Mike's Oud Forums

Kürschner Strings

Brian Prunka - 1-15-2012 at 02:26 PM

I've been contacted by Kurschner strings to see if I want to carry their strings in my store.

I've heard good things about them, but have never tried them. They are somewhat expensive, although not as expensive as the Pyramid or Savarez Lute strings.

I estimate that their sets, which list for about $38 to $45, I could discount to about $32 to $40. I'm wondering how many people would be interested in buying their strings if they were available at that price?

Please comment if you have other thoughts.

cheers,
Brian

myeyes2020 - 1-15-2012 at 10:16 PM

They work well with Trunz and Fadi Matta ouds and I would definitely buy them. Thanks Brian.

Adel

spyblaster - 1-16-2012 at 07:58 AM

ive already bought their arabic set. it has a great quality but i havent tried a lot of other brands so i cant say it worth it or not.

katakofka - 1-16-2012 at 08:20 AM

hi brian
quality/price they are good stings. The PVF are good for the gg and cc strings. I would surely get them from you.
thanks

teslim - 1-16-2012 at 09:10 AM

they are great strings-as good as the pyramid customs and less expensive--i would order them from you...

oudistcamp - 1-16-2012 at 10:13 AM

Brian, since Kurschners has recently changed the string supplier, it may be more informative to request perhaps 10 turkish and 10 arabic sample sets that you could get avid members of this forum to try out intensively in return for feedback for the first month.

Brian Prunka - 1-16-2012 at 11:15 AM

Quote: Originally posted by oudistcamp  
Brian, since Kurschners has recently changed the string supplier, it may be more informative to request perhaps 10 turkish and 10 arabic sample sets that you could get avid members of this forum to try out intensively in return for feedback for the first month.


I didn't know about that, do you have any more information?

20 sets is a lot to request as a "sample". They might possibly send me one or two of each if I asked.

charlie oud - 1-17-2012 at 05:26 AM

They are excellent strings, I could only vote for one type but I would stock Arabic and Arabic light and Turkish also if this is possible. They are perhaps a superior brand to Pyramid lute though I prefer nylon to PVF. I am using Kurschner at the moment and they will certainly take some beating.

charlie oud - 1-17-2012 at 06:20 AM

Also Brian, that's a good price you are offering, excellent value for money. They have a lovely bright sound to the bass's which warm out nicely over time also. They have an extensive range for various tunings. If you can, why not ask them if they will let you sample the whole oud range in order for you to make a decision on which sets to stock?. Good luck, they will be a great addition if this comes off.

Kelly - 1-17-2012 at 01:36 PM


Hi Brian

Yes I'd go for Kurschner. I've used a few arabic sets both medium and lights. I'd prefer Rectified Nylon than PVF but thats just personal preference. I'm using a mixture of Kurschner light for basses with Pyramid lute for trebles and seem to work ok on my Egyptian Moussa.

My only gripe in past has been expense (postage from Germany seems very expensive) and wear around the tied end windings if adjusting string loop height at the bridge.

spyros mesogeia - 1-19-2012 at 10:33 AM

Hello Brian,
I would be also interested.
Regards brother

stos - 1-22-2012 at 12:41 PM

Hello!

I'm think I'm maybe the only one that had some "not so good" experience with kuerschner strings

I bought a special set from a luhtier in paris with arabic tuning for 58.5 cm oud

and very quickly (2 or 3 month), the strings oxydated and the D strings had the metal "wound" going away and making terrible noise (I'm sorry for my bad english but I can't find the proper words)

to say it simple : it seems to me that they had'nt a good lifetime for the price I payed

Brian Prunka - 1-22-2012 at 12:59 PM

Stos, when did you buy your strings?

As oudistcamp noted, they have somewhat recently changed their strings.
Kurchner has assured me that while they have changed the strings slightly, they have maintained the highest quality. I would be interested to know if your experience was with the old or new strings.

