Edward has been designing, and building unique, original acoustic stringed instruments now for quite some time. This fetish which occasionally becomes an obsession began with various courageous experiments on sitars... the experiments eventually became full instrument construction projects...

"The RAGMAKAMTAR" is an original instrument now manifested in six versions. Essentially it is a double-neck fretless guitar-type instrument with 12 sympathetic strings. The original concept was to combine elements of an OUD, a SAROD, and a FRETLESS GUITAR... all in one instrument. Edward conceived of this instrument while spending the winter of 2006 on Crete at Ross Daly's music center surrounded daily by Ross's astonishing collection of 200 stringed instruments primarily from the Silk Road. Edward built version after version of the original prototype. Version #3 was build in Istanbul with the help of Faruk Turunz and his team. Versions #5 and #6 show a dramatic design departure in a successful attempt to give the "oud side" a more authentic "oud" character.

...detailed info on all RAGMAKAMTAR versions

Dzuddahord

This was a commissioned instrument conceived of by a multi-instrumentalist from Siberia; Vladiswar Nadishana. The Dzuddahord is also modelled after the ragmakamtar prototype however both necks have steel strings. The upper neck is a six string guitar with a sitar bridge (with adjustable individual string saddles). The lower neck is configured like a mandola. The result is a marriage between a guitar, sitar, and mandola.

see construction pics

Alto and baritone ouds:

Edward has designed and build two original ouds. The baritone oud has a longer than normal string length and a wide body to produce a great bottom end. The alto-oud is the opposite, with a small body and tight soundboard bracing this instrument has strong punch and projection.

Gambri-bass and afro-bass:

Edward fell in love with the sound of simple African stringed instruments, in particular the Moroccan "gambri". An original gambri has an astonishingly simple neck, actually just a round broomstick with the strings tied on with leather straps. There are no tuning pegs at all. Although a gambri is ideally suited to the local music from where it came, Edward felt the urge to get a similar sound from an instrument that would have a standard fingerboard and tuning pegs, hense the 'gambri-bass' which is a Moroccan gambri exactly except with a bass guitar-type neck. The "afro-bass" is simply a larger and more sophisticated version of the "gambri-bass"... both of these basses can be heard throughout Edward's recent CDs.

Sargamtar and sartar:

The result of Edward's early experiments in designing and constructing original instruments these are essentially two VERY long necked fretless guitars, although their bodies share little with those of most guitars. The sargamtar's very delicate sound belies it's very primative construction, which resembles that of simple African made from stretched skin (as soundboard) over a rough structure. The sartar is a more sophisticated version sharing building techniques with those of ouds and guitars, and having 7 double courses of steel strings. This is a very powerful instrument but difficult to play and hold!