glenn sharp - 7-5-2009 at 04:41 AM
Desperately looking for a decent, hard oud case, that I can get in / to UK. Can anyone help?
msimon - 7-5-2009 at 05:38 AM
Check out Jameel's site:
http://www.khalafoud.com/
charlie oud - 7-5-2009 at 10:13 PM
Hi Glen, Kingham cases are very high quality. They are the professional choice for all sizes of lute. Lutes are far more delicate than ouds and
Kingham do an excellent job ensuring protection of the instrument, highly accurate custom fit of outer shell and soft padded lining. However they are
fairly expensive, though pro lute players rarely consider any other make. I intend to get one for my oud when I have the funds. I have a Sukar oud
which I adore but I dont recommend Sukar hard cases. 
Here is the link http://kingham.merion.co.uk/
mavrothis - 7-17-2009 at 04:31 AM
Thanks Charlie.
Honestly, comparing with other hard cases available for oud that are considered high quality, the prices are not so high (unfortunately).
The best hard case for oud I've ever seen was by Viken Najarian (though it was a bit heavy, definitely not for carrying around for any long period of
time). http://www.oud.net/cases.htm
Take care,
mavrothis
rojaros - 4-18-2010 at 12:57 PM
I'm looking for an Oud case for myself and I came across this link:
http://www.rchcases.it/standard_production.htm
has anybody experiences with them? Seems to be quite a bit cheaper than Kingham (does that mean also worse?)
thanks in advance
best wishes
Robert
bibo10 - 4-18-2010 at 03:23 PM
check this out, cheapest hard cases i found
http://www.magictails.com/abydos/mid-east/oud.html
DaveH - 4-18-2010 at 11:54 PM
Hi Glenn
I have a Kingham case for my oud. It provides excellent protection (I'm pretty clumsy!). But as Charlie says, they're very expensive, to the point of
being overpriced in my opinion. They're also very heavy (I think it's 6mm ply), and if you make the mistake of carrying it in your right hand for
anything more than a few minutes, your playing is incapacitated for hours. They also have a bit of a waiting list, so it usually takes them a month or
two to get to your order.
Given this, I'd be prepared to try the RCH ones which I've noticed before online and which are a much more reasonable price. One thing to be very
careful about with any oud case is that adequate support is provided for the neck. If the case doesn't contact under the neck next to the body and
probably also towards the pegbox, there's a real danger of snapping it. I don't think those mid-east cases pass this test, and they look VERY bulky,
though the prospect of a free oud thrown in (probably literally) with the case, for a lower price than the Kingham one is attractive.
(Incidentally, it's also a very good idea to put a wedge of stiff foam between the top of the pegbox and the end of the case, in case it's dropped on
its end, to stop the oud being shunted down in the case and snapped at the pegbox-neck joint, which a real vulnerable point.)
Ideally, I'd love it if someone would start making a decently robust glassfibre case for ouds, or even kevlar (though that would obviously cost).
Plywood is just too heavy and bulky.
Overall, if the RCH case has decent neck support I'd go for that. Otherwise I'd stick with the expensive but strong lump of my Kingham model. You can
check it out when you come down.
Sazi - 4-19-2010 at 12:20 AM
If money is no object, I don't think you can go past these cases, they certainly look impressive and strong... I know Dhafer Yousef uses one.
http://valipier.perso.neuf.fr/index.html
fernandraynaud - 4-19-2010 at 04:52 AM
Bibo, those are all MidEast Manufacturing's products he's selling, and they are not very high quality items, the cases that come with those
instruments have been derided and mourned.
bibo10 - 4-19-2010 at 10:26 AM
fernandraynaud,
yea i am aware they are not the highest quality cases, i thought i would just put it out there considering the significantly low price. My oud arrived
in one of these from Egypt and it arrived fine, it was also well packaged!
it is bulky however but offered good protection
Protect your Oud on Oud-case.com
Houcem - 5-23-2010 at 03:49 AM
Hello,
Try fiberglass hard case.
