TonyBasso
Oud Admirer
Posts: 3
Registered: 5-2-2012
Member Is Offline
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Going to be that guy (Looking to buy an oud)
Ok, so hello everyone! My name is Tony and I have been recently researching Ouds to purchase. Like many who have posted before me I have a lower set
price range (we'll say $500 and less) and I'm very much inexperienced. I had been looking at Mid-East brand Ouds until reading posts on this forum.
I am personally looking for an arabic oud (I prefer the sounds of an arabic to that of a turkish). My favorite player is Rabih Abou-Khalil. If any
of you would be able to give me any insight into my purchase it would be greatly appreciated. However, I will be unable to push much higher than $500
for my oud purchase (college debts).
Thank you all for your time and friendship!
Tony R.
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2916
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Mood: Stringish
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First thing, make sure to read the Oud FAQ at the top, lots of essential information there.
I'll warn you, it is very difficult to get a decent Arabic oud for $500.
But, it's not impossible.
I would like to defend the mid-east ouds a little bit. Yes, most of them are junk, but I've had students who had ones that were actually okay. Not
professional-level instruments, but good enough for a beginner. As I've gotten older, I've realized it is much less expensive to just buy good
instruments, because you can always sell a good instrument, and you will get close to what you paid or possibly more, but a cheap instrument is just
lost money.
That said, I understand if there is just no possibility--if you don't have the money, you don't have it.
#1 question so we can help you: where do you live?
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TonyBasso
Oud Admirer
Posts: 3
Registered: 5-2-2012
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I live in the united states, Pennsylvania
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TonyBasso
Oud Admirer
Posts: 3
Registered: 5-2-2012
Member Is Offline
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Also, for everyone wondering, I recently emailed the mid-east company and they informed me that the tuning pegs were made of ebony, (Indian if that
means something), and that they are created by Bavly Exports. Bavly Exports besides this informative page here http://www.alibaba.com/member/eg103466341.html, appears to have almost no way to be contacted directly. However, as you can see they make much
more than simply Ouds. I hope that this might help those wondering about the quality. Also, I have seen many arabinstrument brand Ouds, and after
reading the review on the mosaic oud, I was wondering if anyone has other opinions/pictures of their instruments. Also, according to their twitter,
they just got this http://www.arabinstruments.com/112730/Gawharet-El-Fan-Oud-1-1-1-1-1... today, so that might be worth looking into. Thanks again Brian!
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2916
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Stringish
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I don't think that Bavly makes anything, they just get stuff from a bunch of different makers. They seem to have stepped up the quality a bit, it
used to be really bad. All the ones that look halfway decent are over $500, though.
Not familiar with this maker, but this one appears to be decent:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAMASCUS-SYRIA-OUD-/180868495887?pt=LH_Defa...
What I would suggest is that you consider a Turkish oud. It won't have quite the same character, but the level of quality that you can find in an
under-$500 Turkish oud is an order of magnitude greater than a comparable Arabic oud. I have only once come across a cheap Turkish oud that was
unplayable, while it is a regular occurrence with cheap Arabic ouds.
That said, you are not far from NY; if an decent inexpensive Arabic oud is going to show up, it will most likely be in NY, NJ, Boston or CA. If you
are patient and keep your eyes out, you may have some luck. Also you can send a message to the Arabic Music Retreat group on Facebook, there is a big
community of musicians, someone might have something.
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alejofar
Oud Addict
Posts: 38
Registered: 9-23-2011
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Hey Tony,
I would agree with Brian. Going with a cheap Turkish oud is your best bet. I got mine through Mid-East and I lucked out on a good one. I tune it down
Arabic style (CEADGC) using either Aquila or La Bella strings and I'm very happy with the sound. You can switch out some of the bass strings for heavy
classical guitar strings if they feel too floppy too.
I'm very familiar with Mid-East's products since my store orders ouds from there. One thing I've noticed with them is that their products are very
inconsistent. I've ordered the same model for our store several times and there are always variations. Most of the times these are just cosmetic, such
as different pickguards or rosettes. I think it's because they get their ouds from many different sources.
The main concern with those cheaper ouds is the quality of the pegbox and nut. Here is where you'll notice more serious problems such as poorly fitted
pegs, peg holes drilled too close to the pegbox so that pegs can't be pushed in all the way, and nuts that are too low or high off the fretboard. Most
of these problems can be fixed and they are not necessarily on all the ouds I've seen from Mid-East. Like I said, I got mine through them and it's
really good for the money.
Hope this helps.
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