I am selling my 1956 George Hanna Nahat Oud which I recently had restored to the fullest extent possible. The oud sounds absolutely fantastic!! If you are interested in placing a bid, please visit my auction listing
on e-bay:
Nice oud. By coincidence I'm also selling a Gerges Nahhat on Ebay mine is 1955 and needs some restore work
Do you have photos before the restoration? Did you do the restoration or did you use a specific luthier?
Was the oud finish used French varnish? how long did you have it and did you buy from a forum member?
nice pickguard jamesissa2004 - 11-23-2015 at 07:50 PM
Thank you very much! Actually, my oud collection I inherited from my father. Unfortunately, I don't have any "before" photos but I used a luthier
recommended by reputable professionals. A s far as the varnish, it is a high quality German spirit varnish.ameer - 11-24-2015 at 09:07 AM
James,
I see you're back. As much as I believe in letting the market dictate prices, I am forced to weigh in in order to protect any unaware buyers against
paying far more for this oud than it's worth. I'm sure people are already aware of the highly questionable (at best) Dikran oud you are selling for
$4500, as evidenced by the fact that it has yet to sell despite your aggressive sales pitches to various players around the country. This should tell
you something. You shouldn't look at these ouds and go into spasms of ecstasy with visions of dollar signs.
When you restore a vintage oud you generally want the finest finish you can get. The back of the oud looks like it has been casually dumped into a vat
of Lacquer . This is not a matter of picture distortion; there is visible evidence of bubbles and dripping of the finish. Why not use French polish
instead? I'll tell you. It costs more because it is a much more labor-intensive process. Where did the plastic pickguard come from? What about the
painted Lacquered pegs? Why is the fingerboard Lacquered?
This oud was made for five double strings. Someone added a sixth string by crowding the other five too close to each other. As an oud player I won't
be able to play freely on it; there is little to no room to move the rishi. The high C is so close to the edge of the neck at the higher register that
your finger and the string will slip off the edge of the neck . The neck joint looks like someone tried to insert a wedge at some point and it didn't
go well.
Georges is regularly regarded as the least of the Nahats. His work has been described as inconsistent, inaccurate, asymmetric, and with loose joints.
One of his ouds was posted here for $2500. An Abdo Nahat oud was up for sale for roughly $6300. Abdo was a real Luthier and is regarded as the best of
the Nahats . Finally you talk about the great sound of this oud. The least you could do is to take this down to someone who could record a proper
taqsim on it. You're in an area with at least three or four good oud players who might even buy it off you if you took it down to them. The sound as
it stands does not flatter the oud at all.jamesissa2004 - 11-25-2015 at 07:51 PM
First of all, I had both this Nahat oud and Dikran Najarain oud valuated by a highly regarded professional so I am not just making up numbers as you
are implying and "going into spasms of ecstasy with visions of dollar signs". As a matter of fact, there is an 1893 Ickwan Nahat oud on ebay that has
been listed for several months now. This tells me 1 and only thing: the economy is slow and so is the oud market as a consequence I believe in your
first statement of letting the market dictate the prices. I have listed the oud with the option to bid with a best offer for me to consider as well.
Finally, these oud values I have listed were chosen based upon the ranges of what I have been told they are worth by the luthiers who evaluated
them.
Yes, father Abdo is known as the "Stradivarious" of oud makers but George Hanna Nahat ouds are still very valuable and absolutely amazing sounding.
All that aside, to answer your questions so other forum members can weigh in if they have questions and are serious about buying:
1) The luthier (who is highly regarded) chose to use a high quality spirit varnish from Germany.
2) Fingerboard: Here is the exact wording the luthier used to describe his repair on the fingerboard portion:
"The fingerboard is covered in a celluloid or acetate pearl and had been previously sanded through a bit right where it meets the neck.To preserve the
original portion of fingerboard left I sealed it with a spirit varnish which can easily be removed. Then I applied layers of a modern epoxy resin to
level the fingerboard to make it playable. This layer can easily be removed by a qualified restoration artist at a future date due to the layer of
shellac underneath."
3) The pickguard is made of celluloid. Probably not the original.
First of all, I had both this Nahat oud and Dikran Najarain oud valuated by a highly regarded professional ...
