me to
aquila@aquilacorde.com
see you soon!
Mimmo, rrom rainy an could Italy
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1373
Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
Member Is Offline
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An unwound third course for 13o is intriguing and might be a really good thing. I don't have the means to measure "Newtons" but the feel of the
current wound third course of that set is that it is tighter than the other 5 courses. A lighter wound course would be another solution. In my
opinion, just by feel, not scientific, the AA course is also very tight in set 13o. The FF and C however do not feel as if they need to be adjusted by
very much. It is the dd and AA that feel tightest at 61.5 cm.
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2939
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Stringish
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Hello Mimmo,
Thank you for the message and I am glad to hear it. You just made a lot of people happy.
I would be happy to test out the strings if you want to send them to me. Please send two of each so that I can try them on different ouds.
I got a message from Gianluca, but I had sent you a more detailed message yesterday. Let me know what you think.
Best regards,
Brian
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rojaros
Oud Junkie
Posts: 581
Registered: 7-9-2008
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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I'm having an Aquila set on my arabic oud and I quite lime it. Hope it will continue to be available...
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danieletarab
Oud Junkie
Posts: 213
Registered: 1-18-2009
Location: Palermo (Italy)
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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aquila
THis is Daniele from Italy. I think that the Mimmo's attitude is just fantastic. He's being very humble, professional and concerned about customers. I
put some aquila strings on my oud few weeks ago and yes, I had problems with intonation of the first pair. I'll try again once Mimmo will produce the
new sets! Congratulations to Mimmo!
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1373
Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
Member Is Offline
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Quote: Originally posted by danieletarab | THis is Daniele from Italy. I think that the Mimmo's attitude is just fantastic. He's being very humble, professional and concerned about customers. I
put some aquila strings on my oud few weeks ago and yes, I had problems with intonation of the first pair. I'll try again once Mimmo will produce the
new sets! Congratulations to Mimmo!
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It would be even better if customers could get replacements for the unwound treble pairs. Never mind *free* replacements, although that would be very
welcome. A customer cannot buy a pair of nylgut treble strings except by buying a full set. If an oud player puts on a new set of Aquila oud strings
and one or both pairs of trebles do not match and all the remedies mentioned in this thread do not work (this has now happened to me) then the only
thing to do is use a different brand of treble string or buy a whole new set of Aquiila strings and *hope* — with no guarantee — that the treble
strings will be in tune.
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stringmanca
Oud Junkie
Posts: 224
Registered: 8-4-2005
Location: Martinez, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Oud Moud
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Any updates on this? The Aquilacorde site has 'New Nylgut' listed ( http://www.aquilacorde.com/produzione-monofilamenti-musicali-bulks/... ) - is this the 'new improved' product?
Brian, I noticed that your site still has the Aquila strings 'Out of Stock' - are you going to be carrying these new ones?
I've been using the 59o 'F' set for years and don't know what to do without them!
Thanks!
Nathan
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Matthias
Oud Junkie
Posts: 473
Registered: 1-24-2007
Location: Badenweiler, Germany
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Hello,
I still do have 10 sets of the 59O on stock:
http://music-strings.de/index.php?a=10102
Best regards
Matthias
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stringmanca
Oud Junkie
Posts: 224
Registered: 8-4-2005
Location: Martinez, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Oud Moud
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Good to know - thanks, Matthias!
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freya
Oud Junkie
Posts: 276
Registered: 2-8-2004
Location: Asheville NC
Member Is Offline
Mood: Happy in the mountains of WNC
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G'day,
I am seeing "new" nylguts advertised various places on line. Does anyone know if these are the recently "reformulated" versions? The part numbers seem
to be the same as with the older strings.
Cheers,
Harry
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2939
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Stringish
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Aquila is only making the 13o and 9o sets, and the 42o and 33o high f'f' courses. "New Nylgut" was introduced almost 2 years ago, so it may or may
not be the "new" "new nylgut" . . . could be the "old" "new nylgut".
If it's anything other than 13o or 9o then it isn't the new formulation.
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Matthias
Oud Junkie
Posts: 473
Registered: 1-24-2007
Location: Badenweiler, Germany
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Quote: Originally posted by freya | G'day,
I am seeing "new" nylguts advertised various places on line. Does anyone know if these are the recently "reformulated" versions? The part numbers seem
to be the same as with the older strings.
Cheers,
Harry |
Hello,
new NYLGUT is and stays new nylgut. There are no two different types. A bit more than 2 years ago AQUILA changed the formula from the first and white
edition to the new type.
It is correct the NEW NYLGUT is offered at many places, as it has raisen to the mainly used strings for lutes. ( thats what I can say following the
interest and sellings in my shop and the lute players request. ). Yes I'm selling theese strings in my shop ( http://music-strings.de/index.php?k=68&lang=eng ).
The only difference between the lute NEW NYLGUTS and those from the oud, guitar and ukulele sets is that the lutes strings are in gut color and are
not polished like the others.
And as it was asked here too, AQUILA's NYLGUT is only available from him, he has patented this. No one is producing that strings too.
So it will be no problem to bring togather the sets which are not available any more directly from AQUILA, as the wound strings are still in
production, which are the same. Only one restriction is there, individual wound strings are only available in the copper version. No silverwound
strings are offered.
So if someone is interested, please contact me through my shop contact page.
Best regards
Matthias
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2939
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Stringish
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Matthias, Mimmo has said on this very thread that he has changed the production; it may not be a new formulation, but he must have changed
something:
Quote: | Hi guys,
I found out which is the problem in matter of intonazion of the upper strings.
So this problem is solved. The new nylgut go up in tune in a very fast way also. |
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Matthias
Oud Junkie
Posts: 473
Registered: 1-24-2007
Location: Badenweiler, Germany
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Quote: Originally posted by Brian Prunka | Matthias, Mimmo has said on this very thread that he has changed the production; it may not be a new formulation, but he must have changed
something:
Quote: | Hi guys,
I found out which is the problem in matter of intonazion of the upper strings.
So this problem is solved. The new nylgut go up in tune in a very fast way also. | |
Yes Brian, you are right. I wanted to mention this, but unfortunately I forgot this.
He changed the formula only for the thinner strings, as there were breaking problems. This concerns the diameters from 36 - 46 as Mimmo told me. I did
not get other informations from him.
Matthias
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