Jason
Oud Junkie
Posts: 733
Registered: 9-17-2005
Location: Louisville, KY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Loving my oud
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Is this oud playable?
I would like to get an Oud to play with, mainly as a hobby. I have played double bass and guitar for many years so I understand that sometimes cheap
instruments are completely unplayable. Is this also the case with ouds? I am looking at this one...
http://cgi.ebay.com/Egyptian-Standard-Oud-Brand-New-with-Free-Hard-...
My main concern would be the tuning stability and overall construction quality. If I can't tune the oud then it will be of no use to me and I don't
want something that's going to fall apart in six months. Since I'm just playing for fun I can't really justify spending big bucks right now, am I
just out of luck?
Thanks
Cool site! I just found it
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syrianoud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 631
Registered: 7-22-2005
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Jason
I would like to get an Oud to play with, mainly as a hobby. I have played double bass and guitar for many years so I understand that sometimes cheap
instruments are completely unplayable. Is this also the case with ouds? I am looking at this one...
http://cgi.ebay.com/Egyptian-Standard-Oud-Brand-New-with-Free-Hard-...
My main concern would be the tuning stability and overall construction quality. If I can't tune the oud then it will be of no use to me and I don't
want something that's going to fall apart in six months. Since I'm just playing for fun I can't really justify spending big bucks right now, am I
just out of luck?
Thanks
Cool site! I just found it |
I wont... that is a waist,I would say Displayable and not playable ,What do you expect for $189.00. it might fall apart before you get it.I will sugest
that you should wait and save a bit and get a Shahata OUD for $750.00 where it will last you forever. Real good quality at a low price.The rest is up
to you my friend.Good luck...
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palestine48
Oud Junkie
Posts: 448
Registered: 6-9-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Free Palestine
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Go search nileshop in teh ebay stores. Email the seller, his name is yehia and he also sells shehata ouds. You can by the ouds he has on the ebay
store and possibly inquire if he has anymore of those types of ouds since he hasnt really introduced much more inventory. I assume hes focusing
mainly on the sehata ouds. Anyways these ouds that e sells are good value for their prices. they range from about 175-250 and sound well for what
you pay for. your not going to get the hiugh definition of detail that an expensive one has but if you want a solid playable oud, nothing wrong those
models on nile shop.
Also a turkish maker by the name of haluk sells begginer level ouds and he ran a special on this board recently. u can look into his ouds if u want a
turkish model vs an arabic model and from what I read he makes a quality instrument.
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Hatem_Afandi
Oud Junkie
Posts: 414
Registered: 2-26-2005
Location: TX
Member Is Offline
Mood: Learning
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Hi Jason,
Your best bet is to contact Maurice directly and discuss with him what your needs and goals are. He is a very nice person and extremely capable maker.
I personally think that he is one of the best in the worl. He will be definitely able to help you out with a reasonably-priced quality instrument that
will last forever and improve with time.
Checkout his site
http://www.mauriceouds.com/english/index.asp
Ebay musical instruments are usually a HIGH risk I would never take.
Good luck,
Hatem
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Jason
Oud Junkie
Posts: 733
Registered: 9-17-2005
Location: Louisville, KY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Loving my oud
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Thanks guys I am going to contact Haluk about an oud. Nileshop has a few ouds but they have rather poor feedback, hopefully I can get one from Haluk
they look great and he is selling them for a good cause.
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syrianoud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 631
Registered: 7-22-2005
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Jason
Thanks guys I am going to contact Haluk about an oud. Nileshop has a few ouds but they have rather poor feedback, hopefully I can get one from Haluk
they look great and he is selling them for a good cause. |
The Nile shop doesnt have a poor quality,He sells SHAHATA ouds ,who told you poor quality,Are you looking for a Turkish oud or Arabic oud. Haluk has
Turkish ouds. You can contact Maurice Shehata directly or you can contact MIKE the site owner and he can direct you through Shahata ouds.I just got
through Mike 3 Shahata Ouds and they are great. But Again the Nile sells Shahata and other Ouds ,You can Email them and they can send you info of
other ouds they carry.Best ragards...Samir,California
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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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As I mentioned before on this forum,I have quality learner ouds made of Padauk-Walnut or Mahagony-Walnut combination with quality Spruce top with 283$
price including shipping and handling for a special purpose.
