Hi, i would like to begin to play oud, and i think i will buy one online.
I've seen many cheep ouds on ebay, but i think they are decorative and not playable.
So i searched again, and i've found one who seems to be quite good, apparently.
So i would like to have your opinion, and your suggestions for this oud, for other ouds in other stores, in other country... any comment who can help
me.
If you have the cash, I would suggest you spend a bit more... I also have an oud I paid about $200 for and within a month I replaced it.... The sould
quality won't be very good compared to what you hear on the board... so if you're just picking this up to try out the instrument, then go for it -
and sometimes you end up with a good quality oud... but if you end up falling in love with Ouds, then you'll soon want to upgrade. Also, my first
oud was a turkish oud and I really wish I had bought an arabic one... Most of what I want to play/learn is done on arabic ouds....Marlin - 2-26-2009 at 08:19 AM
Do you know where to buy an arabic oud not too expensive?
250$ max?
I'm actually considering to sell mine, but only in person if possible; I don't want to go through the whole shipping and packing (and possibly
damaging the instrument) scenario...
Couple of disclaimers - 1. Stay away from the Khalifa ouds, I haven't heard anybody here say the're not crappy... The Original Khalifa's are said to
be good, but anything that you find for a few hundred bucks is a tourist model... 2. Palmyrami has had some issues in the past. I would recommend
doing a search on them in the forum to make up your own mind. I've bought two ouds from them and didn't have any problems. I believe most of the
problems occured with musicians who live in Europe, but my memory has been wrong before.
For the price, I don't think you can buy a better oud that the low end Sukkar Oud. Also, keep an eye on the buy and sell ouds section of the site...
I bought my first "Real" oud from SamirCanada for a good price.....
If you're in Europe, I've heard the ouds coming from CEM aren't that bad... but again, I'd do a search on the forum for more info...Marlin - 2-27-2009 at 02:51 AM
What do you think about it?DaveH - 2-27-2009 at 03:42 AM
I think it would make a beautiful, if slightly unstable, coffee table. For music, I'd stick with the advice of the posters above. Luttgutt - 2-27-2009 at 04:14 AM
Hi Marlin!
You are here to get a good advise. And that is excatly what you are getting from the guys!
So my advise to you is to listen to these guys
Good luckMarlin - 2-27-2009 at 04:46 AM
ok, thanks for all your answers.
i've sent a mail to Eraydın Sazevi to see how to proceed,
does someone here already buy him an oud?
How are they?
do you know anything about shipping?
Is this oud a turkish one or an arabic one?
edit : his email (halukeraydin@hotmail.com and meraydin@celik.net.tr) are broken, so i send the mail to sazmaker@yahoo.com. Do you know if it's
good?
Do you have any other suggestion on that kind of price?Greg - 2-27-2009 at 05:41 PM
Haluk died in the middle of last year, may his soul rest in peace.
I note that the web site is still active, but I have doubts that his son is actually running the business.
At the price level you are considering, a Turkish oud is probably your best bet. Many cheap Turkish ouds are playable, but few cheap Arabic ouds are
anything more than decorative pieces to hang on the wall. In Istanbul, it is possible to buy playable ouds for less than US$100. Many people tune
Turkish ouds to Arabic tunings and the results are quite acceptable.
There is a German company called CEM and they seem to use eBay to sell cheap Turkish instruments, worldwide. Whilst I have not played one, they look
like they would probably be okay.
Here is one of their stores (Singapore) http://stores.ebay.com.sg/CEM-MusicCenter-CEM-MC
Buying, sight unseen, is always a gamble unless you deal with a seller who is well known and recommended. (Please do not view this post as a
recommendation for CEM, as I know nothing about that company)
Maybe you should jump on a train and have a few days in Istanbul. That way you could hunt around the markets and stores and find a cheap oud that
suits you.
anatolia is a big store in istambul and photos show apparent good quality ouds.
Marlin, It is difficult to tell from poor quality photos. The one pictured here: http://anatolia-store.com/music/string/oud/basic_oud.htm
looks similar to the ouds Haluk used to sell as his learner model. However, his were sold with better quality tuning pegs (Paris Eye).
The cost of shipping from Anatolia Store is US$75 (to France).
I would email them and ask for better quality photos, showing close-ups of the bowl, the pegbox, the back of the neck and the beard and soundboard. I
would ask them to advise you of the height of the strings above the neck, where the neck meets the bowl. I would also ask them how the item would be
packed for shipping and whether or not the cost of the shipping includes full insurance. Once you have all that (and the photos) post them here and
you will get more considered advice.
Regards,
GregOwain-Hawk - 2-28-2009 at 05:32 AM
CEM Music Ouds are quite good actually! I own one, I bought it second hand not direct from CEM Music but I can say it's very playable, nice sound but
not very loud. In fact, I'd say the action on my CEM Oud is better than on my Shehata Oud, and it doesn't buzz or anything. One thing to note on the
CEM Oud is that I THINK the wood used isn't very good quality, and its very light however the pegs hold the tuning well. The rossette fell out of it
too, but other than that it's perfect for a beginner, assuming all the Ouds are fairly equal.
Good luck, I hope you get an Oud you like.Marlin - 3-1-2009 at 05:33 AM
Thanks every body for your answers.
