Rafoud - 7-8-2008 at 11:06 AM
Hi, new at the forum, here...
Well, first, thanks for your page Mike! 
Second, after a huge research on the net (not able by now to travel to Egypt or Syria...) I decided to buy a Gawharet el Fan directly from the page .
Magy contacted me like half an hour afterwards, so by now everything seems really correct.
They may send me one they have in stock, a bit different that the picture one... The colors are not a problem to me if it's a good instrument, I
answered.
It will be my second Oud after two years with a turkish one, cheap but gentle. (And 16 years of spanish guitar)
So, for people looking for an oud as I was, I'll keep on informing about the transaction with Gawharet el Fan
http://www.gawharetelfan.com/
Ups! the oud is
http://www.gawharetelfan.com/oud0015.htm
I thought it was correct for a second oud... Well, afterwards it always depends a bit on luck i guess. Advices, experiences, opinions?
thanks all
see ya
katakofka - 7-9-2008 at 08:00 AM
check that
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=7330#pid459...
or do a search in the forum typing Gawharet el fan.
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/misc.php?action=search
Get used on doing a search in the forum, otherwise you'll get no reply when the subject was highly discussed. Welcome to the forum
Rafoud - 7-9-2008 at 08:28 AM
Yep! thanks katakofka, I did a bit of research... the thing is that most of the deals with GEF are through shpinxshop or Egyptcart... I haven't
found opinions about http://www.gawharetelfan.com they have the same stuff cheaper, and i start have some doubts about...
(the oud I bought is 100 bucks cheaper than in ebay's shpinxshop or Egyptcart)
thank you
Brian Prunka - 7-9-2008 at 11:51 AM
Last time I had checked, gawharet el fan wasn't selling directly to the US, so you had to buy from a dealer like sphinxshop. Maybe this is a new
thing for them?
SamirCanada - 7-9-2008 at 11:55 AM
it seems like they figured that since they make the instruements they could sell them direct without going to a third party...
I think they where reluctant to get into the e-buisness thing before.
MatthewW - 7-9-2008 at 12:43 PM
bonjour Rafoud...bon chance avec ton oud! Let us know how you like it when it arrives! 
Rafoud - 7-9-2008 at 01:09 PM
Thanxx everybody!! you will know about the oud... if i finally receive it!!!!! 
Brian, i'm in france, so maybe still not shipping to the US! still no answer from them, may insist tomorrow...
Rafoud - 7-10-2008 at 09:24 AM
Good news, they answered, my oud has been sent and will be here in 10 days. Apparently Moura el Turki is not anymore the manufacturer since he has
been in jail!?? that's what Magy said.
Will see when it arrives. Thanks everybody again.
francis - 7-11-2008 at 03:29 PM
Salut Rafoud.
On est quelques-uns de France assidus à ce forum....
C'était quoi ton premier oud?
Sur quels critères as-tu choisi le second?
Dans quelle région es-tu?
(Translation: some french(ies) frequently use the forum
What kind of oud is your first one?
How do you choose the second one?
Where are you staying in France?)
Bonne musique, donne des nouvelles à la reception.
Francis
Gwaharetelfan.com
Rafoud - 7-17-2008 at 10:08 AM
Good news... the oud arrived today... bad news... i think it's crap
The soundboard and the fingerboard are varnished, wich i find quite suspicious, and there's no ebony around at all (it was supposed to be ebony for
the pegs and the bridge)
The sound is bad but the stringing is also bad done so it may change when i do it properly... yes, i'm disappointed... Of course, the story is not
over, I mailed the shop, no answer by now.
Any of the oudists has a different idea? it's not that bad? It is normal to varnish the soundboard? and the fingerboard? i've never seen it in a
decent oud.
(Francis: merci mais je prefer garder cette sujet pour parler de mon achat -un peu malheureuse pour l'instant- On parlera ailleurs!
regard ron U2U - transl: thanks but I prefer to keep this post to talk about my
deal with Gawharetelfan.com will talk in another post)
hamed - 7-17-2008 at 12:14 PM
Rafoud, i'm sorry to hear that you are dissapointed. I don't think you should worry too much, i'm sure the oud will sound better with new better
quality strings. Usually those ouds come strung with the cheapest strings around, and they would make the best ouds sound bad. It is fairly standard
practice to have finished soundboards on egyptian ouds. As long as the oud's action isn't too high and is playabe i'd say you didn't get ripped off.
Its hard to find high quality ouds nowadays for the price you paid, there are always exceptions of course. As for the lack of ebony pegs, thats also
not such a big deal, as long as the pegs can hold the tuning.
Hamed
At least they are there!"
Rafoud - 7-17-2008 at 12:28 PM
Thanks a lot Hamed! I hope you're right... I haven't have time to string it, and yes, I looked too much for the price and maybe I expected too much
for this price... thanksagain!
At the shop they answered (wich honours them). I have to recognise that the shop works very good in communication and the shipping was very fast.
They are surprised that I say it's a bad oud. They say that they don't cheat, and they will send me the ebony pegs. But the pegs doesn't worry me
actually, the problem is the sound (buzzes). 
stringmanca - 7-17-2008 at 02:30 PM
I bought my oud from the Gawharet El Fan shop in Cairo a couple of years ago and it also had the finished top and fingerboard and cheap strings.
See http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=3391 for pictures.
What the Egyptians call 'ebony' is actually not what we think of as ebony, but is actually African Blackwood.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Blackwood
My oud has turned out to be pretty good sounding for an inexpensive instrument - I'm sure yours will be also! It sure looks pretty!
Best wishes,
Nathan
Rafoud - 7-17-2008 at 02:46 PM
Thanx a lot Nathan that's reassuring!! Begginings are hard...
Gawharet el fan works, finally!
Rafoud - 7-18-2008 at 12:00 AM
Ok, after being this heavy, I will make a summary about the deal to finish.
http://www.gawharetelfan.com works. They reply on time -fast- at any doubt
and the shipping is fast.
I had some doubts, because 1) I expected too much for the price
2) lack of experience. (In Egypt they varnish the ouds... and so on)
I changed the strings. It needs some adjustments on the top bridge (bone) because the trebles buzzed, but now starts to sound properly and I guess
will get better with time. The tunning stands ok for new strings.
I wouldn't say it's an ultra proffesional oud, but I didn't pay for an ultraproffesional oud.
They will send me the ebony pegs -I know it's not specially important but it is what we had talk- and strings.
Be careful, countries like France they charge quite big import fees!
Ah! and mistery solved... In the facture we can read: NileShop and is Essam who signs... so Sphinxshop, NileShop and gawharetelfan.com are partners or
something.
That's all folks! and thanks everybody. The next post will be a Maqam with the new machine!! 
Rafoud - 7-21-2008 at 08:42 AM
After few days my Gawharet el Fan starts sound... just great! 
I'll post a
sample as soon as I can.
We have the right to ignorance but the must to recognise it ... Specially to not harming a good bussiness like GEF...
Rafoud - 9-16-2008 at 01:50 AM
Just wanted to add that they even sent me the LaBella string set and the ebony pegs as we agreed. Perfect transaction here!
Soon, a post with how it sounds! Thanks everybody