LoveLightPeace
Oud Lover
Posts: 19
Registered: 6-11-2012
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need help with choosing my first oud
can somebody please take a quick glance at the following ebay links for me and tell me which one of the ouds is good and which one is not, i wanna buy
one from the links below:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Turkish-Electrical-Oud-lute-11-strings-Orie...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Egyptian-Oud-Lute-12-strings-Oriental-Fretl...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Syrian-Oud-lute-Ud-arabic-Guitar-Handmade-w...
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/CEAZAR-ALGERIAN-GOOD-QUALITY-BINDING-MAHOGAN...
thank you!
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Aymara
Oud Junkie
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The best advice I can give you is stay away from all of them. You will have a hard time finding a decent oud below 500$ ... except with a bit of luck
a used one.
Do youself a favour and read through the forums ... you're not the first one searching a good oud on a small budget.
PS: Start your reading HERE.
I know, this is not the advice, you wanted to read, but it helps to avoid disappointments.
Greetings from Germany
Chris
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
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It helps to know that the majority of musicians who pick up the oud get very very involved in the instrument and discover a new world of music based
on different scales and intervals. Try to get a first oud that will make a good companion on this journey. Unfortunately many of the ouds on ebay are
bait for uninformed first time buyers.
It's impossible to tell much but the first Turkish one if you can get it for 250 or so might be a passable first oud. At least you wouldn't be risking
a fortune on it. Is it returnable? The others look dismal.
Actually there are some better than average ouds on ebay at the moment, including some Sandis. But do you want a Turkish or Arabic oud?
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Bodhi
Oud Junkie
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Hi lovelightpeace,
I would just like to add onto fernardraynauds message by saying that my first oud was a saandi, the student model,
it cost £350 and was a fantastic instrument to start with. So if you see one on ebay (or any saandi) for around that price, BUY IT!!!
look here: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=sandi+oud&_nkw...
You will not be dissapointed. It will also not lose much value when you want to upgrade (which may be quite awhile with the quality of the Saandi
ouds). Ofcourse this depends on whethter you want Arabic or Turkish as FR says.
good luck
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
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For the money, this relisted one looks interesting.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=11093723...
I doubt a lot of bids will come in, as it didn't get any before, you could try to bid the $250 and see what happens. Of course for twice the price the
Sandis are better, but this looks like an ebony fingerboard and pegs, the pegbox and nut look OK. You could ask him how high the strings are above the
fingerboard at the neck-body junction, the "action" should be under 3.5 mm on a Turkish oud, and it's hard to remedy if it's too high. Ye old coin
measurement technique is applicable since the vendor has US coins:
Action height, what can be slipped under strings at the
neck-body junction:
2 dimes = 2.5mm
1 nickel and a dime = 3mm
1 nickel and 1 quarter = 3.5mm
2 pennies and 1 dime = 4mm
2 Pennies and 1 nickel = 4.5mm
3 dimes and 1 penny = 5mm
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Bodhi
Oud Junkie
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This one is only $100 more (ok add postage and whatever else maybe its abit more) and I would guarantee happiness for a longer period.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Saadettin-SANDI-Bahadir-SANDI-HANDMADE-TURK...
The re-listed Turkish Oud doesn't look bad and if you can get info on action its all the better. I would not totally discredit it as a friend of mine
bought a factory made Turkish oud of e-bay and got one of those rare gems, nice action and good sustain, he paid about $150 for it and I swear it
sounds like its worth $500, he also bought a saz from the same company and its basically firewood in terms of playability, so you never know.
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
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http://www.ebay.com/itm/Syrian-Oud-Professional-By-Ibrahim-Sukar-Or...
If you want an inexpensive arabic oud, this is the only one I saw on ebay that is decent.
For turkish ouds, most of the them are of passable quality for a beginning student.
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Aymara
Oud Junkie
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Location: Germany / Ruhr Region
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Aah, a Sukar oud on Ebay? Well nice find and a good tip for LLP. Ok, it's not a high end oud ... no wonder for 500$ ... but definitely a good
start.
