Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2939
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Stringish
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Palmyrami
I wanted to post about my recent experience with Palmyrami. I know some people have had questions or issues in the past, so I thought my experience
might be informative for anyone thinking about buying from them.
I ordered a Sukar electric oud, one of the newer ones with a hollow body and spruce face (I'll post a review of the oud itself soon).
When I received it, the electronics were not working. As you can imagine, this was quite a disappointment. However, Palmyrami was very responsive in
resolving the issue. After some discussion, I got some repair estimates and Palmyrami refunded me the cost of repairs. He was communicative the
entire time and eager to resolve the issue.
As has been mentioned by others, the true test of a seller is often when something goes wrong. I didn't want to be the one to test that theory, but
Palmyrami definitely showed to me that he wants to do the right thing and make customers happy.
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Zulu
Oud Junkie
Posts: 149
Registered: 6-21-2004
Location: Austin, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: I'm in the m'Oud for Love!
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I must agree with you Brian. There were some delays when I purchased my Sukar 13 from Palmyrami but they were in constant contact, returned all emails
and were concerned that the transaction and product would be to my liking.
Of course it's best to buy in person but that's not always an option for those of us in the U.S.
If you must buy a Sukar via internet I recommend Palmyrami.
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3cziggy
Oud Admirer
Posts: 4
Registered: 3-29-2011
Member Is Offline
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I've had the same experience. It's a good-news/bad-news sort of thing, though. Got a Sukar that arrived with a broken headstock, pulled off the neck,
cracked, etc. I was, frankly, P****ed off, and immediately shipped it back. Turns out Palmyrami would probably have just refunded everything but the
shipping and let me keep the thing. That's the good news. The bad news is that I got another one, a true cheapo, and it arrived with a crack in the
bowl and buzzing struts. And the instrument had been put in the case before the finish set up, and it was stuck to the vinyl! I'd deal with Palmyrami
in a heartbeat, but I'm not so thrilled with the quality control of Sukar instruments. It's too bad they don't carry a higher quality product.
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spirit
Oud Lover
Posts: 10
Registered: 8-19-2009
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Similar here- Sukar Electric oud with the plastic bowl. The pickup/electronics put out a very weak signal with some strings more louder than others.
Probably a manufacturing or engineering defect or something that came loose. Also the pitch of the second highest double course had each string
deviating from each other in pitch the father you went up the neck, which was fixed with new strings (and has happened with other ouds with old or
defective strings).
Palmyrami offered an acceptable refund for string replacement and putting on a new pickup. He communicated in a reasonable time, took about four days
to complete the refund. I think Palmyrami is at this point aware that there is benefit in keeping good relation with customers, especially in the
relatively small communicty of oud players in the West. I think Palmyrami is just a merchant though(not a musician or luthier), and probably doesn't
know a lot himself about some of the instruments he sells.
I probably would buy from him again.
P.S.
The Sukar Electric oud is interesting, sort of like Ovation guitars are to acoustic guitars. Not as rich as a full acoustic, but with more resonance
than some of the completely solid electric ouds.
With a k+k twinspot preassure fitted under the back corners of the bridge the tone is ok, but it may be more prone to feed back than the solid body
ouds, or the Najarian.
The Najarian very thin but looks like a regular oud from the front, has a very small amount of resonance compred to the solid body instruments. The
Najarian is a much more finely crafted instrument than the Sukar electric, has an excellent pickup and is excellent regarding minimal feedback.
The Sukar Electric oud has a clunky feeling neck, and the tuning pegs are still slipping a few weeks after being set up and used- they may just need a
little tweeking though- they are doing better than some inexpensive ouds.
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2939
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Stringish
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My Sukar puts out an pretty decent volume on all strings, but I think the bridge design is flawed.
For one thing, it doesn't transfer much vibration to the top at all, almost all the vibration goes to the piezo. The design is that way to isolate
each string, but I think it would be better to get the top vibrating more.
The bridge also doesn't get enough of an angle to get appropriate tension on the strings, so they slip out of the grooves (not to mention the tone
suffering).
I'm looking into alternatives for the bridge. I like the fat neck on the Sukar and it sounds surprisingly good acoustically, even with the bridge
problems.
I'm considering scrapping the bridge and pickup entirely and installing a fixed bridge with some other pickup system.
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