last year there was some talk about some tourist ouds from ali kahlifeh and sons in syria and the general impression was - mine included - that they
were pretty awful.
last weekend i was asked to bring my small turkish oud to play a medieval festival here in tuscany and had a hard time making myself heard over the
din of drums and flutes accompanying our group. i took out the kahlifeh oud when i got back just to see what it sounded like and to see if maybe i
could try it out as a "street" instrument.
what a surprise! i don't know if it thrived on neglect over there in the corner all these months but it doesn't make that bad a sound and - more to
the point - it's EXTREMELY LOUD!
against all advice to the contrary i took fine sandpaper to the face and back and gave it a new coat of poly-something (acrylic) varnish - as opposed
to oil based - removed the pick guard - it was ugly - and tied nylon frets onto the fingerboard.
it will never be a quality oud but, all things considered, it's no way near as bad as i originally thought it to be.
Your right Bill,
generaly speaking they are a bit rough and they require some work before they are of good enough quality to play regularly. Najib Shaheen takes them
and pretty much keeps only the back of it and you would think he makes a new oud... only its a "suped up" khalifeh. They turn out to be really nice.
The main thing is they build them pretty solid and are good for beginers.
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