Mike's Oud Forums

Hooray for me buying Oud- Help

Faorkes - 9-23-2006 at 09:22 PM

Could anyone please vouch for or scrutinize these ouds for me? http://www.mid-east.com/items.asp?CartId={C978EVEREST77C9-6C42-4DCE...

My story is that I'm looking to buy my first oud. I would like it to be of good quality, naturally, and I have a deal that I need to be examined by some respectable musical pilgrim further along on his path. I can get any of the ouds on the mid-east page for about 1/2 price from a trusted reseller. That means that I could get any oud from them that I decide to and not spend more than 300$. Does this look like a good deal for my first oud? Or should I and my hard-earned dollars be directed somewhere else?

Thank you so much for your help. I look forward to learning from and contributing to this magnanimous site!

palestine48 - 9-24-2006 at 09:12 AM

I honestly would not. it is to risky mucvh like gambling. reason because they will probably send you any old oud they have in stock regardless of its condition. there are a lot of thing you need to check out when buying an oud. for example, the pegs turn well, the nut is carved right, the action is proper, etc.

my suggestions are to buy direcvtly from a maker as most of us seem to be happy here with our purchasaes that way.

for your budget there is a turkish named haluk who people seem to be very happy with.

Also im not sure what the cheapest shehata goes for these days, maybe a bit about peopel are very happy with those for egyptian ouds.

theres a guy floating around the pages who sells ibrahim sukar ouds here in the states see what he is offering.

other than that iof u want one of these "type" of ouds that you are looking at. go to ebay stores on the ebay page and search for nile shop. the site runner is named yehia and he is very honest. i bought an oud from him of this type but was happy with the quality. i am even considering selling it if you are interested as i have a samir azar oud that i am very happy with.

billkilpatrick - 9-24-2006 at 12:06 PM

i'm with palestine48 - don't do it. depending on where you are, i'm sure there are places you can go to play an oud before buying. i know how difficult it is to be patient but if you don't have an oud at the moment and feel you must have one immediately ... i suggest you have a look on ebay and budget for something used for $50.00 or less - could be an absolute dud, could be playable - either way, you'll save the $400 + you were planning on spending and you'll have something concrete (in your hand) to compare with for your next aquisition.

best wishes - bill

excentrik - 9-25-2006 at 07:50 PM

yeah, fer real- dude- don't buy those ouds- you will be dissapointed when you open the box. trust me.

I just checked on nileshop.net (I think that is Yahyeh's page- He's got a couple Shehata's for good price. I have personally dealt with him, he is an honest and actually pretty cool guy-

Haluk is a great choice as well (if not more). I just don't play turkish tunnings...

But if you really want to get something really nice... Go to oudnazihghadban.com and check out the current production. You will drool (My Oud is by this maker- he is one the best in the world, but pricey for a beginner).

Hope I didn't confuse you more...

tarik

paulO - 9-25-2006 at 08:02 PM

Hi Faorkes,

I agree with excentrik. If you're going mailorder, stick with the known sellers that folks here will vouch for, and have had experience with. Palestine48 runs down all the details concisely -- I didn't want to beat a dead horse, but I hate to see somebody just starting out get taken advantage of. Good luck man.

Regards...PaulO

Don't do it.

Sasha - 9-25-2006 at 08:20 PM

I'm going to agree with all the previous posters.

The ouds from Mid-East are not anything I would suggest - unless you would like to buy a small amount of VERY expensive firewood...

Sasha

Jason - 9-26-2006 at 04:47 AM

If you want a Shehata just contact Maurice personally. There's no need to go through a middle man.