Mike's Oud Forums

My Oud from Nileshop

cbounds - 1-26-2007 at 08:17 PM

I ordered this Oud about two months ago from Nileshop.net. It is made of Rosewood and I paid $300 plus shipping. The staff was very cordial and helped me to choose an instrument that would suit me. I have heard many horror stories of people buying Ouds from Ebay and other places. I could not be happier with the quality and sound of the instrument for the price I paid. The shipping was about $90 but it arrived in Texas from Eygpt in only 3 days!

I restrung it with Pyramid strings when it came in. At first I was a little worried as it would not stay in tune for long periods. After the strings stretched it stayed in tune perfectly. I also used some peg dope on the tuning pegs so they would turn easily. The distributor of this Oud is Gawahret El Fen. The maker is Mustafa Mustafa.

I am using a Cfadgc tuning. I printed out the notes on sticky paper and then used a hole punch to make small circles. I put the circles on the fretboard until I could get familiar with the notes. This helps trememdously in learning Maqam.

cbounds - 1-26-2007 at 08:31 PM

Back of my Rosewood Oud

cbounds - 1-26-2007 at 08:33 PM

Here I am playing. You can see the markings I have put on the fretboard to help me learn the notes of this tuning.

:xtreme::buttrock::xtreme::buttrock::xtreme::buttrock::xtreme:

Melbourne - 1-26-2007 at 08:33 PM

Looks nice, seems reasonable to me. Whats the action like?, ie the approx height of the strings where the neck joins the body.

cbounds - 1-26-2007 at 08:35 PM

A Country boy playing an OUD?????

cbounds - 1-26-2007 at 09:37 PM

The action is very low and playable. The instrument repsonds well.

samzayed - 1-26-2007 at 10:29 PM

That looks like a nice oud. Mabrouk! Yehia at Nileshop is a really nice guy. He's very honest, and is a pleasure to do business with.

cbounds - 1-26-2007 at 11:10 PM

Here is a youtube link of me playing a little Taqsim. I have only been playing a couple of months. Just giving you an idea of how the Nileshop Ouds sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANQOjdrmvUE

INFAMOUD - 1-27-2007 at 04:23 PM

Damn..Thats not bad...You got a good deal..And a nice sounding Oud..Sounds like you been playing longer..

palestine48 - 1-27-2007 at 10:00 PM

That Sounds great for a beginner. Sounds like you have losts of musical experience especially from the guitar.

Just to let you know, the Oud is not played like a quitar but im susre your probably know that.

you can go to oudcafe.com to get pointers on holding and playing.

Also I saw a website that explains how guitar players can convert to the oud. I dont know off the top of my head oud so try searching for that also.