Marjan12
Oud Admirer
Posts: 6
Registered: 4-6-2011
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Is one type of wood preferred over another?
HI all -
I have been looking for a decent (and cheaper) beginning oud and have received a list of ouds (to be made into a 3/4 oud) available from Sayed Ameen.
Each one is of different wood:
sycamore,
oak,
rosewood,
walnut,
Asersus streaky (?),
Asersus & Alsickamor,
mahogany, and
mahogany and oak.
Is any one of these better or do I just pick by design/color?
Thx for all the help -
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Marjan12
Oud Admirer
Posts: 6
Registered: 4-6-2011
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HI -
All of the ouds I listed were from 350 - 650$ (including shipping.)
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londonoudi
Oud Maniac
Posts: 68
Registered: 1-1-2009
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Mood: No Mood
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Hi where can I get one of these from?
Is there a website or an email address?
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Sam
Oud Junkie
Posts: 375
Registered: 3-23-2009
Location: Cairo - Egypt
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Mood: Selling Ouds
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walnut will be the best choice . but it better be high grade american walnut. soundboard must be cedar or spruce . do not use typical pine wood that's
used for cheap Egyption ouds.
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
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Mood: m'Oudy
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First I should say there's apparently a lot of room for error in names of wood. Since different areas traditionally have had access to different
woods, the language bends around this reality. What one region may call "walnut of lions" another may call "Martian ebony". Wood vendors are motivated
to sell, and, to quote that lion of commerce President Reagan, when he was governor of California and meeting with ecological defenders of protected
thousand year old redwoods, "if you've seen one tree - you've seen them all." So who knows what you actually get. Secondly I'm impressed by the way
the bowl wood affects the sound and personality. I have 3 Sukar ouds, of which two are structurally identical, yet each has a distinct timbre, and
especially, personality. This last you may or may not believe in, but I do. The dark heavy model 10, apparently ebony-bowled, just naturally invites
to play deeper melodies, while the lighter walnut model 212 excels at chords and major scales.
I agree with Sam. Dark Walnut is a very versatile oud maker's wood, mahogany is not, oak is not traditionally used. Rosewood can be good, it's hard,
but again there are different types. The harder/heavier woods seem to favor a bassier sound. Exotic woods are pretty, sometimes sound great, but a
gamble. The soundboard should be spruce or cedar. The fingerboard should be ebony. Ebony pegs are great but tend to wear the pegbox holes faster than
e.g. Rosewood. Because you can get beautiful and well-machined viola pegs for under $20 a dozen from Dov Schmidt, I would consider picking your own
pegs and sending them to the luthier, as hand shaped pegs are often a weak spot.
Best success!
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