handiro - 1-15-2006 at 02:22 AM
does anybody know this maker ?
somebody told me he was a lawyer ?I have tried many times to contact him, never a reply.
I have one of his ouds , a small bashir type with floating bridge which is well built.
I have seen a boy in Berlin with a 13 string model by the same maker.
I also see Mamdouh el-Gebaly in the video is playing one 13 string model.
I would like to find one such model which is capable of supporting high humidity like in the arabian sea shore. On my last trips I melted 2 ouds
because of the high temperature+humidity of the arabian sea .
one of them came almost completely apart.....
palestine48 - 1-15-2006 at 09:14 PM
A lot of people on this site have said they have the same issues with mr. sukar. Some people like his ouds, some people argue they are not of the
best quality. I personally dont know.
I can recommend mr. Samir Azar who lives in syria as well and knows mr. sukar. Samir Azar makes ouds of great quality and many of us have been happy
with his work. He is an engineer by trade as well so I beleive he can probably help with your humidity problem.
his website is http://www.samir-oud.8m.com/
SamirCanada - 1-15-2006 at 09:22 PM
On a side note, Mamdouh el Gebaly in the video is Playing a oud made by Maurice Shehata.
Mr.Shehata is sitting right next to him,...
http://www.mauriceouds.com
handiro - 1-16-2006 at 02:58 AM
thank you all for your answers ! The sukar oud is still in perfect shape , the ones that came apart were other ones.....
And thanks for the links to the other makers. If I buy another oud now its surely going to be a 7 string model
but as I said: it needs to be humidity proof . I heard that some makers know how to make them survive the climate of the Emirates and other countries
in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea coast, where humidity can rise til 98% @40 degrees Celsius and more. So some special glue needs to be used.
I saw the video of Mamdouh on Maurice's site now, excellent player !!
Hatem_Afandi - 1-16-2006 at 05:34 PM
Salaam ya Harido,
I live in Houston, TX. The humidity here tends to get up to 100% during our endless summers.
I read somewhere that acoustic instruments must be stored in a 30%-40% humidity. I believe that the best way to protect your oud is to ALWAYS keep it
in the case when not playing.
Good luck,
Hatem
handiro - 1-17-2006 at 01:09 AM
hmmm I have humidifiers which I activate @humidities under 40% to avoid cracking.
The problem is travelling and moving from 30% to 90 % in 1 day , which is how it happened.
The case will not help much unless it is airtight and I dont have such a case.
I was told there are Ouds built especially for the players in the humid areas like Emirates....
maybe its a myth ....?
SamirCanada - 1-17-2006 at 06:52 AM
Nazih Ghadban produces such a oud. Its said to have been maid to whistand the high humidity. Its got higher braces etc... but I have no Idea if it
actualy works. Its probably worth asking him.
The other thing is that a sudden drop or increase of humidity like that is likely to have a effect on the oud regardless. The only way to really
protect it is to control your room'S humidity and to leave your ouds in there.
peppeo77 - 1-17-2006 at 09:39 AM
Don't be afraid for a non email answering. It happened to me also. Did u write him in english or in arabic? Maybe he doesn't know english (I guess I
must learn some arabic...). I have a Sukar oud, and after a few months of playing it's getting a little better. Sukar ouds are famous for their
buzzing on the board. It passed away using a Aquila brand set of strings...
Have a nice day guys, Giuseppe.
Jameel - 1-17-2006 at 10:01 AM
Sukar ouds shouldn't be any more prone to buzzing than any other oud with low action. On a new, well-made oud, buzzing is caused by the strings being
too close to the fingerboard, or too-loose strings, or both. This is probably why the buzzing stopped when you used Aquila strings, they are higher
tension. The great thing with the Sukar oud is that you can raise or lower the action while the oud is strung. Reach in the hole and loosen or tighten
the neck bolt (just a mm or so at a time) until you get the action you like. That's what I do. The joint between the neck and body might still be
glued, or fixed by the band on the back of the neck. Take this into consideration when adjusting the bolt. On ouds without this adjustment, the
strings must be tied higher at the bridge.
handiro - 1-17-2006 at 10:14 AM
yes thats right my Sukar has a trussrod in there and its adjustable !
Jameel thank you for the Nazih Ghadban tip ! I know of the high risk when travelling from a desert type location to the seashore. If I drive by car
without air condition ( like I did ) on arrival at the coast the oud was in pieces 
But even if I travel with air cond. the moment I leave the car with the case, the humidity gets active. The only idea I have is to
loosen the strings and tuning pegs before, maybe that helps. and of course if some days before I leave from desert to sea , I humidify extra strong,
maybe that also prevents from the shock.
I have not taken the Sukar to high humidity areas yet, I now have an old turkish Oud from 1978 that has been the only survivor of such humidity
excursions and travelled a lot before it was given to me.