What goes in

Here are the materials gathered for the construction of my latest oud.

Note: you can drag
<~ this edge of the frame
to change the size.

• The long billet on the left, split from a spruce log, provides the braces for the oud belly.
• The black bit is ebony for the fingerboard.
• The white rectangle is laminated parchment, one of the many possiblilites for the rosettes.
• The bridge is made of pearwood, sawn from the reddish block. Fruitwood dyed black is traditional -- the greater mass of an ebony bridge would impede vibration.
• Center, beneath the pearwood block, are the quarter-sawn strips for the staves: cherry above and walnut below.
• The plank just below the staves is maple, used mostly for the peg box.
• The wide, thin sheets toward the right are veneer, dyed in several colors (except for the natural walnut on the bottom, which will cover the finished neck and provide some of the trim).
• The milled lumber on the right is aircraft spruce, my shorcut for the built-up neck.
• At the bottom of the stack is European spruce for the oud belly -- actually two book-matched pieces stacked face-to-face, which will be joined along one edge.
• The pegs are the best ebony violin pegs from Metropolitan Music.
• The strings are a lightweight set from D'Addario -- other choices are LaBella and Daniel Mari.