stevepalmer
Oud Lover
Posts: 12
Registered: 2-9-2016
Member Is Offline
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Left-hander here
Hi everyone,
I am left-handed, so I'm struggling to locate a left-handed oud of quality.
I am in touch with the UK manufacturer Michael Moussa, whose reputation seems very high. Can any members here tell me a little about their experience
with him, if they have dealt with him? I was considering having a left-handed oud made...
Thank you,
Steve...
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Danielo
Oud Junkie
Posts: 365
Registered: 7-17-2008
Location: Paris
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Hi Steve,
I'm left-handed to ! I have learnt to play as a right-handed but in retrospect I should have learnt left-handed...
What many left-handed players are doing (for instance Sameer Makhoul) is actually to play a right-handed oud upside-down, without restringing the
instrument (i.e. with the treble strings upwards). A big advantage is that you can play virtually any oud you come across.
see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBGORzn_PgI is does not seem to cause any problem  But if you follow lessons it could be a nightmare for your teacher !
Da
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bulerias1981
Oud Junkie
Posts: 762
Registered: 4-26-2009
Location: Beacon, NY
Member Is Offline
Mood: John Vergara Luthier Lord of the Strings instrument making and repair
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I had a lefty friend who was playing righty for a while and he was a decent oud player but I can tell he was limited. For weeks I tried to get him to
reverse the strings on his oud, and he didn't want to. Finally I let him use one of my ouds and I reversed the strings to lefty and let him borrow the
oud. He got used to it and within a month his playing got much better. So I'd do the same here. I recommend you just installing the strings lefty and
learning how to play the right way. If you are looking for lessons, I offer them via skype. Either way, if you try to play rightly I believe you will
stun your musical growth. It's a big illogical to play with the bass strings on the bottom opposed to playing them on the top.
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Dr. Oud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1370
Registered: 12-18-2002
Location: Sacramento, CA, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: better than before
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A problem in playing a normally right hand oud in left hand position is that the first peg interferes with your fingering hand in the first position.
If it has 12 pegs, the first peg can be omitted to allow first position access. However, restringing the oud so that the strings are in normal
configuration can change the dynamics of the soundboard and the oud may not have the same volume, balance or tone quality. Ouds built for left hand
players have the peg positions reversed in the peg box to allow access t the first position without this interference.
I have an oud made by Suliman Haddad in 1923 that was built for left hand position, ie: the pegs are reversed. I have omitted the first peg to string
it and play in right hand style, but it can easily be restored to the left hand set up.
http://www.droud.com/for_sale.html
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markus
Oud Maniac
Posts: 60
Registered: 9-10-2009
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Hello Stephen
Michael Moussa is a great luthier, musicologist and composer- before all is a great person. I have already had 4 of his instruments all different but
all wonderful with unique quality of sound, responsiveness, balance and playability. Only problem with him is that he makes ouds in his own preference
and for his own satisfaction and up to his own standards never to order to avoid frustration and delay to people interested. Currently most of his
instruments are gifts to his friends. If you are near buy go and have a look
his site:
www.magicstrings .co.uk
not updated though
Greco- Egyptian.
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stevepalmer
Oud Lover
Posts: 12
Registered: 2-9-2016
Member Is Offline
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Thank you all for your replies!
Ameer, thank you for your message.
I will let you know how I get on...
Best wishes to all,
Steve...
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Mrcook
Oud Admirer
Posts: 7
Registered: 5-3-2015
Location: London
Member Is Offline
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Hi Steve, did you have any luck?
I bought an oud from Michael Moussa last year, and it was a beautiful and fruitful experience. Having never met him before he treated me like a family
member, and allowed me to spend the day in his home trying ouds, that i may find the right one for me, and boy did i!
Even though he makes ouds to his own preference, he makes them in a wide variety so you are sure to find something you will fall in love with
He often makes replicas of ouds by the renowned luthiers of the past...
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stevepalmer
Oud Lover
Posts: 12
Registered: 2-9-2016
Member Is Offline
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Hi again,
Yes, I am in touch with Michael, he was a positive and very helpful man, we have agreed that he is making a left-handed, Egyptian style oud for me. I
hope it will be ready next month.
I will post some photos (if I can) in due course...
Thank you all for your U2U messages, and posts on this thread.
I also recently managed to find a loutar, which I opened literally a couple of hours ago. I acquired it from Palm Guitars of Amsterdam. The owner
there (I think called Soren) is very helpful. I will be buying from Palm Guitars again. Google them and check out their website!
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stevepalmer
Oud Lover
Posts: 12
Registered: 2-9-2016
Member Is Offline
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PS… 
I am an inveterate collector and player of unusual musical instruments. Check out the thread below on the EM Portal forum. There are new photos on the
second page...
http://www.emportal.info/viewtopic.php?t=1420
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stevepalmer
Oud Lover
Posts: 12
Registered: 2-9-2016
Member Is Offline
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Today!
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abc123xyz
Oud Junkie
Posts: 114
Registered: 5-17-2007
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Congratulations on your beautiful new loutar.
Could you tell me: is that neck a hollow tube, or solid wood?
David
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stevepalmer
Oud Lover
Posts: 12
Registered: 2-9-2016
Member Is Offline
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Hi David,
The wooden neck is solid wood. It has been varnished, I think, with a thick plastic-type varnish.
I will convert it to left-hand use over the next few days, and try to post a video. It sounds fantastic!
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