JimGoodinMusic
Oud Admirer
Posts: 4
Registered: 1-26-2008
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Deal Turtle . com
I'm new to the Oud coming from fretted and fretless guitar and some violin. I'm limited on budget but want to experiment with an Oud and can't tie up
much money right now. This is a like Lark in the Morning store, called Blue Turtle at http://www.blueturtle.com. They seem to have a range of Egyptian and Turkish Ouds some blems which are more in my range. Anybody have any
experience or opinions about this vendor?
Thanks
Jim Goodin
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MatthewW
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1031
Registered: 11-5-2006
Location: right here
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Hi Jim- I didn't see any specific oud sellers in the USA via that link you have, 'blueturtle' ( did I miss something?)
If you can give us a rough idea of your budget, someone might be able to offer more info. Regards, MW
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JimGoodinMusic
Oud Admirer
Posts: 4
Registered: 1-26-2008
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Matthew hey I'm sorry the link name was incorrect on my part, it's Deal Turtle at
http://www.dealturtle.com./store-categories-Ouds_3065354.html
Re my budget I'm going to keep it at @250 total which I realize is lower quality. I'm able to do a lot limitations however. My fretless guitar
which will be my foundation for exploring the Oud, I purchased off eBay at $100. It's actually quite decent though clearly the more you pay for
something particularly made of wood and human care the better it will be. That said I realize to a degree what I'm getting into on the lower end.
Thanks for your input.
Jim
http://www.jimgoodinmusic.com
(link edited by moderator)
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Sasha
Oud Maniac
Posts: 95
Registered: 1-12-2003
Location: San Diego, California
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The site you posted seems to be yet another of MidEast Manufacturing's six billion and four dealers.
Most of their ouds aren't much more than expensive kindling.
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MatthewW
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1031
Registered: 11-5-2006
Location: right here
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Jim- here is a thread that might be worth looking at:
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=6564
If you can afford a bit more dough chances are you'll find a better instrument, but you just might get lucky and get something 'decent' within your
budget. There is a forum member who is/was selling an oud just over your budget, and may have more:
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=7115
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JimGoodinMusic
Oud Admirer
Posts: 4
Registered: 1-26-2008
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Mood: No Mood
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thanks to all for your inptu here, clearly Deal Turtle is a low end merchandiser. I've been lucky with cheap instruments when I have to go that route
but did take a look at the link you sent, courious about the Georges Oud as well but it looks higher end. Anyhow thanks for allowing me to pick your
brains on this.
Jim
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SamirCanada
Moderator
Posts: 3404
Registered: 6-4-2004
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Going the lower end on ouds...
is not the same as going low ends on guitar.
top end guitars are hand made.
low end guitars are usually machine made but with high enough precision and standardization.
there is a huge difference with ouds since all of them are hand made with more or less care all depending on the maker and the market being aimed.
therefore it makes the price go up and with reason.
Because ouds are either made to be played or to be attractive to hang on your wall.
You cant compare a professional quality oud (about 1000$ and up) which is aimed at being playable and to have a nice sound with a cheap tourist oud (
300$) they are not made for the same purpose
-where as guitars of 300$ and 5000$ are both playable and both made to be played with.
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JimGoodinMusic
Oud Admirer
Posts: 4
Registered: 1-26-2008
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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thanks for all the input to my novice questions. Clearly alot of passion here that is equally important to me. I don't mean to cheapen anything here
in my interest exploring. As explained this is somewhat driven by my fretless guitar work which isn't a high end instrument but it does play well and
I suspect the last info offered is quite accurate however with any instrument generally the more you pay up to a certain shelf things get better and
just what you're paying for.
Anyhow will consider and see what I can do for myself. Thanks for the link above that listed all the oud luthier's all very interesting and some very
beautiful.
jim
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cjmichael
Oud Junkie
Posts: 117
Registered: 4-22-2007
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
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I was in the exact same spot you were in about 6 months ago. I hadn't played the oud and wanted to get a cheap one to learn. I ended up getting a
lower end one (~500 dollars including shipping from Egypt). Well, it came in with a horrible fingerboard and very nasty buzzes. Completely
unplayable, but I still practiced on it and it got me serious about playing. Then I realized that paying near 1k was worth it for a quality oud and
bought a good one. My old oud hasn't left it's case in months. I probably won't take it out until I can take it to a luthier to get fixed.
My recommendation is to think about it from this perspective. If you're not sure the oud is an instrument you're willing to take on, get a low-end
one and find out. If you're almost certain that you will really play this thing, save up and get one from a good maker. Otherwise, you're gambling
the money you spend on the cheap one.
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