WehbeHassan - 9-17-2020 at 06:35 AM
Hi fellow Oud Lovers,
I'm a 23 old student that has found his passion in playing the Oud 7 months ago. I really enjoy playing and practising the Oud daily, and the online
lessons I'm taking are coming in pretty handy.
However, the very first Oud I bought was not really a successful purchase. Although the sound of my ageing, low-tier, Turkish factory Oud isn't bad at
all (especially for the price of 290 Euros), I'd still like to purchase a new Oud that has a string length of 60+ cm instead of my current 58.5 cm,
that sounds murkier and warmer, and where I at least know who the person was that built it.
As a student, my budget is pretty limited: reading some posts here on the forum made me aware that Sukkar Ouds fit my budget (600-800 Euros max). On
the other note, I have also found a Zeryab Shami 6 from 2019 online that I was able to confirm by Zaher and Ali (the grandson) Khalifeh as an
original.
I am struggling to make a decision now to which Oud to upgrade. Though I'm limited budget-wise to that one Zeryab Oud I named above, I'm also unsure
what Sukkar Oud models are the ones most recommendable for my taste.
I hope I didn't post too much info that would complicate the post over here. Still: feel free to post your opinion on both Ouds! 
Jody Stecher - 9-17-2020 at 08:52 AM
I am surmising that you are wanting to play Arabic music on the oud. There are fantastic Arabic ouds with a 58.5 scale length. And some Turkish ouds
with that scale length and the right strings can be well suited for Arabic music. I would suggest you stay with the oud you have until you have played
5 or 6 ouds that you like better. Then you'll have a better idea what is possible.
Also, a longer scale length will not make a warmer deeper sound.
Brian Prunka - 9-17-2020 at 10:20 AM
While I strongly empathize with your desire to have a Arabic oud, I agree with Jody here. Seven months isn't really very long and you'd be better off
working to get the best sound you can out of your current oud before upgrading.
When I started, the only thing I could find was a Turkish oud, and even though it was a very nice Turkish oud (Najarian), it didn't have the sound
that I wanted. But I played it for 5-6 years before I found an Arabic oud that I really liked and could afford. The longer you play, the more people
you will meet, the more you will know yourself what you want and the likelihood of finding an instrument that you connect to goes way up.
Jody's right, too, that scale length isn't the main factor here. While I personally think 60cm is ideal for Arabic ouds in standard tuning (and my
main oud is that length), I have a very nice Egyptian oud that is only 58cm but still has that deep, warm Egyptian sound. It's all about the maker's
skills and intentions.
Regarding Sukar and Zeryab — I've played ouds by both that were wonderful and ones that were duds. It doesn't seem to be just "higher model is
better," either. So there is a bit of unpredictability (to be expected with "factory" ouds).
That said, the Zeryab Shami #6 is one of his higher end models I believe, so if you've found a good price on that and you really wanted to go ahead
and upgrade I think that's what I would choose if I were you.
I was a big believer in Sukar until I got one that was great until one day the sound board just completely fell apart. You can see/hear it in this
video, but now it's basically firewood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUJVrrLpbhs
RIP!
So I've lost my trust in Sukar's quality control.
THANK YOU
WehbeHassan - 9-22-2020 at 03:12 AM
Thank you for your valuable insights.
I think I might stick with my Oud for a while as you guys suggested. With time, I'll probably be more confident with my decision to buy a new one.
Thanks a lot!