musifying

I had to put this project down for a few days as I was a bit under the weather. I am back on it.

I put the oud together, strung it, worked on the pegs. Played it. The tone is beautiful.. It is well rounded, clear, a bit dark, a bit frothy, just the way I like a oud to sound.

The bridge, as with my other Georgy Hanna Nahat is a little low. I was advised to make it higher to make the fingerboard work easier. I didn’t do that because that is certain to change the tone. I could have chosen a thinner pick guard wood which would have given me more play. But it’s on now, and I am not going to touch it. I will make minor adjustments to the way I play, if necessary.

There is a buzz on several notes. I am working with the plain making microscopic adjustments to the fingerboard. Also making final adjustments of the nut groove height. I left that to the end so that I can account for string thickness when I do that.

Speaking of thickness, hide glue has a thickness, I have learned. I should have taken that into account when figuring out the fingerboard height, and I would have avoided having to deal with the buzzing after gluing the fingerboard. For example I could have put a few sheets of paper underneath the fingerboard when I tested it to make up for the eventual height of the hide glue. The action is about a 32nd of an inch lower than I had planned. I guess I’ll have to give that up to get rid of the buzz. Which will take us back to the original action I intended of three 32nds at the fifth.

You live and you learn, I guess.

Already, I am clear on the fact that this is the last oud I ever want to play.