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Amos
Oud Junkie
Posts: 405
Registered: 3-26-2005
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Shehata Oud from Zulkarnain
Hi everyone,
I recently bought a new Shehata oud from a user named Zulkarnain whom some of you may know from this forum. The oud looks beautiful at first
appearance, but it has severe structural problems which make it impossible to play and cost-prohibitive to repair. Peter Kyvelos, a renowned oud
maker and honest person, examined the oud and informed me that the neck is attached at an angle which makes action far too low and buzzing so severe
that it cannot be repaired without a complete rebuild, the staves were too short toward the neck and a band of wood was pasted over it to mask the
mistake, and the oud is covered in so much lacquer that the sound is dulled irrevocably.
Also, the peghead was broken and reattached sloppily, which Zulkarnain failed to inform me of. He also told me, via email, that the strings did not
buzz at all. He informed me that he had played the oud for months with no problems...this is not possible, as the ouds problems could not have
happened over night. The bridge is raised extremely high in an apparent effort to raise the action, which was unsuccessful.
I am not sure if these problems occurred in the Shehata shop or somewhere else. I do not mean to insult Mr. Shehata.
The result is that I was defrauded of $750. I should have known better than to buy an oud without playing it first, but Shehata ouds seemed to have
such a good reputation and I trusted Zulkarnain as another member of this forum. He has informed me that he will not refund my money upon me
returning the oud, so I feel it necessary and appropriate to let you all know what happened so that it will not happen to you.
Please understand that I am not trying to be nasty or spiteful, I am simply upset that I lost this money that I could have spent on a quality
instrument.
Best of luck in your practice everyone. Thanks for listening. Amos
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oudplayer
Oud Junkie
Posts: 849
Registered: 5-9-2004
Location: new jersey/ Israel
Member Is Offline
Mood: ouds up
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hi amos
i am sorry to hear what happaned and i really dont knoiw what to say???
this is why most people play it b4 they buy it bc it is so expensive.
anyway did it have a case and how was it shiped
thx sammy
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Mike
Super Administrator
Posts: 1568
Registered: 12-3-2002
Location: California, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Happy
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Hi Amos,
First off, I'm sorry to hear about this and I totally understand your frustration. Although, I personally don't think you can fault Maurice for an oud
that was bought second hand, but I would be willing to help you out as much as possible. I honestly think this is an issue with Zulkairnain more than
Muarice. This is at least the 3rd incident I am aware of where somebody has bought an oud or other instrument from him that has turned into a
nightmare of an experience. Another member bought a Yaroub Bashir oud that arrived damaged and then had to pay over 400 dollars to fix it. Someone
else in Europe recently emailed me and told me they paid for an instrument and never received it. This was over a year and a half ago. This has to
stop. It seems like Zulkarnain is making money off of reputable oudmakers, and in the process ruining their reputations. Unfortunately, I can't do
anything as far a getting you a refund, but I am in contact with Maurice on a regular basis. I am sure he will be willing to work something out.
Please email me and I will see what I can do to help. In the meantime, Zul will not be allowed to advertise
anymore insturments for sale on this website.
Regards,
Mike
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Mike
Super Administrator
Posts: 1568
Registered: 12-3-2002
Location: California, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Happy
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Hi again Amos,
I just want to let you know that I have called Maurice to discuss your situation with him. Although he told me that the oud was not purchased through
him directly, he is still willing to try to help you out with this unfotunate situation. He informed me that Zulkarnain owned the oud for over a year,
and when he purchased the oud it was in perfect condition. Apparently the oud was used by Zulkarnain's students in Malaysia and was damaged during
that time. I know this is too late for you Amos, but he also urges me to encourage people to go through his website or Yehia to purchase his
instruments in the future.
Regards,
Mike
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Orahim1
Oud Maniac
Posts: 98
Registered: 2-7-2004
Location: California, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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While I have not bought one of Maurice's ouds (though I plan to in the summer, once I save up a bit) I did order a soft case through Yehia. We talked
a bit through email and he actually called me to talk about the ouds that he sells. He's a very nice man who can be trusted. Due to the fact that most
people do not have a local music shop that sells ouds close to where they live, if anyone plans on buying an oud without having the ability to play it
first, I would definitely talk to Yehia. He's the only one I would trust to buy an oud from sight-unseen.
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samzayed
Oud Junkie
Posts: 485
Registered: 11-1-2003
Location: Chicago, IL
Member Is Offline
Mood: Mashee el hal
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I have also dealt with Yehia, and his very honest and full of integrity. I would definitley buy an oud from him
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john (beloved) habib
Oud Junkie
Posts: 104
Registered: 2-5-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: love my new oud
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Me too. Yehia is great.
Also.. Maurice Shehata is amazing. I am in love with his workmanship. I broke my pocket books to get an oud from him and it was worth EVERY penny.