The good thing is, that it would be no problem to sell it without much loss, if he wants to upgrade to a high end model later.
Greetings from Germany
Chris
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LoveLightPeace
Oud Lover
Posts: 19
Registered: 6-11-2012
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Quote: Originally posted by fernandraynaud  | For the money, this relisted one looks interesting.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=11093723...
I doubt a lot of bids will come in, as it didn't get any before, you could try to bid the $250 and see what happens. Of course for twice the price the
Sandis are better, but this looks like an ebony fingerboard and pegs, the pegbox and nut look OK. You could ask him how high the strings are above the
fingerboard at the neck-body junction, the "action" should be under 3.5 mm on a Turkish oud, and it's hard to remedy if it's too high. Ye old coin
measurement technique is applicable since the vendor has US coins:
Action height, what can be slipped under strings at the
neck-body junction:
2 dimes = 2.5mm
1 nickel and a dime = 3mm
1 nickel and 1 quarter = 3.5mm
2 pennies and 1 dime = 4mm
2 Pennies and 1 nickel = 4.5mm
3 dimes and 1 penny = 5mm
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thank you so much for ur input
btw i messaged him and this is what he said:
It's about 1-1.5 millimeter just in the Nut and then increased when you head to sound hole, it's all standard in turkish Oud
is that good or bad?!
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2956
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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| Quote: Originally posted by Aymara |
Aah, a Sukar oud on Ebay? Well nice find and a good tip for LLP. Ok, it's not a high end oud ... no wonder for 500$ ... but definitely a good
start.
The good thing is, that it would be no problem to sell it without much loss, if he wants to upgrade to a high end model later. |
Even the low-end Sukars often sound better than ouds 2 or 3 times the price . . . worth a shot.
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Aymara
Oud Junkie
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Yes, but not only because of their sound. I see 2 further major advantages:
1. adjustable neck / action
2. a lot of experience with Sukar's in these forums
Greetings from Germany
Chris
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
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Dear Lovelightpeace, I'm afraid he's either not too bright or avoiding the question. 1 to 1.5 mm at the nut is rather high, I don't think he has
measured. Of course it rises towards the soundhole. Ask him to make the effort to take a few coins and tell you exactly what slips under the strings
where the neck meets the body, it will only take him a few minutes, and you would like to know if the oud's action is as you require. Not exactly
unreasonable.
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LoveLightPeace
Oud Lover
Posts: 19
Registered: 6-11-2012
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| Quote: Originally posted by fernandraynaud | Dear Lovelightpeace, I'm afraid he's either not too bright or avoiding the question. 1 to 1.5 mm at the nut is rather high, I don't think he has
measured. Of course it rises towards the soundhole. Ask him to make the effort to take a few coins and tell you exactly what slips under the strings
where the neck meets the body, it will only take him a few minutes, and you would like to know if the oud's action is as you require. Not exactly
unreasonable.
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i told him wat u asked me and this is wat he says now:
In area where neck meets the body it's around 6mm
so... is that good or bad?
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Aymara
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1162
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Location: Germany / Ruhr Region
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For my taste more than 3mm is horrible. 6mm is worse than average, when we talk about good ouds. Usually a maximum of 5mm is recommended in the
forums.
Greetings from Germany
Chris
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
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Mood: m'Oudy
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I like a low action, around 2.5mm. Turkish ouds are generally in that region, because it gives a zzzingy sound, something akin to the "mwah" of a
fretless bass, and it allows precise playing. For an Arabic dry percussive sound, 3.5-4mm is sometimes better than 3mm. But 6 mm is out of the
question, it makes the instrument too hard to play. And because, with the exception of those made by Fadi Matta and Sukar, an oud's neck is not not
adjustable, you would be stuck with a major repair bill to correct that. You can get a little tweak out of rotating the string loops on the bridge,
but it's very unlikely you can overcome a 6mm action. So ... it's bad.
ALWAYS ask about the action. This is an Achilles' heel of the oud. The coin technique makes it hard for them to say they don't know.
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