Members of forum,Greg,Eric and Nissim ordered from these ouds and I sent their ouds.
Regards all.
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Jason
Oud Junkie
Posts: 733
Registered: 9-17-2005
Location: Louisville, KY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Loving my oud
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This is the only oud I could find from nileshop http://cgi.ebay.com/Beautiful-Egyptian-Olive-Wood-OUD_W0QQitemZ2367...
I believe I would rather have an Arabic oud because of the extended range but I have not been able to find one in my price range that looks very good.
Can someone give me the useable range of a Turkish oud? What is the highest note one can play on the C strings? Do you get considerably more range
with an Arabic oud?
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palestine48
Oud Junkie
Posts: 448
Registered: 6-9-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Free Palestine
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Ya nileshop doesnt seem to stock as many beginner ouds anymore but they arent bad they just arent shehatas. As far as feedback, i just looked and
they are rated 99% out of 648 customers so i dunno where you read they have poor feedback. The ouds are made by gawharet el fan, if u search yahoo u
can find their site but they dont seem to sell directly.
As for what type of oud, arabic ouds don't necesarily have a greater range than turkish ouds. most oud or i should say all ouds can only play two
octaves. if you want an instrument that reaches more octaves, u should look at a buzuq. I think Turkish ouds are tuned higher than arabic ouds so
they will reach higher notes but as for range, you still are limited to two ocataves from your tunning. if you are undecided, u can get a turkish
oud and tune it to arabic tuning but u cant tune an arab oud into turkish notation because the turkish tuning is too high for the arab oud
construction.
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Elie Riachi
Oud Junkie
Posts: 582
Registered: 4-9-2004
Location: Kansas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Gebran Tueni Lives For Ever, 12-12-05.
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With the "proper string gages" a Turkish oud can be tuned to Arabic and an Arabic oud can be tuned to Turkish. But a properly engineered oud should
not be tuned too different from the intended design or it will not sound its best. However, I doubt that these cheap ouds have been engineered much
so such a switch in tuning most likely would have unpredictable effects on the sound, just make sure you have the proper gages for whatever tuning,
given the oud's scale. Note fine stringed musical instruments are made to perform the best at near the point of collapse (I recall reading that
somewhere, and sure makes sense.)
Elie
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tezza
Oud Addict
Posts: 47
Registered: 10-17-2004
Location: Dubai
Member Is Offline
Mood: relaxed
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Jason, your concerns about tuning stability and overall construction quality are valid when it comes to ouds. I bought a Syrian oud for around US$150
and while playable, tuning has been a nightmare (but thanks to reading posts on this board, I now have it quite stable) and the overall feel of the
oud is pretty uninspiring. It’s an attractive oud though, and now proudly hangs on the wall of our living room. Coming from playing other stringed
instruments, especially guitar, I’ve found that ouds are much more fragile and budget ouds are far less playable than an equivalently priced
mass-made guitar. For example, a Squire guitar from Fender might have cheap fittings (pickups and machine heads), but it will stay in tune and be
playable for several years. The equivalent priced oud will be poor by comparison and as someone who knows a good instrument, you’ll soon outgrow a
barely playable cheapie. My suggestion would be to buy a less expensive model of a well-respected oud maker. You’ll sacrifice exotic woods and
intricate detail work, but still get playability and durability.
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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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Jason, what is your budget?
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Jason
Oud Junkie
Posts: 733
Registered: 9-17-2005
Location: Louisville, KY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Loving my oud
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Thanks for the comments Tezza you really hit the nail on the head. I'm really not worried about a pretty oud but would rather have one that I can
perform with.
I think I am going to order one of the learner ouds that Haluk is selling. From everywhere I have looked they seem to be the best for the price. I
think I will be happy with a Turkish oud, 2 octaves is plenty of range. I am going to wait until some of the members on the board receive their oud
to insure that the postal service is being careful with shipping and then I will place my order.
Revaldo, I suppose my budget is around $300, give or take a little. That seems to be a reasonable amount for a beginner oud from the research I have
done.
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2916
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Online
Mood: Stringish
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Turkish ouds and arabic ouds in standard tunings have equivalent ranges, the turkish is just a whole step higher. They both have approximately a 3
octave range (arabic C-c', Turkish D-d'). Many people tune turkish ouds to arabic tuning; it's not ideal, but for modestly priced instruments it's
often one of the better options.
