Hokey Pokey
Oud Admirer
Posts: 1
Registered: 2-20-2011
Member Is Offline
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Need help in Ohio
Hello all,
Greeting to you,
Perhaps you can help me....
I want to buy an Arabic/Egyptian full size oud and live near Cleveland, Ohio, USA. I would like to buy an oud that plays and sounds good. I have
never played an oud before but play violin, mandolin, guitar etc. I am moved by the playing of the great Dhafer Youssef. I generally play by ear. I
can't seem to find anywhere close to try out and purchase a good quality oud. I am hesitant to buy one on e-bay as I have had an unpleasant
experience buying a mandolin.
Any help will be appreciated!
thanks!,
HP
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
Member Is Offline
Mood: m'Oudy
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I would suggest a Sukar, from a vendor that will accept a return, and to whom return shipping charges would not rival the cost of the oud. An oud,
packed, exceeds max dimensions for USPS parcel affordable shipping, and to some countries shipping is astronomical. Sukars are the one oud you can buy
sight unseen with good chances of getting a darned good instrument. They are not highly decorated, they are designed for functionality. I have 6 ouds,
of which 3 Sukars, and I know them inside out. If you can afford to spend over $1500 there are some other relatively sure options, and above $2000 you
can get some very refined instruments, especially from Turkish makers. You can expect to pay $400-$1000 for a Sukar with hard case. To shop in the
under $400 market requires some real knowhow, unless of course you want a decorative planter.
Ebony pegs are important as is a fingerboard of dark hard wood. The pegs can be dyed black but made of softer wood and the holes not be fully fitted.
This saves cost/labor but makes tuning frustrating. Good ebony or rosewood pegs are available inexpensively but fitting them requires tools and know
how.
My personal favorites are the 212, 211, 14 though the 14 has had frequent cosmetic problems with the dark finish of the bowl. The ones with light
colored wood for fingerboard and pegs are cheaper and will require some work to optimize, but sound excellent nonetheless.
There are of course many other great ouds that you can find, there's a buy/sell forum here, but ouds are not factory made, each one is different, and
Ibrahim Sukar is the first maker to address the many issues with the objective of creating a reproducible and consistent design at an approachable
price.
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