> >> ... Would it be better to have a bridge with a >> bigger area - for a stronger joint and more area to transmit sound? (But >> early guitars have small bridges?) >> > > Good question, Stuart. It all really depends on the quality of your > instrument and how 'authentically' it's constructed. So in your case (as of > your mentioning of 'an inexpensive oud') it won't probably be so terribly > important if the bridge is wider than 'normal'. Whether the bridge and its > gluing area is bigger or smaller, it would have no difference on the amount > of energy of the vibrating string that is transmitted to the soundboard. > What is more important is its mass. Slimmer / lighter bridge will result in > rising the frequency of some particular modes of vibrating soundboard, while > fatter / heavier bridge to lowering those modes. Or, in other words, lighter > bridge will enhance higher frequencies, heavier one - lower. Instrument with > a lighter bridge will also be quicker to respond to a plucked string, with a > heavier - slower. > > Old makers have probably arrived at some optimum parameters of bridges on > lutes and guitars purely empirically, aiming at what works best for the sort > of sound they and / or their customers favoured most. Those bridges are, as > a rule, rather slim and made of sufficiently dense but lighter varieties of > wood (fruit woods seem to be mostly common). So the best approach would be > to follow the examples of such surviving original bridges (not so many of > them unfortunately). And by fitting 'inappropriately' proportioned bridge to > either old instrument or authentically constructed new one it's perfectly > possible to virtually ruin their sound! > > Alexander > > > > Thanks. These observations were exactly what I was hoping someone could help me with. I'll stick with a small bridge! I also raised this question because lute bridges are really rather elaborate, tapering in different directions and with the little wing things. Presumably this shows off the skill of the craftsman and and is respectful of lute-making traditions but has little effect on sound.
Talking of effect on sound. I can see and touch some of the bars in this oud. The bloke who got it for me (as a wedding present!) probably got it in Algeria and he was not a rich man at the time. It's a humble thing and the bars haven't been tapered; they are flat at the top. I wonder if this could this make a discernible difference to the actual sound? To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html