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Jason
Oud Junkie
Posts: 733
Registered: 9-17-2005
Location: Louisville, KY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Loving my oud
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I have narrowed my search down to a few choices....
1. the learner ouds offered by Haluk, I am waiting to hear reviews from board members who ordered the ouds. I think it would be best to hear what
accomplished players think of them before a total beginner like myself orders one
2. thenileshop.com amateur ouds...
http://www.nileshop.net/store/nileshop_viewItem.asp?idProduct=920
http://www.nileshop.net/store/nileshop_viewItem.asp?idProduct=915
I would want to be able to tune these to F# B E A D G is this possible?
3. theoudman is selling a beginner oud on ebay, I am awaiting a return email from him to answer a few of my questions
http://cgi.ebay.com/Beginner-Oud-for-Sale_W0QQitemZ7352013631QQcate...
Any advice on these?
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palestine48
Oud Junkie
Posts: 448
Registered: 6-9-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Free Palestine
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I got a nile shop oud just like the first link except the bowl is walnut and its a floating bridge but the design is exactly the same otherwise,. Its
really a good oud, my accomplished musician uncle/teacher likes it and things its a great oud to start on. I have another uncle who is less
experienced but still a fine player and he likes it very much, I told him I wanted a more pro one and he said I had no reason to. So if you really
want an arabic oud then I do recommend the nile shop ouds for your budget. I payed 250 for the oud plus shipping and a gig bag, it came close to 400.
As for people saying that you its not ideal to tune turkish ouds to arabic tuning. I might respectfully disagree, granted brian and the gang have
more experience than me but listening to the old school of musicians, I know there are a few who generally prefered turkish ouds based on their
quality and consistancy of getting a playable instrument so I feel that if they were using turkish ouds to perform arabic music with, then who says it
is not ideal. Me, I'd rather get an arabic oud because I play arabic music but I would not say that its not ideal to use a turkish oud. Please
correct me if im wrong, but I think that issue is a question of preference?
So if you asked my opinion, if you an arab oud, the nile shop ones are good. If you were to compare the quality of haluks ouds to nile shop ones,
haluk would probably win giving his reputation as a builder but I havent heard his oud to say for sure. I beleive the nile shop ones are probably
assembly line built, they arent tied to one maker but they still came out pretty well. You are probaby going to find more attention to detail in
haluks ouds but that is something I should leave him for to answer.
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2916
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Online
Mood: Stringish
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I wasn't trying to suggest that tuning a Turkish oud to Arabic tuning was a bad idea; i think especially in the beginner model ouds it's often a good
idea, preferable to a poorly constructed arabic oud (you can usually get a better oud for your money if you buy Turkish vs. Arabic, at least in the
under $700 category, IMO). It's not ideal in that you don't get an Arabic sound, but that is a matter of preference as well. Getting a really good
Arabic oud, like Nahat, is ideal for playing arabic music. However, the classic arabic oud makers tended to make the instruments smaller than makers
today, so they were closer in size to a turkish oud.
Given your budget, Jason, I think that a Turkish oud is probably a good option.
However, the Ghawaret el Fan ouds that the Nile Shop sells are pretty decent instruments, at least the ones I've come across, so if you're set on
Arabic sound, that's probably a good choice.
Some general thoughts on Arabic vs. Turkish sounds: (feel free to argue with these characterizations, they're just my observations)
Arabic ouds are generally darker, more midrange, punchier, tighter, not much echo.
Turkish ouds are generally brigher, with more emphasis on the highs and low, rounder, more echo.
I am wondering why you mention that tuning (F# B E A D G) as the one you want to use . . . that is not a standard tuning; it's like modern turkish
tuning (C# F# B E A D) transposed up a fourth (like high-F or "bashir" tuning). I think you might need a custom oud for that, i don't know.
you might want to explore the standard arabic (C F A D G C, D G A D G C) or turkish (D G B E A D, E A B E A D) tunings before using such an unorthodox
tuning.
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Jason
Oud Junkie
Posts: 733
Registered: 9-17-2005
Location: Louisville, KY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Loving my oud
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It's mainly because my background is in double bass and guitar... I am used to tuning in straight fourths. The modern Turkish tuning would also be
desirable for me. I do plan on exploring the traditional tunings but I would like to have the option to tune in fourths as well.
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