So i have sent a mailto anatolia with the questions you asked, waiting for their answer...
I went to the CEM website and seen this one: N°9 OUD
they answer my questions:
Hello,
thank you for your interest. The oud is the world's known MC Ouds CEM. They are produced in Turkey. The instruments are made entirely of wood. They
have very clean sound and beautiful tone.
This auction is for the oud instrument no. 9 What you on the photo to see our titles.
Properties are as follows:
Korbus: Round Back 50 cm
Mensur: 58cm
Strings: Pyramid
Top: Spruce
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Eddy: Rosewood
Floor and Frame: solid rosewood
Neck: Solid
Specialties: Pyramid 11 String
In our item description we have listed 2 Style tunnig (Arabic and Turkish. You can find the instrument that they wish vote.
Many of our professional customers are satisfied with the oud.
Included is one Soft, 1 pick, 1 Set Oud Strings Oud and 1 VCD-learning
Our instruments are placed in a sturdy cardboard and wrapped with the company DHL sent securely. If lost or damaged during delivery company DHL takes
over the liability.
You buy without risk. If you do not like that instrument, so you can return it and get the purchase price refunded.
For more photos, we have our photo department instructed. It can unfortunately take until tomorrow evening. This Ouds have a retail price of 349
euros.
Greeting
CEM MCMarlin - 3-2-2009 at 02:48 AM
up?Owain-Hawk - 3-2-2009 at 08:26 AM
This Oud looks OK to me! If you can afford it you might as well buy it, but CEM also make cheaper ones and I don't think there is much difference
between this and the 100 Euro ones they make.
Wait to see what other members of the forum say before you buy....
By the way, where are you located?Marlin - 3-2-2009 at 08:36 AM
In France.
I have another question .
They say in the mail "on our item description we have listed 2 Style tunnig (Arabic and Turkish. You can find the instrument that they wish vote."
Will it be possible to use arabic tune with the strings that come with the oud?
Or have i to buy other strings? to send theim a mail saying i want strings for arabic tune?Owain-Hawk - 3-2-2009 at 09:05 AM
You can use Arabic tuning on a Turkish Oud even if it has Turkish style strings. You CAN'T tune an Arabic Oud to Turkish though, as you risk damaging
the sound board. Do you want to play Arabic music or Turkish??Marlin - 3-2-2009 at 09:08 AM
Arabic music.Owain-Hawk - 3-2-2009 at 09:10 AM
Maybe you don't want to their Turkish Oud then, because even though it can be tuned to Arabic, it will never have that deep whole sound. Turkish is
more high pitched and 'lighter'... unless CEM do an Arabic Oud?Marlin - 3-2-2009 at 09:16 AM
thats strange, the description says "Sie bieten hier auf 1 Stck. No:9 Arabische Oud
Oud, luth, lute, Laute, liuto, Alaud, Luit".
So what?Owain-Hawk - 3-2-2009 at 09:19 AM
Hmm, maybe it is Arabic, maybe you should Email them and find out?nouphar - 3-2-2009 at 09:46 AM
If you want to get a cheap or junk turkish oud, I'd suggest you to downtune to arabic and/or use light strings.
And, buying an oud blindly without trying it first at a shop isn't recommendable, at least for a cheap one I don't recommend it, unless you are
dealing with a reputable maker, who won't ask you a cheap price of course.
Do you agree with me guys?
Regards.Marlin - 3-2-2009 at 10:13 AM
CEM answer :
"The Ouds have the shape of an Arabic-Oud.Es has but 11 strings like a Turkish oud. You can use it as a Turkish or Arabic as a vote. It is 100%
Handmade. They are in Turkey built by our professionals. "Marlin - 3-5-2009 at 02:07 AM
i've bought the CEM's Oud. will tell you when i will receive it...Owain-Hawk - 3-5-2009 at 04:44 AM
I think you'll be happy with your desecion. I forgot to mention though, I have bought two other instruments from CEM, a Duduk which was awful because
it wasn't even a Duduk (but it was cheap so I can't complain.) and a Saz which is very playable, loud and has a great sound!! No complaints there.
Their delivary was fast in all cases, the Saz only took one day with standard delivary, and their packing is excellent... Let us know what you think!Marlin - 3-22-2009 at 03:48 AM
hello guys
so i received the oud!
It looks good, it sounds good, but...
it's impossible to hold a good tune.
the pegs rotate...
do you know what i can do?Owain-Hawk - 3-22-2009 at 04:18 AM
Hi Marlin, I'm glad you recieved it and are happy with the sound. The pegs not holding the tuning ins't a big problem, it might be because the Oud and
Strings are new, so give it a few weeks. For now though, what I'd do is untune the strings, and then one string by one string, tune up again, but this
time as you rotate, push INWARDS towards the pegbox. That should do it, but make sure you don't push to hard or you might end up getting the pegs
stuck! If that doesn't work either, I've heard people use that stuff to stop
voilin pegs slipping.. I can't remember the name but I'll find out later...
Good luck, and happy Ouding, don't forget to practice and then do a taqsim and put it in the "Members sound clips" section!!
If that doesn't work either, I've heard people use that stuff to stop
voilin pegs slipping.. I can't remember the name but I'll find out later...