God bless his hands.
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David Parfitt
Oud Junkie
Posts: 629
Registered: 11-16-2003
Location: Devon, UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Hi
It's really sad to hear about this disgraceful behaviour by one of the members of our online oud 'community', especially because it threatens to
damage the hard-earned reputations of some of the finest oud makers.
I have deleted the link to Zulkarnain's website from my own site, and will have nothing more to do with him in the future.
Regards
David
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Amos
Oud Junkie
Posts: 405
Registered: 3-26-2005
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for your supportive comments and helpful suggestions. I feel quite gullible after learning that this individual has done this before.
Like I said in my original message, I am not placing blame on Mr. Shehata. His ouds seem to be quite beautiful and well-made. I am going to purchase
a Turkish oud from Peter Kyvelos and try to put this incident behind me. I am glad to know that awareness of Zulkarnain's deceptions has been
increased and that perhaps no one else on this board will be taken advantage of like I was.
The oud did come with a quality hard case so at least it was not a total loss!
Mike, I will email you shortly, as I am interested in the details of your conversation with Mr. Shehata.
thanks again everyone for being so supportive and showing me that I am not crazy for being so upset!
Amos
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Haluk
Oud Junkie
Posts: 419
Registered: 2-6-2004
Location: Aydin-Turkey
Member Is Offline
Mood: oud and saz producer
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This behaviour is very very sad.It will give big damage to our business also. He should learn that money is not everything on the world.
I am condemning him.
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Amos
Oud Junkie
Posts: 405
Registered: 3-26-2005
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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shehata oud
Thanks haluk, I have heard wonderful things about your ouds, and I appreciate your commiseration. Amos
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walkad
Oud Junkie
Posts: 102
Registered: 6-27-2004
Location: Sweden
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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I agree with you Haluk. Guys like Zul cast a shadow on other honest ppl.
Amos, Zul played a bad one on us in iraqi-oud too, twice he made us order custom ouds, once from Fawzy Monshed and once from Foad Jihad, and when the
oud is reayd for shipment he stops replying emails, he did that with Fawzy first time, after a while he came back and wanted a Foad, he sayd that he
was short on money the first time and made up a story, so we forgave him the second time and ordered a Foad for him and when the oud was ready for
shipping, he tries to press down the price!!
He was the main reason that we began taking full payment before an order..
Thats why I wasnt surprised that this guy would scam others. Hopefully for the last time...
Regards
/Walid
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Haluk
Oud Junkie
Posts: 419
Registered: 2-6-2004
Location: Aydin-Turkey
Member Is Offline
Mood: oud and saz producer
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I hope also this is the last.He was ordered 2 pcs. oud-2 learner model to me and bought them.Than he ordered 6 ouds for university and wanted pick
guards as the shape of his country Johor.After the ouds finished,he said that university didn't paid money and he didn't bought them.
I removed the Johor model pickguards from the faces of the ouds with a long and carefully work.
Regards all.
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revaldo29
Oud Junkie
Posts: 418
Registered: 6-24-2004
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: inspired
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Amos,
I'm terribly sorry to hear about this bro. This worries me greatly as I was very close to purchasing that same oud since the price was so
tempting. I can't imagine what you felt when the instrument finally arrived. I ordered an identical oud directly from Mr. Shehata and I've gotta tell
ya bro, if you can work something out with maurice, don't hesitate about a new oud from him. I love everything about the rosewood oud. The sound is
amazing and best of all, its very easy to play. What really bothers me about this incident is that now, honest people looking to sell quality
instrument on these forums are going to have a harder time. I think that we may need to look into services like Amazon that serve as kind of a
mediator between seller and customer and steps in when there is a dispute.
Best of luck to you,
Adnan
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palestine48
Oud Junkie
Posts: 448
Registered: 6-9-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Free Palestine
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I feel really bad Amos. If people are interested, I will be willing to make some kind of donation to a compensation fund and you will be able to get
a shehata oud directly from mourice. I could probably afford $20 or so. By my calculations it will take about 38 people to recoup the money u lost
at 20 bucks each. I think theres at least 40 people on this board, no?
We can send the money to Mike and he can order a nice shehata for you.
I almost took the risk of buying an oud with out seeing/hearing and my uncle told me never and thank god I listened but i realize not all of us are so
lucky, so I hope this may help a little bit at least.
Rami
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SamirCanada
Moderator
Posts: 3404
Registered: 6-4-2004
Member Is Offline
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Same here Revaldo
Hey Revaldo long time no talk bro.
Thats one hell of a horror story,..
I was in the same position also has I came 2 seconds from going for the oud since the price was good. I remember he was advertising this with studio
quality pictures probably not the actual 3oud he had himsefl. I really sympathise with you Amos, we have learned to trust everyone on this comunity
site And we must not allow that to change.
