OUD SUKAR Model-1 Is it good?

Short answer: yes.

Longer answer: I have one and have played a couple more, as well as the more expensive Sukars. The Model 1 is the least expensive, and the models 211, 212 and 14 are considered the top Sukars. Sukars they say are the volkswagen (but rather Volvo or Honda) of ouds. I think it's very anti-snob to admit to loving a Sukar M1 Many people have them. Of course in public they'd rather play a moribund Nahat. So consider this a verbose and detailed True Confession: I like them Sukars!

The Model 1 is an excellent oud, which features Ibrahim Sukar's solid design: the soundboard, its bracing, the adjustable neck, etc. The adjustable neck alone, which allows lowering and raising the action over several millimeters, obviating the need for those dreaded "neck jobs", reveals Sukar's practical approach. The Model 1 makes a primo first oud, provided you are willing to put a little work into its weak points, such as:

1. The pegs. On the Model 1 these are black-stained olive-wood, and they are roughly fitted to the pegbox. They work but, well, they work a bit roughly. Why? Because fitting pegs is a delicate and time consuming operation, so you can either get a more expensive Sukar model with ebony pegs that are precisely fitted in the pegbox -- or you can do some of the labor yourself.

You can shave and fit the existing pegs (then re-stain them) or you can buy new oud or viola pegs and fit them. Ebony pegs work best with the hardest pegboxes, they are a bit stiff and abrasive for a Model 1. Rosewood or a softer wood is a better match, so the pegs don't wear out the pegbox holes. Unless you are a wiz with hand-tools, you will need both a reamer and a peg shaver. If you shop, a dozen good pegs only cost about $12-25 plus shipping. But a reamer and shaver cost about $100 plus shipping. If you read up on technique, make good use of peg compound or the old white soap plus chalk trick, and a little sanding, you might learn to live with the original pegs. I got a shaver and reamer and new pegs (amortized over several ouds, I told me wife), and it's not so pressing that I've rushed to do it on my Model 1.

2. The fingerboard. The Model 1, and the other light-colored wood Sukar models, use a relatively soft wood for the fingerboard. The hardest woods are expensive and reserved for the most expensive models. The fancy-looking inlaid fingerboards are incidentally also avoided by pros (unless you are that old-style movie star pro ).

Metal-wound strings are abrasive. The lighter-colored softer woods wear more quickly. The initial varnish layer gets scraped, and its shreds get in the way. A typical plain-wood fingerboard will require some surfacing and leveling perhaps every year or so, as the strings gouge the surface, leaving no doubt as to where RAST is. The same issue arises on fretless electric bass. If you read up on technique, remove the varnish then coat the fingerboard with a protective layer, you can make it as long-lasting as the toughest hardwood. By the choice of materials and coating texture, from polymerizing oil to the glassiest epoxy, you can further customize the sustain and timbre of an oud all the way to a sarod-like ring. Sukars, with their multiple resonant nodes, can do this very well.

3. Variability. It is good to pick out your Model 1 in person if possible, as it seems some model 1s start out life as other models, but for one reason or another, like maybe reading too many romance novels, or an undue fondness for race horses, end up as Model 1s, living icognito among the people ;-). Many of the light-colored models, like Model 8, 204, share most of the design with the Model 1, including a short fingerboard with beard, but some Model 1s get a solid stained walnut on the bowl, and/or a long fingerboard. The color of stained wood might wear off, e.g, on the neck, but it's irrelevant, and it can be touched up. But it seems the darker/harder woods on the bowl give a fatter timbre. So it's nice if you can try it out, or at least pick out your instrument from detailed photos.

Much of the Sukars' design is shared between all the models. If there's one thing I'd change in Sukars, it's that I'd prefer a flatter neck. The most recent Sukars I have seen retain the full resonant bowl and soundboard, but position the bridge a little closer to the nut, for a 600 mm scale, whereas my Model 1 used the classic 615 mm scale. I don't know which scale is used when. There are advantages to the 600 mm scale, like faster fingering and ability to tune either Arabic or Turkish by using just slightly lighter wound strings.

Sukar soundboards are unfinished spruce. Those of us who prefer a bit of semi-gloss finish to prevent the patina of years starting out with a touch of breakfast, can learn to (French Polish) apply a few micro coats of alcohol-shellac with a little pad (as on the instrument in the photo below), or use some egg white.

The more expensive Sukars are built more painstakingly using better woods, but much of the design is shared. If you don't start out with a "lemon", and if you put a little work into it, your Model 1 can be a very good oud, outstanding for the money, and as you add more expensive ouds over the years you might scratch your head in a moment of candor, and wonder what exactly makes these additions worth more money.