Although, it would be fair to note that any manufacturer can have an occasional defective string; most are very good about responding to these kinds of problems. Almost every manufacturer I deal with has has at least one case of a defective string that I know of . . . it doesn't mean they are bad overall.

bilginki - 1-22-2012 at 03:20 PM

Dear oud players,

I am the producer of the Kürschner Strings.
The quality of the Kürschner Strings are known by the oud players all over the world.
But sometimes we see the copy ones. So in order to buy the real ones please check the packet of the original strings
from the link below. As we have been selling them for two years in that packet.

http://www.enstrumansepeti.com/images/products/00/32/88/3288_kucuk....

And,Brian thanks for your informations.

spyros mesogeia - 1-23-2012 at 06:40 AM

Hmmmmmmmm
I think that I will prefer Brian Though.
Let me know brother when you will bring the strings
Regards from DC

hama - 1-23-2012 at 12:48 PM

when I first received my oud from Faruk Turunz ,came with a set of Kürschner Strings which i was very happy with, I will be happy to buy it from you.
regards

Hama

stos - 1-25-2012 at 11:59 AM

the kuerschner strings I had problem with where the "older" strings I guess, because it was more than one year ago

I agree that It is possible to have defective strings from every brand, but I just wanted to share my little experience about it

hopefully there are not all like this! ;)

fernandraynaud - 1-25-2012 at 03:17 PM

I am considering a package on e-bay, do you think these Kurschner strings are authentic?

KurschForg2.jpg - 23kB

Luttgutt - 1-25-2012 at 04:00 PM

Quote: Originally posted by fernandraynaud  
I am considering a package on e-bay, do you think these Kurschner strings are authentic?



:)):)) Fernand, how did you manage to get the same tear??? :applause:

fernandraynaud - 1-25-2012 at 07:51 PM

Same housekeeper ;-)

Microber - 1-26-2012 at 12:52 AM

:)):))

fernandraynaud - 1-26-2012 at 05:13 AM

Thanks, Charlie, for the kind help, but it was a joke in reference to the Manol torn label thread. Forgive me, please.

bilginki - 1-26-2012 at 11:59 AM

http://www.kuerschner-saiten.de/


The owner of the Kürschner Strings is BERND KÜRSCHNER.
Kürschner Oud Strings are being made in Turkey for two years.
And they are made by Oud Maker BARIŞ KARATEKELİ, the partner of Bernd Kürschner.
As we told before, we have been using this packet for two years.
You can check it, by sending e-mail to this adress: kuerschner@kuerschner-saiten.de

Thanks for your interest.

Best Regards

BİLGİN KARATEKELİ



http://www.kuerschner-saiten.de/

panço - 1-27-2012 at 05:14 AM

Hello
I prefer to Kuerschner strıngs .. ım veryy happy wıth thıs strıng.
Yes thıs ıs rıght . The kuerschner strıngs have made by barıs yekta karatekelı.
I lıvıng istanbul . If ı need strıngs ı call barıs yekta he send me kuerschner strıngs..

charlie oud - 1-27-2012 at 09:15 AM

CORRECTION. I DELETED AN EARLIER POST AS I HAVE SINCE RECEIVED 2 EMAILS REGARDING THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BLUE PACKET. THEY ARE INDEED GENUNIE. MY APOLOGIES TO THE SUPPLIERS.

Brian Prunka - 2-6-2012 at 02:29 PM

Kürschner strings are now in stock.

http://www.oudstrings.com/index.php?route=product/category&path...

Mehran - 2-6-2012 at 02:37 PM

Hey Brian,

Question.
What are the approximate tensions of the different arabic sets (light, medium, heavy)? Ive asked kurschner but havent got a response yet. Thought you could shed a little light on that for us.

Cheers pal.

Mehran

Plum_Pasha - 2-6-2012 at 05:30 PM

Kürschners are pretty much the standard amongst Istanbul luthiers, and although some top udists there are always looking for something better, these strings are sort of the default — when I lived there that was all I ever bought (directly from their workshop in Unkapanı ), both for ud and lâvta. I have come to prefer to put Aquilas on the higher two courses (partly because they sound great and partly because they last forever, if you can avoid a sharp-edged mızrap), but I still use Kürschners for the lower ones — I brought many packs back with me when I returned to the US 2 years ago. I can definitely recommend them, but I must say I am so used to buying them at Istanbul prices (maybe $9 or $10?) that $38-$45 strikes me as outrageous — Brian, I know that shipping costs from Turkey are really high, but I wonder if you can get them for a better wholesale price? This is the shop where I used to get them: http://kenanozten.com/urunlerimiz_eng.htm — they also make and repair kanuns, but I thought they were making the strings in the same building. Good luck!

adamgood - 2-7-2012 at 06:52 AM

Hi Brian,
Just sent you a u2u PM...

Adam

Brian Prunka - 2-7-2012 at 07:26 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Plum_Pasha  
Kürschners are pretty much the standard amongst Istanbul luthiers, and although some top udists there are always looking for something better, these strings are sort of the default — when I lived there that was all I ever bought (directly from their workshop in Unkapanı ), both for ud and lâvta. I have come to prefer to put Aquilas on the higher two courses (partly because they sound great and partly because they last forever, if you can avoid a sharp-edged mızrap), but I still use Kürschners for the lower ones — I brought many packs back with me when I returned to the US 2 years ago. I can definitely recommend them, but I must say I am so used to buying them at Istanbul prices (maybe $9 or $10?) that $38-$45 strikes me as outrageous — Brian, I know that shipping costs from Turkey are really high, but I wonder if you can get them for a better wholesale price? This is the shop where I used to get them: http://kenanozten.com/urunlerimiz_eng.htm — they also make and repair kanuns, but I thought they were making the strings in the same building. Good luck!



I can't imagine that you were paying $10, even in Turkey. If so, it's possible that we're not talking about the same strings, since they have changed in the past couple of years. I don't know what to say about that.

The $38-$48 is the list price that Kurschner states for their strings. I'm actually selling the standard sets for around $30, and the premium sets made from lute strings for $37.75.

Matthias' shop in Germany is selling the 406103 set for $46, whereas I am charging $29.75, so while I can't compare to Turkey, I think my price seems reasonable.

Compared to Pyramid or Savarez, they are relatively inexpensive.

Multi Kulti - 2-7-2012 at 08:39 AM

there is a big misunderstanding about the Kürschner strings...
There are 2 (or 3) kind of Kürschner strings... One is made in GERMANY from Bernd Kürschner himself and they are of high quality lute strings (and expensive). And then there are Kürschner MADE IN TURKEY (until this year made in workshop of Kenan Özten and from this year made in workshop of Baris Karatekeli in Izmir). They are good quality and not so expensive but my opinion they are not the same league as the german strings..

I hope i helped a little bit.
Brian has the German stuff

N.

Brian Prunka - 2-7-2012 at 08:58 AM

Actually, I have both, the "Premium" sets are the lute strings, the "Oud" sets are as described.

All Kurschner "oud" sets are made in Turkey, as far as I know.


adamgood - 2-7-2012 at 02:55 PM

Hi Brian,
Confusing stuff but Multi Kulti is pretty much confirming what I was getting at in private.

Really could be wrong but my hunch is also that the strings you have access to are made in Germany and not the Ks that are widespread in Turkey. If they are the same as the K lute strings, I've never tried them before but have been really curious.

I'm sure they'll be more clear if you ask...

Adam

Brian Prunka - 2-7-2012 at 05:19 PM

They gave me some extra sets that aren't labeled like the others, just marked "oud". I wonder if they are the ones you are talking about. I sent them an email inquiring.

charlie oud - 2-8-2012 at 04:44 AM

This Germany Turkey question does need sorting, The Arabic light set 401103 as described on the German Kurschner website is also the basic set Brian has and there is no oud premium set available from direct from the Kurschner site. They really need to make it all clear like Pyramid i.e. Orange label or lute strings. The 401103 set I have ordered several times via the Kurshner site is excellent (lute quality), am I now to believe there is a better set (premium) which they offer via Brian?. Either way, thanks Brian for the fine ongoing development of ousdstrings.com. You are doing us all a great service.