see this website : www.oud-case.com
Houcem
A dreadnaught guitar gig-bag fits ouds!!
fernandraynaud - 5-23-2010 at 07:54 PM
In the moderate protection dept. I was surprised to find that a padded gigbag designed for a "dreadnaught" size western guitar fits most any 615mm
scale Arabic oud very well. The bag bends around the pegbox and has some length to spare but it doesn't even look wrong. The bowl fits like a glove,
the width is tight. I'm trying some more padding here and there. One should be able to use some improvised piece of something to help especially
protect the neck/pegbox area.
But this "fit" means a nice leather gigbag like those beautiful motorcycle-jacket DearJean ones in a "dreadnaught" size should work too! For us more
modest spenders, a fabric gigbag with 25 mm foam padding can be purchased for about $30-50.
I think people need to state clearly what they are after. There is no point comparing a case that is passable for putting in the trunk/boot of the car
(like a Sukar case) with a 100 lb wheeled case designed for surviving cargo holds in the company of circus animals and a shipment of steel. The
fiberboard case that is ok on the back seat of the car (like the Mideast cardboard ones) is different from an unpadded gigbag that only prevents
scratching in the overhead compartment of the plane. Very few are designed fo the ultimate test: coffin-strong plywood that can survive baggage
handlers at Heathrow or Chicago. It's meaningless to shout "Such and such are bad/the best" unless you specify the Intended Conditions.
I have been able to carry one oud into the cabin in a gigbag, it looks less demanding than any sort of hard case, and I can put it with my coat in the
overhead bin. If you have more than one, I guess you need "coffin-cases" for baggage. Airlines keep changing policies. Important to know: is anyone of
late having trouble bringing one oud on board?
rojaros - 5-25-2010 at 12:26 AM
As an update, I (or mor precisely, Sebastian Stenzel, who is building my new oud) might have found a german source for good oud hard cases.
In case the things work out I'll let everybody know ...
best wishes
Robert
Danielo - 5-25-2010 at 01:32 AM
Hi,
I've tried the cases of Pierre Rousseau (see the link of Sazi above), they have one big advantage: they are very light (2 kg !), being made
of thin plywood an aluminium, and still seems very strong, and well padded. Aluminium is probably more easily scratched that fiberglass but for a case
who cares?
The only problem is the price 
Justified but still expensive!
Dan
Sazi - 5-25-2010 at 03:09 AM
Hi Dan, I don't know if you get the hot sun that we get here in Australia, but aluminium is a great heat conductor and I was wondering if the
aluminium case gets very hot in the sun? (Just a short walk down the street here on a sunny day can be hell on an oud in it's case!)
On that note, a tip for anyone in a hot sunny climate, I painted my Sukar case white and it keeps MUCH cooler! 
Danielo - 5-25-2010 at 03:29 AM
Hi Sazi,
Aluminium is one of the metals with highest reflectance in the infrared.. this is what determines the heating by the sun. From this point of view it
will be much better than
a fiber case, even painted white... heat conductance becomes a problem if the case is left in a hot place... which, as a wise oudist, you will not do
nevertheless 
Ararat66 - 5-25-2010 at 07:00 AM
Hi Glenn
I've heard good reports about the cases made through the luthier Dimitris Rakapoussis,
here's his website
http://www.dimitrisouds.com/
no idea of the cost though.
Jameels soft cases are fantastic btw.
Leon
Will oud-bearing travelers please share recent experiences?
fernandraynaud - 5-25-2010 at 09:39 AM
Sazi, white sounds like a good idea. What's funny is that they were white to begin with, and spray-painted black!
Danielo & Rojaros: Are you aiming for your cases to be "worst airline baggage crushers" safe?
Airlines seem to be charging more and more just for luggage. I'm traveling from California to Central America and I just found out they will charge
$25, $35, and $100 for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd bag, with 50 lb max per bag. Then they charge an additional $50, $100 and $150 for over 50 lbs OR
over 62 "linear" inches (adding dimensions). Hmmm.
