DavidJE - 1-3-2018 at 11:26 PM
My wife and I just arrived for 3 weeks vacation in Oman, staying in Muscat for about a week, Nizwa for a week, then Salalah for a few days before
coming back to Muscat. I was happy to hear some great oud music on the radio as soon as we got into our rental car and turned the radio on. 
Do any of you know of any luthiers in Oman, or stores where I might be able to look at ouds? I have 4 ouds right now and probably won't buy
another...but you never know... Thanks!
Omar Al-Mufti - 1-4-2018 at 03:01 AM
Enjoy it Dave. Send me some photos if you find any oud source
DavidJE - 1-4-2018 at 03:54 AM
I will! And I'll post about it here if I do.
It's really nice here thus far. Beautiful scenery, great food, and super friendly people. I think at the end of this month there is a Muscat music
festival, and we'll be here for that.
SamirCanada - 1-4-2018 at 05:55 AM
There is an Omani oud player, lovely lady. her name is Amal Waqar though I believe she splits her time between NYC and Oman these days.
anyways, she is on instagram @amalwaqar. you can try to message her as she might know about oud things in Oman
DavidJE - 1-4-2018 at 09:20 AM
Thank you Samir. I don't use Instagram, but I can see about looking her up. I'm also going to ask at my hotel soon. Oud seems so popular here that
I imagine they must at least have some shops selling them.
Humam - 1-7-2018 at 04:00 PM
Hi David,
This is her website: https://amalwaqar.com/ you will find her email and a contact form.
Good luck.
Humam
DavidJE - 1-7-2018 at 08:13 PM
Thanks guys. Mavrothi also knows Amal Waqar, and put me in touch with her. We are meeting tonight for dinner.
I did text with her a bit, and she told me that no one in Oman is currently making ouds. She said there was one made a few years back but the quality
was poor.
I've been to a couple of shops selling ouds and guitars, but the quality of the ouds was extremely low. Not only did the ouds look hastily and
shabbily built, but they had VERY old strings on them that weren't even worth trying to tune. Amal Waqar told me that it is possible to buy an oud
here from Bahrain or Kuwait, but my interest was primarily in finding an Omani luthier to visit...to see the work of someone who makes nice ouds.
From what I have seen here, any good oud player is likely to buy their ouds from another country...although there may be a shop selling quality ouds
from Bahrain or Kuwait. I'll find out more this evening.