Mike's Oud Forums

An oud with a past

jaron - 7-6-2008 at 10:44 PM

Paul O graced me with a piece of good fortune. He heard I was looking for an arabic oud and dug one out of his closet and sold it to me today. It had not been played for years...
I have now been playing it for hours.
This is an unusual instrument with an unusual past.
It started out as- well the forum oudists can interpret what's left of the original label.
A repair person in Brooklyn slapped his own label over the original at one point.
And then John Merjanian replaced the face, neck, pegs- everything but the bowl and the roses, which are still original.
As I've been playing the instrument, it has opened up, and is revealing an amazing voice. It is pure joy to play. Photos to follow...

roses

jaron - 7-6-2008 at 10:45 PM

more of label

jaron - 7-6-2008 at 10:46 PM

more of label

jaron - 7-6-2008 at 10:49 PM

roses

jaron - 7-6-2008 at 10:50 PM

the bowl

jaron - 7-6-2008 at 10:51 PM

the bowl at last

jaron - 7-6-2008 at 11:01 PM

DaveH - 7-7-2008 at 12:42 AM

That's a very special ex-hana nahat you've got there. You have to wonder what else Paul 0 has stashed in that cupboard.

Jameel - 7-7-2008 at 03:27 AM

Wow. Nice score. PaulO, what else have you got?!?!?:D

SamirCanada - 7-7-2008 at 05:02 AM

YEAH ! that is a SICK oud !!!!
you do know that it is a Nahat bowl right?
the old Label reads
georges hana nahat.

its a keeper.

Christian1095 - 7-7-2008 at 06:35 AM

Who just lets such beautiful instruments sit around in a closet?!?! :rolleyes:

Wow, it's beautiful...

jaron - 7-7-2008 at 08:46 AM

Some more gossip about this instrument- it has a huge bowl. A lot of people can't play it comfortably.
It is in fact more of a Merjanian instrument than a Nahat, but of course it isn't like any other Merjanian in it's scale or shape.
The tone doesn't sound anything like either the one Hana Nahat I've played, or the other Merjanians.
It's actually a little closer to the one Shehata I've played, the one belonging to John Erlich.
It's amazing how much it has opened up after a day of playing.

jaron - 7-7-2008 at 08:48 AM

It isn't important, but I can't help but be curious about the person in Brooklyn who put a label over the original nahat label. It looks like the original was partially scraped off...

Can anyone tell what year the bowl was made?

Dr. Oud - 7-7-2008 at 09:31 AM

George Hana earliest labels are from 1930's latest 1950. Shame on Toufiq Ajhar for scrapping off the original, covering it with his and trying to take credit for this master oud. Despicable! see
http://www.droud.com/nahats.htm
for more Nahat info.

jaron - 7-7-2008 at 09:59 AM

The 1958 instrument in your gallery looks the most similar to this one-
The bowls are very similar, as are the labels with the seals added.
The 1959 instrument has similar roses.

DaveH - 7-7-2008 at 10:51 AM

Hey Doc, just have to jump to the defence of Toufiq there (not that I know him) - if his intentions were less than honourable, surely he wouldn't have left the original makers' name on the only bit of label that's showing or on the rose?? I think he was just putting his stamp on the long history of this oud.

Those ivory inlays are something aren't they?

paulO - 7-7-2008 at 01:43 PM

Hi Folks,

The oud was purchased by my uncle Vard Kazanjian from an SF bay area oud player, George Bedrosian in the mid 1970's. After a Thanksgiving dinner one year, my uncle gave me the oud. It had made several moves with him, and it had always been on display, but he'd never got around to playing. The bridge had pulled off, and there was some other damage to the face as well. I sent the oud to John, who called me back with the news that he was unable to repair the top. So John went ahead with a rebuild where he tossed out everything but the roses and the bowl. He did a lovely job as you can see from the fine pics Jaron posted. The oud was just too large for me to play comfortably -- so it kind of sat around for years (about 15), until last Sunday that is ! Glad you're digging the oud Jaron.

Regards....PaulO

jaron - 7-7-2008 at 01:50 PM

For what it's worth, I can tell you that when I played my lumpy old Sukar or the gruesome fake Fadel, our cat Loof would run away, but when I play the Nahat/Merjanian, Loof cuddles up and tries to get close to it...

Raabiah - 7-9-2008 at 01:12 PM

i dont think i'll be heplful according to the history of this instrument but it is absolutley stunning. keep on oudistatin ppl:airguitar:

Alan - 7-10-2008 at 07:12 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Oud
George Hana earliest labels are from 1930's latest 1950. Shame on Toufiq Ajhar for scrapping off the original, covering it with his and trying to take credit for this master oud. Despicable! see
http://www.droud.com/nahats.htm
for more Nahat info.


Richard, you may not remember but you removed a Toufiq Ajhar label from my dad's 1902 Hana Nahat. Toufiq did not put his label over Hanas but did drip glue on Hana's face. Toufiq did a remodel job on this oud 5-25-60. I remember my dad telling me that he offered any oud in his shop for the Nahat. I don't think my father knew the legacy of the Nahats but turned him down figuring that it must be worth a lot. Toufig took the original tuning pegs and replace them with viola pegs. :( Not sure what else he took.

Nice looking oud jaron.

stringmanca - 7-11-2008 at 08:51 AM

Here are a couple of pictures of this oud from February, when it stayed at my house for a week. Paul0 had offered it to me but the sound just wasn't what I was looking for. It's a beautiful instrument, though - glad it found a good home! Enjoy it, Jaron!!



Closeup of the neck:

jaron - 7-11-2008 at 11:09 PM

The sound is unusual - you know when I first played it I was disappointed- almost didn't buy it- the sound seemed dead in the upper courses and there were some other problems- I played it intensely for a few days- for many hours- and it completely transformed- it is not a typical oud, but it is an amazing oud.. will post some sound samples soon-