ilnokaly - 6-16-2018 at 11:25 AM
Hello fellow oud lovers,
I hope everything is fine at your ends, I just want to know more about Najeeb Shaheen ouds, does he build his ouds from A to Z ? (I have read
somewhere that he only build the soundboards), i would be grateful if you could share some of his work here (pictures and clips if possible ).
Also i would like to know his price range, if you may share this with me.
Thank you very much 
Abdallah
hartun - 6-19-2018 at 04:41 AM
I don't know if Najeeb builds the whole ouds. He is very good at doing repairs, I can tell you that much. His prices are reasonable and he will
explain the meaning of every dollar that he is asking from you. He cares deeply about ouds and wants to make sure they are not only repaired but will
sound good. He does great work and is a friendly person. I had an oud repaired by him, I don't have clips right now as it was my cousin's oud and it's
not in my house. But I would certainly trust him with any repair. As for custom making an entire oud, I am not sure if he does it, maybe someone else
can answer that. But I can tell you that I only had a positive experience dealing with him. He is a gentleman and will give you a fair price. I HIGHLY
HIGHLY recommend him.
Harry Kezelian
Bloomfield, Michigan
tkmasuda - 6-19-2018 at 10:08 AM
Harry, I just sent you a U2U asking about luthiers in Michigan.
Brian Prunka - 6-19-2018 at 10:41 AM
Najib sometimes makes entire ouds from scratch but usually does rebuilds starting with an existing bowl.
I can't speak for him, but from what I understand from our conversations, his philosophy is that many people make fine bowls and necks but their
soundboards are not good and the result is an oud that doesn't sound good. Often the fingerboards, bridges, and pegs and sometimes the pegbox are
poorly done as well. He can make a great oud using an existing bowl, which means he has more time to spend working on soundboards and doesn't have to
charge as much as he would if he built the bowl and necks as well. He typically builds a completely new soundboard, bracing, fingerboard, nut and
bridge and usually does new pegs as well. If necessary he'll make a new pegbox as well, reset the neck and often does other work to fix flaws in the
bowl etc. The end result is effectively a new instrument. The bowl is time-consuming and doesn't have a huge impact on the sound.
Since many luthiers have apprentices etc. to build bowls, necks, pegboxes, etc. in the end it's not that different.
Of course, this is totally aside from the many vintage/antique ouds that he restores and sells.
ilnokaly - 6-20-2018 at 12:08 PM
Thanks very much for your answers ! Pictures and/or videos would be very much appreciated.
ameer - 6-21-2018 at 03:40 AM
Take a look here: https://www.instagram.com/najibsouds/