irfan intekhab - 4-10-2009 at 01:05 PM
salamwalekum haluk sir,
hopefully youll read this someday, i am a 9 years experienced guitar player and know quite everything about the
instrument, but in music there is no point where you can tell you are perfect its just that you get better and better, i live in India where there are
neither any ouds sold, nor do you get any strings or anything related to it, but after listening to the sound of oud i realized how bad my fretless
guitar sounds, i would have gone for the learners series, which is priced 380$ but i cant afford above 250$ if i save i can go till 300$ to the max i
am not that rich, nor do i have a job i am just 19 years old, studying, so all i wanted to ask is do you have any discounts at anytime in a year? or
is there anyone selling a second hand? or is there any other ouds i can buy? but people here say not to go for the cheap ones, and i know how it is to
buy a cheap guitar, same applies to any instrument....please please please let me know i have 0 knowledge about this thing , i am going mad listening
to its sound, it just stops my blood running and starts my tears to drop, never was or will there be any instrument thats sounds better than this
heavenly instrument oud.
thank you
Greg - 4-10-2009 at 11:54 PM
Dear Irfan,
Wecome to the forums.
Sadly, Haluk Eraydin died in June of last year. He is greatly missed on the these forums as well as in the world music fraternity.
I hope someone on these forums is able to help you with an oud worthy of your passion for the instrument.
Regards,
Greg
Edward Powell - 4-11-2009 at 12:04 AM
Namaskar Bhai
Mai aap ko bahut WELCOME deta hu! Aap India me kaha rehte hai? Aap ko shastri sangeet sunte hai?
I would suggest that you build an oud. I started to build ouds for myself because I don't live near any makers or sellers and I didn't want to spend
so much money for travel and purchases... to be honest, building a pretty good oud is not so difficult. If you have people who can guide you - YOU
CAN DO IT! ...also with very minimal tools ordinary wood (if you know how to choose it).
Edward Powell - 4-11-2009 at 12:14 AM
...another thing, I just remembered that I have 2 ouds in storage in India, one in Calcutta and the other in Dharamsala. They have been there for more
than 10 years and don't know their condition now. But you are welcome to have both of them for free if you want.
The one in Dharamsala is nothing too special - a cheapish Moroccan oud, but the sound is nice. The one in Calcutta was an excellent custom 14 string
oud built by Belhaiba in Casablanca --- it WAS a very good oud, but went thru a monsoon in the Himalayas and the soundboard go a bit cracked. But if
you can find it and take it to an instrument builder for repairing, I am sure this can work out for you... if it didn't get burned or something
I would really like that this oud would get a new home and be loved...
so I hope it can work out for you.
irfan intekhab - 4-11-2009 at 07:42 AM
oh that is so sad to listen that a great luthier expired, but anyway someday everyone has to go.
edward thank you so much for the encouragement on building one, but i dont think i can, because neither do i have any tools to do so, nor do i know
anything about the woods, except for the knowledge as to what woods sound nice and have a resonance and everything, but about buying cutting i know
nothing. i live in hyderabad the city of nizam if you know, and i am a classical lover, may it be indian or arabic, but arabic gives a feeling more
than indian 
i would love to have anything possible in case of ouds, any idea as to what the total cost would be if i build one? and how may i get that ouds of
yours?
thank you so much everyone
irfan intekhab - 4-11-2009 at 10:15 AM
just saw your youtube, you are a very big man, and i am so impressed to see such a man so down to earth and heapful thank you so much sir, if its ur
opinion i think i can atleast try to build anything that resembles to oud atleast, any book or any page i can follow to? for the measurements and
everything?
Edward Powell - 4-11-2009 at 01:28 PM
Hi Irfan
If you want to go to Calcutta to pick up that oud then you can have it. Tell me if for sure you plan to go there and I can try my best to contact the
man who hopefully still has it. If you are serious about that, I can try to get the man's (Tapan) contact info and you can contact him and set up the
meeting.
My guess is that he still has it but that by now it is damaged. Still, this was originally a very very good oud - so it is worth repairing... PLUS,
when you start to build your own oud it is VERY important to have an oud to copy -- otherwise building can be too difficult.
Good luck ji!
irfan intekhab - 4-11-2009 at 10:14 PM
oh thank you edward, i dont think i can go to calcutta in the near future, i think ill start creating one, but any idea where i can get the accurate
measurements or so? i was reading everything about it yesterday and it seems to be something possible, something i think i can do. only the
measurements and some specific areas that i dont get to understand
thank you again and again
Edward Powell - 4-12-2009 at 01:35 AM
yes i agree... if you have the will to do it, then i would say GO FOR IT! If you take your time, then you will succeed. Then after that you will have
a nice little business making and selling your ouds to the growing indian market 
yes you need to dimensions... this is why it is really helpful to have an oud to copy.
the only thing i found really tough to do in the beginning was making the back. Finally it is not so difficult, but the accuracy from the very very
beginning must be really high - because with the first few ribs, you can glue them on and they might not be so accurate --- you will not notice the
inaccuracy right at the beginning, but later you notice and you will not be able to fit the last ribs on perfectly.
Right on this forum there are plenty of documented oud builds and you simply can follow along how they have build them. The diagrams they present have
measurements.
Please let us know how you are progressing and if you have a camera, please post fotos, and everyone here I'm sure will help you along.
irfan intekhab - 4-26-2009 at 10:08 AM
i dont think ill start in the near future, i have exams coming up, so maybe after that. will surely let you know when i start, or even if i drop the
plan to, because i never understood the back making completely