Zulu
Oud Junkie
Posts: 149
Registered: 6-21-2004
Location: Austin, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: I'm in the m'Oud for Love!
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Honest Oud Opinion needed...
I currently own this oud...
http://larkinthemorning.com/products/oud001
I didn't pay the suggested $360; I bought it for $150 in a violin shop that was going out of business 6 years ago.
I've recently started playing again and added ebony pegs, tru-oiled the fingerboard and french polished/shellac the soundboard in an attemp to
upgrade.
I'd like to know(don't worry about hurting my feelings; bring the pain if you have to) Is this a good instrument to learn with or a piece of junk.
I ask because I am just getting back into my music after some years off and if this oud is good for starting that would be great; but if it's a piece
of junk that will make learning hard for me then I'd rather save up and get something proper($1,000 max price range).
I've played electric bass for 30 years and can spot a crappy bass a mile away...but oud is new to me.
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
Member Is Offline
Mood: m'Oudy
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I don't think anyone can tell you how good a specific oud is without very detailed info and photos. What are we supposed to evaluate? Just the fact it
was someone's model XYZ tells us absolutely nothing.
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katakofka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 811
Registered: 1-24-2008
Location: Cleveland
Member Is Offline
Mood: Gypsy
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Welcome to the forum zulu
what you have is turkish oud, a factory made oud, not done by a luthier. As you know like any cheap guitar assembled by people working in a factory
similar things happens in the oud world. So one does the fingerboard the other make the faceboard and so on. In some cases you might end up finding a
good sounding oud arbitrary.
Try first to put descent strings on the instrument like http://www.khalafoud.com/musicaravan.htm
musiccaravan the turkish set (the person making those strings is near you in california, his name is Hank Levin)
Second, tune it as indicated in the set, a turkish tuning
wait couple of days and play the oud. If you hear good sounding, good resonance/projection it would be a good thing for a cheap oud like that.
Another important feature is the action meaning if the oud can be played. If the action is too high then the playability might be a problem on that
oud. It's better in this case to get a new oud and not fixing the action it will cost fixing it you more than you have paid the instrument.
best
souheil
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Zulu
Oud Junkie
Posts: 149
Registered: 6-21-2004
Location: Austin, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: I'm in the m'Oud for Love!
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Souheil,
As far as action goes...two U.S. quartes fit at the neck-bowl junction.
...less than a dime at the nut.
I just put a La Bella set on yesterday and will observe playability and sound/tone over the next 2 weeks.
Thank you for the info and advice!
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Alfaraby
Oud Junkie
Posts: 796
Registered: 9-18-2009
Location: Holy Land
Member Is Offline
Mood: Cool
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As indicated in the site above, and as Soheil has told you, it's a Turkish oud. You can also tell just by looking at the roses/sound holes, since
they're smaller than in Arabic ouds. This has been significant in Turkish ouds, since Manol had decided to widen the Turkish small soundboards.
No body, but you, can tell, as Fernand has already stated, whether your oud is good to start with or not.
Oiling, polishing, pegging, stringing or whatever, can't add to the oud what it didn't already have. These enhancements may improve a bit the
performance of the instrument, but they can never, & I mean never, bring back to live anything "dead" in it .
I dare to say it might be "good" oud to start with, conditioned it has a relatively reasonable action; and as far as you improve you may get a better
instrument.
Good luck
Yours indeed
Alfaraby
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DoggerelPundit
Oud Junkie
Posts: 141
Registered: 7-28-2010
Location: Pacific Northwest
Member Is Offline
Mood: Odar
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My 2 cents. These are the areas of difference I have noticed between $300 commercial Turkish ouds, vs. those made by Karibyan, Najarian, Merjanian,
Mustapha C., Farouk, and others selling in the $2000 to $3500 range:
String height, string course width, tone sustain, tone depth, “voice”, and evenness of tone across all pitches—from the bass to the highest note
up on the face, next to the rose.
The “two-quarter” string height you describe—about 1/8th inch—doesn’t seem excessive for playing. And, this can be adjusted a little by
rolling each string knot forward on the bridge so the string makes a lower exit from the loop, toward the nut. The nut can also be lowered, but this
may produce buzzing, particularly on the third course in 2nd or 3rd position.
String course width can be a problem, and is often excessive in the less expensive commercial ouds. If they are too wide, picking is less efficient,
fingering just doesn’t feel right, and carpma technique is less crisp. I have seen some wide enough that the two strings spread a little when the
finger came down on them. Who wants that?! Fix by replacing the nut. The new nut would be grooved such that the strings in each course are closer
together, and the distance between courses is slightly wider than the distance between the strings in each course. All while considering the overall
neck width and edge closeness of the outer two courses. Oh, and courses too narrow may also produce buzzing.
On a given instrument, tone sustain, depth, voice, and evenness of tone seem only to be adjustable by trying different string brands.
All that said, my advice is to dive in with what you have. Many of us began on what amounted to “nice pieces of furniture” and we learned to
separate the results of bad technique from the limitations of the instrument. I think we also learned through this experience exactly what we wanted
in a superior instrument. No other way to do that.
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Zulu
Oud Junkie
Posts: 149
Registered: 6-21-2004
Location: Austin, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: I'm in the m'Oud for Love!
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To all,
Thanks for giving a newbie some positive feedback. I will begin on this oud and will start looking around for a luthier made instrument to purchase
soon.
I will post photos so you can at least see the oud.
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Zulu
Oud Junkie
Posts: 149
Registered: 6-21-2004
Location: Austin, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: I'm in the m'Oud for Love!
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Zulu
Oud Junkie
Posts: 149
Registered: 6-21-2004
Location: Austin, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: I'm in the m'Oud for Love!
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Zulu
Oud Junkie
Posts: 149
Registered: 6-21-2004
Location: Austin, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: I'm in the m'Oud for Love!
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Zulu
Oud Junkie
Posts: 149
Registered: 6-21-2004
Location: Austin, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: I'm in the m'Oud for Love!
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Nut is not straight...slants down towards 1st course.
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Zulu
Oud Junkie
Posts: 149
Registered: 6-21-2004
Location: Austin, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: I'm in the m'Oud for Love!
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
Member Is Offline
Mood: m'Oudy
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You have provided important information. I think it's a decent enough oud to start with. I like the care you've put into it. I think it looks very
nice, though personally I would take the shine of the soundboard down to a satin with some 000 or 0000 steel wool. You have to evaluate the tone
yourself. Does it come to life when you play it or is it dead as a kitchen cabinet? And remember that no oud sounds right until it's been played a few
months.
The action being 3.3mm is a hair high, though within acceptable limits, but the nut being also a bit high at 1.3mm allows you to lower the whole
action, but very carefully. The strings should be a string's width high at the nut. If you have the nerve, you can lower and straighten the nut in one
operation. In truth, the nut being at a slight angle is no biggie, you should play mostly by hearing anyway, so that's not the issue. A new nut would
give you a chance to adjust the spacing, but looking at the photos, i dont think it needs it. I would unglue the nut, sand the bottom very precisely
(keep trying it in place), then reglue with a little shimming to straighten it. Also as Doggerel says, lower the string loops as much as possible.
This is easiest when you are installing new strings. When you are done with this, when you have new strings on, and if it sounds bright and live, you
will have a quite decent instrument. Adding another oud is always an option, probably an Arabic for variety, but it may not be pressing at all.
The Daniel Mari strings from ostrie music supplies are cheap and very good. The strings others re-sell sometimes come from Mari anyway.
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