Just curious, who is the highly regarded professional?ameer - 11-26-2015 at 10:54 AM
Yes. Without a name, appealing to a "highly regarded professional" only hurts your cause and credibility.Alfaraby - 11-26-2015 at 02:19 PM
If this's the case, please make note that all my ouds are for sale, 8500 $ each *, all evaluated by a "highly regarded" amateur who, in my case, is
.... myself
This's getting very funny. All the oud maniacs around the world are less than 2500, to whom all the other 7 billions try to sell ouds.
Good luck though. You badly need some.
* some worth much more.
Yours indeed
Alfarabyjamesissa2004 - 11-26-2015 at 03:06 PM
I had the ouds evaluated (through pictures only) by Nick and Peter Kyvelos of Unique Strings in Boston. Nick asked Peter (I didn't speak with him
personally) and told me the Nahat could be worth $7500-$10000 in good condition. Even before restoration he gave a range of $5000+.
For you guys to think a Nahat is worth no more than $2500, you are sadly incorrect. I have seen many Nahats selling for a good $4-$5k in the past year
alone.
Bottom line is I am on this forum to post my oud for sale based on my best knowledge and research. I am not interested in arguing with forum members
about who is right and wrong. If you are not interested, please do not reply to this thread as I don't have the time to argue, especially as I would
never part with my instrument for such a ridiculous price.Ninou - 11-27-2015 at 06:23 AM
Hi there,
Just a question:
The 1956 is the number of the Oud, Isn't?
While I see that the Oud was made in 1953...
I am not interested to buy but at least lets make things more clear and professional!
Have a nice weekend Dr. Oud - 12-1-2015 at 09:18 AM
( I had mistakenly posted Peter Kyvelos' passing, never mind, my bad.)
You may ask what you want for this oud, but I think our members deserve to know the truth of it's value. The Nahhats that have sold at $6-8k were from
the old masters; Abdo, Hanna or Roufan, (Ikwan), and these were ornate and pristine. The only oud I've heard of that commanded $10k was owned by Munir
Bashier and bought by a museum.
Georgy is more recent and did not reach the level of his ancestors in either workmanship or sound. He was very prolific though, too much so for
individual hand made ouds so it is suspect that many of his ouds were produced in a production shop. I have sold Georgys for $5k, but to a select few
who don't mind what the price is. Even the journeyman ouds from Abdo don't get much higher, although their sound is unmatched. The highest prices are
for the "Pasha" ouds with a history of ownership by a famous player . Jody Stecher - 12-1-2015 at 02:11 PM
It's hard to imagine Peter Kyvelos moving to Brooklyn from the Belmont/Watertown area of Greater Boston. He's so much a part of that world. Brooklyn?
are you sure it's the same guy? I think he lived in California for a while, back in the day, so anything's possible. But posts about him on this
forum as recently as late January 2014 suggest that he was alive at the time. suz_i_dil - 12-2-2015 at 09:16 AM
For you guys to think a Nahat is worth no more than $2500, you are sadly incorrect. I have seen many Nahats selling for a good $4-$5k in the past year
alone.
.
I disagree it's a matter of period, context, interest, awaiting from the seller...etc
Before the oud to begin more an more fame around high income countries, i've been proposed all original Nahat in Damascus for less than 500 euros.
They were needing repair, at this time (2004) my limited knowing of the oud construction made me suspiscous. I thought i had the time to decide some
more years after ! Too late
More recently, a few months ago, in Nancy (France) an oud I believe to be an all original Abdo nahat went for sale for 1500 euros or less...It was
sold in less than 2 days just the time for me to receive the pictures of the seller.
I don't think we can talk of a robbery. The seller sold for the price he was awaiting and the seller was happy enough to buy it in a hurry.
If you want to sell something high price you have to consider waiting. If in a hurry make a lower price. Most important people feel happy with the
transaction. If it' a matter of business, not my thing. There is enough makers around the world to buy new and I think most of the oud players catch
the thing
for the story, i just read today the most expensive of the stradivarius is in a museum and believe to have not been played for 300 years. Just as if
it was new. Strange no ?
If you are interested in placing a bid, please visit my auction listing
on e-bay:
