evansakes - 5-12-2016 at 01:08 AM
Hi, I play and own many stringed things and have recently begun to concentrate more seriously on an oud I bought about four years ago on eBay.
If anyone is able to provide any information on it's likely origin I'd be grateful. The wood is unvarnished and it has twelve pegs though only eleven
notches in the nut.
As you see one of the heart shaped sound holes is sadly absent.
Is it likely to be Arabic, Turkish? Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give!
bulerias1981 - 5-12-2016 at 06:36 AM
Looks like it was made in Loveland!!! It's most likely Arabic. Is there a label inside you can photograph? Also, can you measure the string length in
metric system? From the bridge to the nut. Thanks.
evansakes - 5-14-2016 at 10:01 AM
Thanks for the reply....no there is no label or any identifiable markings anywhere on the instrument. Scale length is 61cm. It may well be a cheap
'tourist' model but if so I'd say it's fairly high quality. It's certainly pretty ornate for a tourist model anyway (with several 'sparkly 'jewels'
which you may just be able to see). A couple of things suggest it's a one-off hand made model by an enthusiastic amateur luthier. There are several
glue drips visible inside and the joint where the head meets fingerboard looks a bit untidy (bit of a gap at the back)
There are 'fret' markers which seem accurate and not added later...also the line where body meets fingerboard is at a satisfying harmonic point
(perfect fifth). I assume that is standard on anything halfway decent?
Does any of that help identify?!
evansakes - 5-14-2016 at 10:09 AM
Actually, just checked again and what I thought was the nut is just a flush joint. So the true scale length is a little more but still not quite
61.5
Thanks again
nile pirate - 5-21-2016 at 11:20 PM
dear Evansake
I have come across this style of oud about 20 years ago. It is definitely Egyptian. a freind of mine has got an almost identical one to yours.
they were produced in bulk by a maker call Saeed abdul azeem from Embaba in Cairo. Some of his ouds acually sounded nice but they do not look that
nice
play it in good health
if this is of any use to you
evansakes - 6-3-2016 at 06:51 AM
Thanks nile pirate, that's very interesting and useful. I'll see if I can find any more info on the internet...
Would you be able to post a photo of this other one? I'd love to see it...maybe your friend has some identification markings on the oud?
Thanks again, Gerry (evansakes)