Clark1971 - 1-23-2011 at 10:31 AM
Hello, all! New here, and new to Ouds. I am a guitarist in a metal band, and went to a birthday party last night with my fiancee. It was a small,
intimate gathering, and we heard the sounds of an oud being played in the back room. I went back there, and watched my new friend Mike playing a
gorgeous Turkish oud. He asked me if I wanted to give it a try, and I did. Now I have to have one! LOL
So now, I am on the hunt for a genuine, but inexpensive oud to learn on, so that is what led me here. I have been browsing some of the pics, and there
are some truly beautiful instruments on here.
If anyone can recommend anything to me, please! I welcome all correspondence. I plan to use the oud in my metal songwriting, to bring in a bit of that
Eastern influence.
littleseb - 1-24-2011 at 04:14 AM
Hi Clark,
are you absolutely sure you want to go down this route?
Before you know it you'll lock yourself away for months at a time practicing maqams, loose contact with your family, quit your metal band and bore
your friends with your latest youtube discoveries of far-out oudists. You will want to learn Turkish and Arabic, hunt down ever-more strings and
rishas and get frustrated with your lack of techinque.
If you decide that this change of life style is for you - good luck! You'll have heaps and heaps of fun!!!!!
Keep an eye on this forum for hints and advises and ouds for sell.
Rock on!
charlie oud - 1-24-2011 at 04:42 AM
Welcome to the forum Clark 
You could take a look at arabinstruments.com if you want an Arabic oud as they have a range of ouds at reasonable prices. If you want Turkish then I'm
not sure who to suggest. What most peolple do when they first join the forum is to search here and on the www and then post the link on this forum of
ouds they like and can afford. They ask us for our opinions of their selections and take it from there. I think this will at least help you choose. If
you choose something very very cheap then you'll probably have problems with it, i.e. high action or slipping pegs etc...I would advise you strongly
to pause at this stage and get to know the oud world a bit before you leap into a purchase. You have made a good start by joining us, there is no
better source for information, knowledge and experience than right here on Mikes's Ouds forums.
Aymara - 1-24-2011 at 10:53 AM
Hi Clark,
welcome to the forums!
I think, the first you should know is, that we are mainly fans of arabic ouds here, not so much the Turkish ones. The reason is, that arabic ouds are
tuned lower ... I bet a metal guitarist will welcome this fact 
I do ... maybe because I also play fretless bass and guitar, who knows.
First of all, I think you should search through the forums and visit the Oud Cafe to learn some basics about ouds.
The next I recommend is searching Youtube for OUD to find tons of oud videos of different types of oud to find out, which oud design and
sound you prefer.
Happy reading
Terry Sleeper - 1-24-2011 at 01:18 PM
Hello Clark.
I'm a guitarist who bought an oud back in November and am learning that it's a whole different beastie than a guitar. But, like yourself, I felll for
the sound of the oud it and I'm hooked.
There are lots of people on these forums who have come to the oud from the guitar, so they'll know what you're talking about when you ask what you may
feel are mad questions. These forums are a godsend and will keep you from going crazy!