I think the few bad apples in this wonderfull group expose there true nature at somepoint and then one of us pays the price for that. Its a shame and
it shouldnt happen.
I hope it dosent make it any harder to sell oud's on the site.
Regards, Samir
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LeeVaris
Oud Junkie
Posts: 379
Registered: 12-16-2003
Location: Los Angeles
Member Is Offline
Mood: oud lover
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I'm willing to chip in for you Amos... is there nothing that Maurice can do with the damaged oud? At least the case is usable. If Mike wants to
coordinate a relief fund I'l contribute!
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aldokhi
Oud Maniac
Posts: 65
Registered: 8-31-2003
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Deception should not be tolerated!
Hi all,
I frequent this forum almost daily. even though I contributed little, but I learned almost everything about oud here.
It realy hurts to hear that some people take advantage of this forum to make "dirty money". I truly think that this should not be tolerated and people
like Zulcarnain, should not only banned from selling stuff here but banned from participating period.
PS Zulcarnain is the name given by people of the middle east for Alexander the Great, one of the most savage humans that ever lived on this planet
back then, it seems that person lived up to that name. Mike I'm sorry for this, but I had to say it and I hope you understand my frustration.
Awad Aldokhi
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Amos
Oud Junkie
Posts: 405
Registered: 3-26-2005
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Hi everyone,
Zul is now forwarding emails I wrote to him immediately after receiving the oud in which I stated that the oud had some issues and I did not mean to
make a huge scene and spoil his name. He is doing this in an attempt to make me look deceptive or sneaky. In my emails to him I said that the oud
was beautiful and I would not post any negative comments about it or him. This was before I had the oud examined by Peter Kyvelos. After I found out
how unacceptable the oud was, I posted the message on this thread. So do not be further fooled by this guy...
Amos
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Amos
Oud Junkie
Posts: 405
Registered: 3-26-2005
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Leevaris, that is the kindest offer I have heard in a long time. I very much appreciate the gesture, but I could not in good concience accept that
generosity when it comes as a result of my own gullibility...I just have to learn this lesson the hard way, I guess! thank you so much!Amos
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habeebkum
Oud Maniac
Posts: 99
Registered: 2-20-2005
Location: newcastle, uk
Member Is Offline
Mood: arab!
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i think that was a very kind and thoughtful idea from palestine48, leevaris is also very kind to offer to help as well. and Amos, if u saved up that
money for that oud and u got screwed then its not ur fault, it can happen to anybody, but if it means that now it will take you a while to buy a oud
then why not accept these kind offers. i am also willing to help u out. this should let you know that there are many more good people than bad
ones! i know exactly how it feels to be cheated and i sympathise with you my
friend. but now i am sure it will never happen to you again! take care.
palestine48....i remeber a while back you were looking for a few traditional palestinian songs...i might be mistaken... but i have a bout 6 simple
ones that i can play so if you want i can post sound clips for them and tell you which note a start with?
habeebkum
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Mike
Super Administrator
Posts: 1568
Registered: 12-3-2002
Location: California, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Happy
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Hey Amos,
First off, I want to tell you that you have nothing to worry about. I was a recipient of those emails between you and Zul. After what I heard from
Maurice and reading what Peter Kyvelos had to say, I think it is safe to say that you were the one that got screwed here. You were not the deceptive
one here by any stretch! I think it's safe to say that everybody gets that by reading all the comments on this thread.
I think Rami, Lee, habeebkum, and everybody else who showed support are a better representation of the character of the visitors to these forums. As
the guy who runs this website, reading all your comments really makes me proud! I hate to get corny here, but it's true. 
Like I have told you via email Amos, Maurice is willing to help you out. He has offered to give a huge discount even though he really doesn't have to.
We would need much less than the 40 donations to make this happen. I too am on board for an idea like that. Think about it Amos, and let us know.
Mike
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Amos
Oud Junkie
Posts: 405
Registered: 3-26-2005
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Everyone,
I am speechless at how generous and considerate all of you are. I am humbled at your offers, and I would accept the help you are offering if it is
feasible. I don't know what to say at how touching this is. Thank you all so much. Amos
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wfspark
Oud Junkie
Posts: 166
Registered: 3-7-2004
Location: San Antonio Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Oud entranced!
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Moving on.
Hey everyone. Amos, I'm really sorry about what happened with your oud experience. What ever you do, do not blame yourself for this mess. Zul has had
a bad rep for reeking habic with members. As Haluk told me once before when I had a bad situation with a member on this forum, "The dog barks, but the
caravan must move on.
Happy ouding from San Antonio Texas.
William F. Sparks
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Orahim1
Oud Maniac
Posts: 98
Registered: 2-7-2004
Location: California, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Consider me in for a donation for a new oud. I'll keep checking this thread every now-and-again in order to see where to send it.
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