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"Ragmakamtar version #5" ...I went through a majorly stressful ordeal managing to get ragmakamtar version #4 onto the flight from London to Vancouver as hand luggage, only to soon realise that I would not feel satisfied with version #4 enough to use it as my permanent playing axe. Version #4 has some serious balance issues due to overly heavy necks. Furthermore, although it's sound is magnificent, still it was not exactly what I was hoping for. I wanted to be able to use all nylon strings on the "oud neck". I came to the conclusion that I therefore simply had to make the lower half of the instrument very similar to an actual oud. I built this version in a rush, and that is a good thing because with this new design, the upper neck did not get enough soundboard space and therefore the "sarod" ended up sounding like a banjo..... kinda nice actually, but again, not what I was after. I included in this new design a rounded back with more depth on the "oud side" of the body. I at first ambitiously attempted to construct the back from wood, but ran into serious problems due to the very irregular shape. Having failed with the wood back I got the idea to simply make the back from papier mache (if it is good enough for Torres and Fred Carson - it's good enough for me!). |
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c) 2010 edwardpowell.com |
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