Mike's Oud Forums

buying a beginner oud

upontheroof - 12-5-2005 at 01:52 PM

hello,
i have about $300 i'm looking to spend on an oud. i have been planning to buy it from lark in the morning. they have a model made in egypt for $295 with a cheap case. however, i really don't like their company very much. does anyone on here no of somewhere where i can purchase an oud of resonably decent quality for this price. i would prefer to buy it in the u.s. so shipping isn't too much but am open to buying one from somewhere else. thanks so much!

SAGR QURAISH - 12-5-2005 at 05:01 PM

what ever u do dont buy it from lark in the morning.but then again if u want something just for now..then for that much it would b ur best bet.i will get u a # for a friend i have in egypt...he sells ouds.its called marko..i personally own one...and for that much u can get a very decent oud..i mean 300$ converted to egyptian pounds is around 1500...u can get a very nice one for that much.its sounds good too.ill keep u updated for the #.

upontheroof - 12-5-2005 at 05:42 PM

hey,
thanks for the info. lark in the morning seems to sort of take advantage of people by selling foreign instruments that are hard to find and marking them up way more that the quality warrants. definently keep me informed. thanks again!

buying an oud

sydney - 12-5-2005 at 05:55 PM

Hello upontheroof,

Good luck with buying an oud but there is some news for you ...

Syrianoud or Samir ... is a member here in the forum and he is a very good and kind man. He's got an oud for sale. Tell him what you can pay and I am sure he is kind enough to let you have it for the money you have got.

Here is a link for the oud on sale.

http://www.arabicouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=2895

Greg - 12-5-2005 at 07:30 PM

Take a look at this thread:
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=2542#pid174...

I just purchased a second one of these (for a friend). In my opinion, they represent very good value for money.

Regards,

Greg

revaldo29 - 12-5-2005 at 07:32 PM

Where are you located? A lot of oud players have older ouds that they learned on and might be looking for an opportunity to get rid of some without going through the hassel of shipping and such.

palestine48 - 12-5-2005 at 08:13 PM

You could also go to the ebay stores and search for nile shop. I got one of these and they are good for the price. Email Yehiah who is the keeper of the site and he will help you with what you are looking for. He also sells the famous shehata ouds if you want to spend an extra few bucks.

Jason - 12-5-2005 at 08:16 PM

I have one of the learner ouds from Haluk. It is a very nice oud for the money and sounds very good with new strings. I would advise you to buy from the nile shop (nileshop.net) if you are looking for an Arabic style oud and not Turkish.

syrianoud - 12-6-2005 at 08:56 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by upontheroof
hello,
i have about $300 i'm looking to spend on an oud. i have been planning to buy it from lark in the morning. they have a model made in egypt for $295 with a cheap case. however, i really don't like their company very much. does anyone on here no of somewhere where i can purchase an oud of resonably decent quality for this price. i would prefer to buy it in the u.s. so shipping isn't too much but am open to buying one from somewhere else. thanks so much!


I have a very decent oud for $300 . Where do you live .what state and city?
Regards
Samir

upontheroof - 12-6-2005 at 01:21 PM

syrianoud,
i live in seattle washington. i'm more than happy to pay shipping. can you give me some details on the oud? does it come with a case? thanks so much. i'm definently more interested in buying one from someone on here who i can trust about the quality of the instrument rather than from lark in morning.

thanks,
allan

p.s. my email address is thedirtyfeetcollective@yahoo.com if you would rather talk outside the forums.

syrianoud - 12-6-2005 at 03:15 PM

My friend send me your email so i can take pictures and send them to you. You can send me U2U so no one can see your email if you like.Shipping is 35 or 45 .
The oud is Turkish oud very very nice quality , It has a soft case.I tuned it last night to Turkish ,you could tune it to Arabic.I have a brand new set of strings made by La Bella.Arabic strings. If yes you are welcome .I am selling it at the same price what i paid for it.The strings alone are $18.00 and a free soft case.
I have sold the other oud i have for $500 lost $700 on it needs to replace the pegs on it(That is the syrian oud i sold)
But this one needs nothing just to start learning or playin if you do + i will give you a DVD of how to learn to play the oud and a free VHS of John Vartan it is called Over view and instruction for the Oud.
You can ask other members about me and my honesty.If you will not be happy with this oud just ship it back to me and i will refund you the $300 you paid.

