shareen
Oud Junkie
Posts: 218
Registered: 8-28-2007
Location: Upstate New York
Member Is Offline
Mood: Dreaming
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Help! I'm in Cairo now. Help!!
I am looking for some traditional music to listen to. Also, I had a very disappointing day on Muhammed Ali street. I never saw such a collection of
garbage in my life. If Walmart was in Egypt, they'd sell those ouds there. Are there no good builders anymore in Cairo besides Maurice?
Yes, they were all nice and shiny, with thick shiny laquer finish on the top ("to protect the surface from the air", said the shop keeper)...shop
after shop of nice shiny heavilly finished tops and laquered finger boards, and pretty instruments with no volume or presence whatsoever. Very
disappointing. They were one step about tourist ouds. Passed by the Gamil Georges shop...same poor quality. What does a serious oud player do in
Egypt now, who cannot afford a custom instrument?
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Aymara
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1162
Registered: 10-14-2009
Location: Germany / Ruhr Region
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Deluxe ouds for tourists?
Greetings from Germany
Chris
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suz_i_dil
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1061
Registered: 1-10-2008
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Did you visit Marco shop in Muhammed Ali street ? Marco is a nickname, and I can't remember is exact name, but if you ask there you will find.
This luthier is working for Naseer Shamma school, or at least was in 2005. I don't know if he's still working there. His ouds are decent student grade
instrument.
regards
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
Member Is Offline
Mood: m'Oudy
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I wonder if you aren't being a little quick in rejecting ALL instruments with a varnished soundboard. I'm sure you have tried a number, and they were
mediocre, but maybe then you decided ANY oud with a glossy soundboard is bad. If that's the "fashion", maybe go with it and see if you can't find a
decent oud anyway?
The varnish can easily be tamed by swirling with very fine steel wool, at least aesthetically. I have an Egyptian whose soundboard looked
brush-varnished by an idiot. It ended up looking like a semi-matte French Polish, very attractive (and "high end") - the soundboard, that is.
Maybe some of these ouds ARE Shellac'ed, which is what French Polishing is done with, and Shellac does not dampen the acoustics of the
soundboard. Shellac can be easily worked down to a very thin layer, or even washed off, as it is very soluble in alcohol. Many other varnishes are
very soluble in acetone, or alcohol, or (worse) paint thinner, so maybe you can get bare wood if you want it. Personally I wouldn't want raw wood, I
don't know about "the air", but dust and saliva maybe should be protected from? If your tongue isn't sticking out, if you don't "drool" a little while
you play, you're maybe a bit too dignified 
There are several serious luthiers in Cairo, I've only heard of them, other people here know them in person.
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alfaraby
Oud Junkie
Posts: 796
Registered: 9-18-2009
Location: Holy Land
Member Is Offline
Mood: Cool
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MARCO is a name of a dealer, a music instrument shop, called after a violin maker who lived & worked in Cairo last century. The
owner's name is Abdolrahman Shalaby . His son Mohammad, runs the place. Beware of the son, he's a shrewd musician & dealer. These guys are not
makers . They just buy ouds from anonymous makers & stick their label inside. Their ouds are as commercial as the others, but look a little bit
better. You might find a good one there, but a great deal of luck should be involved. They sometimes offer some older pieces, but then a very
professional oudist should try them. Being old is not a guarantee the oud is good enough to pay these prices they'd ask for.
Beside Maurice Shahatah of course, You may try Sayyed Fathi Amin's shop @ Faysal street. Ask any taxi driver to
drive you there, conditioned you're accompanied with a local who might help making a good bargain.
You may try Tharwat Saber Altayyeb & sons Majed, Maher & Ramy as well, who are descent makers with fair prices. I tried to
look for their address, and here it is : Altrolly st. Almatariah Quarter, Cairo, Mobile : 010-3761872 . I hope you might find something there .
Anyhow you're not alone ! Egyptian oud player is facing a real problem finding a descent oud in Cairo.
Good luck
yours indeed
Alfaraby
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