omoelegua - 8-3-2006 at 03:18 AM
hi
I am ready to purchase my first oud to pursue a study of the instrument & I was wondering if anyone could help me with some questions:
> are the ouds made by Haluk Eraydin of decent enough performance quality? in comparison with those made by Ahmet Gokce? Haluk's has a very
attractive price ($380), around $400 less than Ahmet's; what are the trade-offs here?
> what is the incidence of damage during shipping of an oud? what guarantees or options do I, the buyer, have in case of this?
> Does anyone have any experiences w/ this oudmaker and his products they'd like to share?
Even with shipping charges, Haluk's oud seems the most affordable for my budget...is this a good value oud I can learn on and play for at least 3-4
years?
Thanks everyone for your help!
Jason - 8-3-2006 at 09:10 AM
I have the beginner oud by Haluk, which was $300. I'm not sure if it's the same oud you're talking about but I think it's definately good enough to
perform on. You will probably want to install a good set of strings if it's the beginner oud... mine were decent enough but there was a big
difference when I put on new strings.
My oud was shipped in large wooden crate and it arrived in perfect condition. I believe the packages are insured but you should ask Haluk to be
certain. Mine was delivered by the USPS..
It's hard to say if the oud will last you 3-4 years. IMO that's too long to stay on a beginner instrument if you are going to take playing seriously.
That said, I don't think you're going to become dissatisfied with the oud over time. You may just start wanting something with more volume,
projection, nicer woods, etc.
omoelegua - 8-4-2006 at 11:22 AM
Thank you Jason. I keep hearing about 'more volume, projection' w/ ouds; are they inherently soft-sounding.....are they (the beginner ouds
anyway)softer than acoustic nylon-stringed Spanish guitars? do ouds have something like an f-hole or soundhole for resonance? And, I've been playing
guitar for years...what's the learning curve for the oud like? Thanks much!
Jason - 8-4-2006 at 05:12 PM
I would say my oud is similar to the volume of most classical guitars. I've heard some people say removing the rosettes in ouds helps the volume.
Most ouds have 3 soundholes, one large and two small which have rosettes in them. Lots of makers today leave out the rosettes, however.
I've played a lot of fretless bass and upright bass over the years so the learning curve as far as intonation wasn't too bad for me. I'd say that if
you have a good ear you won't have much problem either. The real difficulty is in learning to play eastern music because it's so different from
everything I've played before.
Haluk - 8-4-2006 at 06:15 PM
I will make ouds without rosettes when requested.I never tried on ouds but I let some sazs without rosette,sounds were more louder.