Mike's Oud Forums

Found Seattle merchant, need advice on Dimitri Dalagiorgos

FredB - 10-18-2004 at 04:58 PM

I believe I finally found a reputable oud dealer in the Seattle area, web page is http://www.dustystrings.com

This guy doesn't make oud's but sells Dimitri Dalagiorgos ouds. These are listed as Armenian and Greek style ouds.

Question #1: can anyone speak to the quality of Dimitri Dalagiorgos ouds?

Question #2: I recently got a great Turkish CD, Munir Beken and would like to play that. (But I also like the deeper Arabic sounds.) My question is will the Dimitri Dalagiorgos oud work for Turkish music?

Thanks,
-Fred

mavrothis - 10-18-2004 at 05:03 PM

Hi,

I've never played a Dalagiorgos oud, but I've heard good things about them. You should definitely try them out for yourself and decide.

The Beken cd is wonderful, and yes, the Greek/Armenian/Turkish style ouds are all in the same school. We should probably call them Anatolian ouds so it's less confusing, but they are definitely in the same style.

I hope after you try out his ouds you will share with us your impressions of his work.

Take care,

mavrothis

Lars - 10-18-2004 at 10:04 PM

Hi Fred,
I live near Seattle (Bonney Lake) have not seen those Ouds before but heard they're OK. I just got a nice oud from Turkey by Haluk Eraydin, you are welcome to come by and check it out, has a wonderful tone and internal pickup, you may want something to compare the others with also, especially with regards to price...If you play Oud, that's even better because I'm a beginner to the instrument...I'll post some pics as soon as the rain stops in a few days and I can get a few shots. I'll look forward to your Dalagiorgos review also, have fun!

Haluk Eraydin oud

Stefan Andalus - 10-19-2004 at 07:39 AM

I lived in Seattle for 18 years, and I consider Dusty Strings a wonderful source for guitars, folk harps, and especially for repairs. They don't know that much about ouds, though. When I was a beginner, the first oud I bought from my teacher, John Bilezikjian, was by Haluk Eraydin, and it was an excellent beginner oud with a lovely sound. Go to Dusty Strings with someone who really knows how to play oud, and get their opinion.

FredB - 10-19-2004 at 09:13 AM

Thanks very much for the replies so far. I keep hearing the Haluk Eraydin ouds are worth it. So how did you guys buy it? Did you get a cashier's check and send it off to Turkey and just hope it works out? It would be great if someone over here in the US already had them.

I should mention that I don't know squat about ouds so I'm likely to just get something that looks good at Dusty Strings. I've been reading the boards for months now so I know not to get something too ornamented, make sure the back is all wood (not covered in mother of pearl), and try to get hardwood pegs. I went to Lark in the Morning and was shown two ouds, one for about $250 and one for $800. Both were Arabic ouds and sounded fine to me. I've heard if you buy from Lark in the Morning that you should buy the expensive one because the cheap one is usually very low quality.

I also found on Amazon.com that they now sell ouds. They are actually all from Lark in the Morning, but they sell several models, both Arabic and Turkish. If anyone has any input on what Amazon sells, I would appreciate it. I'm not likely to buy them because I want to see and play what I buy.

I promise to post when I finally get enough cash together and buy something.

-Fred

Lark (shark) in the morning

Stefan Andalus - 10-19-2004 at 10:22 AM

People who have been involved in the ethnic instrument world for a substantial time avoid Lark. It is commonly known, because of its quality/price ratio, as "shark in the morning"! I've tried their ouds, and wouldn't recommend them.

Lars - 10-19-2004 at 11:07 AM

I agree about LM although it's a fun shop to go visit and they somehow can get some very hard to find music books from time to time....Ordering from Haluk is easy Fred, he can take credit cards also...

Jonathan - 10-20-2004 at 02:41 PM

Fred, maybe if you give us a rough idea of how much you want to spend, we can better guide you.

Jonathan - 10-20-2004 at 02:52 PM

By the way, Dalagiorgos has a web site, with a page dedicated to his ouds.
http://people.smartchat.net.au/~dimitridal/htm/index.htm