Mike's Oud Forums

Help identifying my Oud please.

PDORE - 1-8-2022 at 08:31 PM

Hi, Can I please have any help available to identify this Oud? It was handed to me approximately 20 years ago with the words, "Made by Hassan of Baghdad" but I have no way of confirming this. Perhaps experts here can help me.
Thanks


Oud5b.jpg - 269kB Oud2b.jpg - 257kB

Oud Id

spyrosc - 1-9-2022 at 06:10 PM

Please post more pictures. Specifically:

1) Face on, not tilted so we can read the Arabic ion the rosette
2) If you have one of those small cameras (endoscopes) take a picture inside the oud right under the rosette, if not shine a flashlight through one of the small rosettes and take a picture through the large rosette so we can see the label(s) if any.

Help identifying my Oud please.

PDORE - 1-13-2022 at 07:10 PM

Here are the pics, hope they help me get an ID.
Thanks

OUDa.jpg - 51kB OUDb.jpg - 46kB

OUDc.jpg - 179kB

Eric Stern Music - 1-13-2022 at 09:17 PM

The big letters say oud Iraqi. And then I believe it says made in 1980. There's more and other forum members who can decipher better than I will surely tell you.

PDORE - 1-14-2022 at 06:08 PM

Thanks. Cheers

Moh_42539 - 1-18-2022 at 01:07 PM

Hi,

This is a Syrian make oud, low quality

PDORE - 2-22-2022 at 10:07 PM

Hi,

If the tag says Oud Iraqi, how do you determine it is Syrian made please?
The person who gave it to me in 1991 informed me it was Iraqi at the time.

Thanks
Pete

Jody Stecher - 2-23-2022 at 06:03 AM

Quote: Originally posted by PDORE  
Hi,

If the tag says Oud Iraqi, how do you determine it is Syrian made please?
The person who gave it to me in 1991 informed me it was Iraqi at the time.

Thanks
Pete


I don't know where this oud was made but I do know that Hawaiian Guitars have been made in Pennsylvania, French Horns have been made in China, and thousands of Spanish Guitars have been made in Chicago and Kalamazoo. In other words "Oud Iraqi" can possibly be meant to indicate that this instrument is meant to emulate aspects of the style of a luthier from Baghdad. Maybe.

PDORE - 2-23-2022 at 09:02 PM

Yep, while anything is possible, it the label states Oud Iraqi, then that is what is expected, unless there is some other indicator to a different manufacturer.

Just to say it is a cheap Syrian Oud with no reasoning is odd...

JayJay - 2-24-2022 at 03:56 AM

The writing on the top of the rossette says "Iraqi oud" and underneath it says "Mohammed Fadel Hussein and sons". It doesn't look like a typical Mohamed Fadel oud but I'm not an expert to give a confident answer

Brian Prunka - 2-24-2022 at 11:18 AM

This is definitely not by Mohamed Fadel. It was common in the 1980s for some Syrian makers to make cheap forgeries of Mohamed Fadel ouds. This is one of those. I expect that it would have been hard for an Iraqi shop to get away with forging Fadel ouds but there was no practical way for him to go after Syrian forgeries.

It may actually be an okay oud, but given the grade of the woods used it is clearly a cheaper instrument and given that it is a forgery, not the product of a desirable maker.

The pegs are poorly made, cheap wood with an excessive taper (these look like 1:15, normal is 1:30), they would need to be completely replaced and quality pegs refit for this to be a usable intrument.

It also looks like the pegbox was replaced or had major repairs at some point.

PDORE - 2-24-2022 at 10:01 PM

Brian Prunka,

Thanks for that description, that was what I wanted to know - ie, how it's actual origin could be determined..
The peg box was recently repaired, as it had broken. My grandkids were a touch rough when I wasn't home! :)

The person who gave it to me 20 years ago said it was made by Hussein of Baghdad, but I am not surprised at the reality! I doubt he would have known the difference either.

Cheers!

Brandon terzic - 4-2-2023 at 09:45 PM

I have an Oud just like this. It is not Fadel, I think it is an Egyptian knock-off---btw---my Oud sounds incredible!
Never heard anything that has a bass response like it.