Mike's Oud Forums

Looking for beginner's oud in Amman

KyleG - 6-14-2014 at 09:52 PM

Hello everyone,

I'm an amateur musician from Toronto who loves to collect and play different instruments, especially string instruments like the guitar. I also study Arabic literature and am currently in Amman for a vacation, so I figured that this may be the perfect time to look into adding the oud to my repertoire. I don't know too much about the instrument so far and, being a beginner and a young student, I am not looking for anything too elaborate, but I do appreciate good quality over a cheap deal. My tentative budget is around $400 or 275 JOD.

Can anyone suggest music shops here in Amman that would have a suitable oud for someone like me? Reading up online, I have heard that Ibrahim Sukar ouds are generally a good bet, but I'm not sure about their availability with the current situation in Syria.

Also, should it be possible and safe to take the oud back to Canada with me as a carry-on, or would anyone suggest it would be more worthwhile to wait until I get back to Canada to find an oud locally? I'm flying with EgyptAir, in case anyone has any experiences with them that would help.

Sorry if I'm asking for too much! Thank you!