Mike's Oud Forums

A Question for Syrianoud

DJCrabtree - 10-28-2005 at 02:50 AM

Good morning,

Since your most recent Shehata oud is very similar to mine, and was made at about the same time, I was hoping you could answer a quick question.

I was looking at the maker's label this weekend and noticed that beneath the number and date there is a space for the maker's signature, and I was a little surprised/ worried/ sad that the space was blank. Is yours signed by Maurice ? And does anyone else have a view on how this might affect the future monetary value of the instrument ?

David

DJCrabtree - 10-28-2005 at 04:06 AM

Perhaps someone else who bought a Shehata recently would like to comment.

I hope no one thinks I'm questioning the oud's provenance - that's unthinkable. I'm just curious.

David

SamirCanada - 10-28-2005 at 06:29 AM

well.. what you Could do is ask maurice to send you a official certificate. Iam pretty shure that could be a solution. He could have forgot to sign the label but if you manage to get a authenticity certificate from him then you will be able to prove its really made by him.
Cheers.

DJCrabtree - 10-28-2005 at 07:02 AM

Hi Samir,

I don't need a certificate of authenticity - I was just wondering if it was Maurice's usual practice to sign his ouds or not.

David

SamirCanada - 10-28-2005 at 11:39 AM

Sorry David I cant help you with that.
Iam going to receive mine verry shortly and I will tell you if its signed. As for your concerns for the price of the instrument I doubt it would affect it much. The label itself is quite distinctive and it would also be hard to reproduce the work itself and make a convincing "fake" shehata. If someone ever questions the authenticity of the oud because you didnt have a signed label (unlikely but it could be) then you couldnt go wrong with a signed certificate. Iam shure Maurice would do that for you no problem.
Cheers

Ronny Andersson - 10-28-2005 at 12:01 PM

Quote:
would also be hard to reproduce the work itself and make a convincing "fake" shehata. If someone ever questions the authenticity of the oud because you didnt have a signed label (unlikely but it could be) then you couldnt go wrong with a signed certificate. Iam shure Maurice would do that for you no problem.
Cheers


Is not a problem to make a convincing fake, just see all the fakes of Mohammed Fadel and Fawzy Monshed and even Yaroub Fadel.

SamirCanada - 10-28-2005 at 12:25 PM

Can you tell there fake tho?
Say you have a fake fadel and reall one and you have no certificates could you tell wich one is and isnt fake? The only way to know would be to know exactly what makes a Fadel a Fadel. Of course only someone that really studied the different makers could be sure.
I understand that those famous Iraqi makers have had there work copied quite a bit but I dont think I ever heard of a fake shehata. :shrug:

tezza - 10-29-2005 at 01:44 AM

David, I have a Shehata I bought recently from Maurice at his workshop in Cairo (so no real chance of a fake there!). The finished ouds I saw there were all signed, as was the one I bought. Just ask him (quote the serial number of the oud) -- it's best to contact him by phone and while his English isn't fantastic, it's far better than my Arabic...

DJCrabtree - 10-29-2005 at 02:02 AM

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Having read Tezza's post I'm leaning towards taking SamirCanada's advice and perhaps contacting Yehia for some sort of certificate, but at the same time maybe Syrianoud is right and it's just not a big deal. (That's the problem with Librans like me - crippled by indecision !)

David

Ronny Andersson - 10-30-2005 at 10:28 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SamirCanada
Can you tell there fake tho?
Say you have a fake fadel and reall one and you have no certificates could you tell wich one is and isnt fake? The only way to know would be to know exactly what makes a Fadel a Fadel. Of course only someone that really studied the different makers could be sure.
I understand that those famous Iraqi makers have had there work copied quite a bit but I dont think I ever heard of a fake shehata. :shrug:


The question was not whether they are fakes of Shehata's ouds. Some Fadel fakes are of the highest quality when it comes to worksmanhip, sound and labels but they are few of them and the majority is quite easy to identify as fakes.
I've heard about one Iraqi maker who got the original moulds from Fadel's workshop and now is making very good fakes....

palestine48 - 10-30-2005 at 10:43 PM

I know the incentive about making a "fake" is the mark up in price based off the name, but how much mark up can they get. Especially if they take time to be very good fakes. you might as well develop and reputable name for yourself if you gonna go through all that effort.

Jonathan - 10-31-2005 at 04:21 AM

I agree with palestine48. Also, if the oud is going to be faked, the person making it is not going to fail to fake a signature, as well. As well as a certificate.
I would forget the signature thing. Enjoy the oud.

DJCrabtree - 10-31-2005 at 05:15 AM

I do , Jonathan, I do.

Stepped up to the mic with it for the first time this weekend, and the results were encouraging - although it was a shock to hear how off my intonation was at times. Must do better.

David