Mike's Oud Forums

delightful cheapy oud

billkilpatrick - 5-3-2006 at 11:46 AM

the shiney pated person pictured (hopefully) below is me ... and what i'm playing is a recently renovated, cheapy syrian oud, of the type mentioned in the - mainly despairing - ali khalifeh oud threads.

my wife - who has a small degree of tolerance for my oud passion - confounded me completely, a christmas or so ago, when she presented me with this monster. the plastic roses were off and out by st. stephen's day and the pick-guard was removed - none too expertly - by myself soon after.

... in short, i was pretty ambivalent about this dud and my appreciation wasn't enhanced much when the neck began to droop and the strings started buzzing.

what to do? ... a present from my wife!

i ended up taking it - and an ancient, bowl-back mandolin - to see "my" luthier and this is what i got on return.

he says the cedar soundboard won't improve with age - unlike spruce - but i'm not that fussed as its sound, for some unknown reason, has improved enormously ... very "medieval" it seems to me now. it's no where near the quality of my other, mouhad al turki oud but for wowing the crowd in the piazza, it'll do just great ... and loud too. i think it even looks ok now (he covered over the photo of the mustachioed senior khalifeh inside - which gave the game away a bit as the absence of rose made his stern looking expression noticeable during my medieval music performances) especially with the absent pick-guard.

cheap can be cheerful - bill

jshead - 5-3-2006 at 03:24 PM

when I have had the opportunity to visit egypt or jordan I have often heard people play 'cheapy' ouds. they always sound great to me.
I think the oud is greatly influenced by the player so just about anything can sound great in the right hands.

billkilpatrick - 5-4-2006 at 03:25 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by jshead
when I have had the opportunity to visit egypt or jordan I have often heard people play 'cheapy' ouds. they always sound great to me.
I think the oud is greatly influenced by the player so just about anything can sound great in the right hands.


i appreciate the inference but i'm bound to say - in my case - it's wide of the mark.

"my" luther repaired the hump that was developing in the area where the neck meets the body simply by sanding it level again. he said the sound board was thick enough not to be damaged in the process. this thinner sound board might explain the improved quality in sound - it's so hard to be objective about these things - or it might be explained by the modifications he made to the nut by realigning the string grooves and establishing the proper depth of groove.

who knows ... luthiers move in mysterious and extremely costly ways, their wonders to perform.

- bill

SamirCanada - 5-4-2006 at 06:41 AM

hum... I have an idea...

lets hear it :D !

Congradulation on the fix. I hope it wasnt too expensive.
Enjoy playing it.

jazzchiss - 5-4-2006 at 11:46 PM

Wonderful landscape! You are a lucky man. :)

chaldo - 5-5-2006 at 01:37 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by jazzchiss
Wonderful landscape! You are a lucky man. :)


you removed letters, hence words out of my mouth... AMAZING LANDSCAPE!!

DJCrabtree - 5-5-2006 at 02:04 AM

Hi Bill

Not only an amazing landscape, but what is that strange light that suffuses the scene? ... it couldn't be ... yes, it is ... sunshine !

I cannot begin to tell you how racked by jealousy I was as I gazed upon that picture yesterday, while outside Belfast was lashed by wind and rain (what's new?) and the only light in the sky was from flashes of lightning.

Like the man said, you are a lucky man ...

David

billkilpatrick - 5-5-2006 at 11:19 PM

thank you all for your comments. yes, it is beautiful here and ... yes, the background in any future photos will probably be a wall - i had this vision of you all (shudder) showing up suddenly, en masse in your camper-vans, demanding lunch.

my "cheapie" oud wasn't really cheap at all - the original purchase price plus costly trip to the luthier would have probably bought me a high quality oud in the first place. the point is, this was a present of sentimental value. the fact that it sounds better is just one more reason to love it.

arrivederci - bill