Regards Samir

upontheroof - 12-6-2005 at 05:58 PM

hey,
i do have one more question for people.
i really want to learn to play the arabic style.
how easy is it to start on a turkish oud and switch to
the arabic style?

thanks,
allan

palestine48 - 12-6-2005 at 06:50 PM

Its possible, My uncle does it as well as many old school players who prefer to play traditional melody.

As for how easy, well what you are going to consider is that an arabic oud has a longer scale, the difference i dont know to be exact but can be easily found if u search the forums. I think its no more than 3 inches or so. What that means is if you use an arabic oud, your spacing between notes will have to be adjusted. Early on that may be difficult because you are probably gonna try to learn to play using markers as well as watching yourself and your hand movement, muscle memory etc. That is where I am.

Over time you will be able to distinguish the correct tone of each note and that will distinguish how you finger the finger board.

So overall my judgement is, as a beginner to music and general who depends on sight more than sound it will be a bit tricky, but once your hearing skills become more developed you can probably transition in an easier manor.

revaldo29 - 12-6-2005 at 07:37 PM

I first started playing on a turkish oud tuned down to Arabic tuning. I wasn't very happy with that. The oud was fine to learn on, but it did not give that rich arabic sound common of a lot of arabic ouds. I've never really played one of haluk's ouds but I hear they are fine instruments. I think you ought to think seriously about droping $300 on a turkish oud when you want to learn primarily arabic music, especially when there are so many alternatives. Once again though, I haven't played haluk's instruments and i've actually heard a few members that said they liked the way they sounded on arabic tuning.

adnan

syrianoud - 12-6-2005 at 11:05 PM

Sorry but the Oud got sold to a biginer.It was a great buy . And the guy who bought it is learning Arabic music,So if you can find that same one grab it fast .It could be tuned to Arabic .I do not think that you will find a decent Oud for arabic music.The once you see on Ebay and Lark in the Morning are for looks,There you really dumping your $300 to the trash.So my sugetion is to contact Haluk Arydin and get a biginer Turkish Oud if he still sells them for that price.That oud has a new Pyramid Historical Strings worth of $75.00 that i bought from Germany . Good Luck to you.
regards Samir , California

upontheroof - 12-7-2005 at 01:57 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SAGR QURAISH
what ever u do dont buy it from lark in the morning.but then again if u want something just for now..then for that much it would b ur best bet.i will get u a # for a friend i have in egypt...he sells ouds.its called marko..i personally own one...and for that much u can get a very decent oud..i mean 300$ converted to egyptian pounds is around 1500...u can get a very nice one for that much.its sounds good too.ill keep u updated for the #.


hey,
i was wondering if you ever found the number of your friend.

thanks,
allan

SAGR QURAISH - 12-12-2005 at 09:40 AM

hey up i couldnt find the #...but i can get u a nice oud for around 300$ with out shipping of coarse...from here in saudi.if u want....

upontheroof - 12-12-2005 at 01:31 PM

hey,
sagr, thanks so much for the offer. i will keep that in mind and let you know soon.

i have another offer that i thought i would try to get some opinions on. this is an outtake from the email i was sent with all the info:

About the OUD, as I have said before, is a Syrian Oud made by the famous Syrian Oud maker Mr. Ibrahim Sukar. It is made of Walnut wood and the pegs are Beach. Rich and deep sound, as it's known of Sukar ouds. Another feature in Sukar ouds is that the body of the oud and the finger board are attached using a screw with which you can adjust the action on the fret board.

I am asking $350 for this Oud including a leather soft case, shown in the 1st picture, and I can send you an extra set of strings, of decent quality no particular brand, as well as a plastic pick.

I have a hard case made by Sukar as well. It has the shape of the oud and great insulation that provides perfect protection for the oud, from personal experience, I really suggest having a hard case for ouds. This case is shown in the 2nd picture and I am asking $150 for it.

does this sound like a good deal?

thanks,
allan

revaldo29 - 12-12-2005 at 01:56 PM

could you show us the pictures?

upontheroof - 12-12-2005 at 05:41 PM

hey,
how do you post pics?
i have a pic of the oud but don't know how to post it.

thanks,
allan

palestine48 - 12-12-2005 at 06:07 PM

I am interested in that hard case so if you decide to pass on the case, I hope you will be willing to give me first oppurtunity to purchase it.



Depending on condition, sound, its a fair deal. i wouldnt say its a bargain considering what I have been told of what sukars go for in syria itself. By if you consider the conversion rate, cost of shipping to US. etc it sounds alright. Just make sure it is functional meaning the begs are smooth, action is good and it sounds to your liking.

P.S. also I think i have marcos number somewhere, I will look for it.