The carry-on limit is "one small bag: 45 linear inches, 14" x 9" x 22", and one "personal item", e.g. notebook.
On the phone I asked if my lute could be carry-on, I said it was between a ukulele and a guitar in size (it's also somewhere between a postage stamp
and a horse). They said if it fits in the overhead compartment, it's OK. But now I'm not sure. On a big Boeing it did fit once. But on an Airbus 319?
320? A hard case will not fit. My gig-bag probably will. My wife argues the thinnest black fake-leather oud soft-case LOOKS the smallest and least
demanding. Still, it might or might not pass!
My sukar hard case is 35 + 17 + 10 = 62", and I have read about airline people pulling out the latches/handles and measuring that way (for real!)!
Clearly it's EXACTLY borderline, and Sukar cases are among the smallest. If I have to "baggage-check" the oud, since it would be the 3rd bag, it will
cost between $100-$200, depending on whether they measure it > 62".
Phoenix is not the worst bag-destroying connection (They say Chicago is proud to hold the record for luggage destruction, Newark for theft), but is
the Sukar case strong enough? A bigger case will surely exceed 62", and co$$t $$$. This is getting more expensive and more difficult! All this and I
won't even KNOW until I fail to get it on board, and then what?
Maybe buying a small sacrificial e-bay "travel oud" is cheaper? That's crazy! Help! What do other people do?
Will some experienced oud-bearing travelers please share their recent experiences?
Sazi - 5-25-2010 at 03:27 PM
It's not about an oud, but a saz, yet could be relevant ... In the wake of some highjackings, a Turkish friend of mine was told he could not carry
his shiny new (just finished) custom built and $very expensive pro saz on board as he could strangle someone with the strings!!! I kid you not! Anyway
of course it was smashed to bits in the baggage, and the airline baggage insurance maximum was $300. (something to keep in mind)
On the subject of temperature difference with case color, there is an interesting article by an Australian luthier here...
http://www.petercoombe.com/jaamim6.html
paulO - 5-25-2010 at 04:55 PM
Hi fernandraynaud,
This is pre September 11th -- but I did have a small gig bag made by a friend, very funky looking but fit my turkish sized oud fine. I was able to
carry it on and fit it into an overhead compartment, and just asked the other travelers who put stuff in the nearby compartment to go easy that I had
a fragile instrument and everybody was really cool about it. The form fitting black bag was not too much bigger than the oud itself so there were no
challenges from the flight crew. I flew to Australia, Florida and Hawaii using this case and had no problems, but we never hit any nasty turbulence
either.
On a business trip to England - I sent an oud in a hard fiberglass case, inside a beefy cardboard box that held the case in place so it didn't jiggle
around in the box. I had the oud shipped to the place I was staying. This almost worked -- but the oud shifted inside the case and cracked one of the
ribs, but no other damage.
You could ship your oud to your destination -- no carry on hassles, etc. Hope this helps...good luck.
fernandraynaud - 5-25-2010 at 08:04 PM
Thanks, I'm going to try the exact "tight little black dress" trick. Failure is not an option. A guitar gig bag just LOOKS bigger. I sure feel for
Cello players.
Assuming placing an oud in with baggage is sometimes inevitable, and for people who see 500 euro cases as "problematic", because Sukar molded cases
are so common, can we hear from people who either A successfully use such cases in with airline baggage, as well as
B those who have experienced specific points of failure, can we hear what exactly broke, so that we might perhaps reinforce them?
The soundboard/face could be shielded from puncture with an inside sheet of scrap Acrylic or aluminum And nobody said a case has to win a beauty
contest. Parallel braces made from e.g. pieces of aluminum crutches could be attached (even duct-taped) across the weak spots of a molded case, like
e.g. the neck, without changing the allowed 62" dimensions! More ideas anyone?
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