If you want to buy a high-quality oud, you should absolutely buy a hand-made one like the oud we have in our collection. High-quality oud faces are made of spruce, tuning pegs, and fingerboards are constructed of ebony. The bowl back is made of maple, walnut, rosewood, and mahogany
Where to start looking
Most likely you will start looking for an oud online, but some of you are traveling to the Middle East and want to buy one directly from the source. If this is the case, be assured that unless you have researched where to find a decent oud wherever you go, you will mostly find decorative oud in tourist locations. You may find some playable oud in tourist locations, but make sure you try them before you make an offer, and do not forget to trade well and hard. If you find a decent store that sells some goods with beautiful views, this would probably be your best bet. Again, do not forget to bargain.
The best way to get a decent oud is to know the manufacturer and order immediately from them. This way you can get exactly what you want, and be assured of what you get. The best builders have a long tradition of oud making perhaps passed down from previous generations and have a website you can visit. Some builders even send overseas.
Buying musical instruments online
Everyone knows that it is risky to buy online. If you buy a piece of fabric, you may find that the shirt is too small. Checking, studying, and preparing the purchase will help to avoid such mistakes.
Nobody likes to see on his credit card unknown charges or extra, unknown payments. That is why online shopping should be done with caution.
How disappointed will you be if the instrument arrives broken?
Every oud buyer there has this nightmare. The box finally arrives, and after the long-awaited wait, you open the box. Your smile turns into a horror look when you see your instrument cracked and broken.
Packing weak instruments is not an easy and straightforward thing. It must be done with extreme care, and with a custom approach to each instrument.
When you buy an Oud online, make sure the store knows its stuff when it comes to packing. Here, in the ethnic musical, we use German packing materials with 2-layered cartons. Make sure all packages arrive safely.
Buy an old - the safe way
If you are reading this article, you are probably located a few hundred kilometers from any old store anywhere around you. It's a real shame because the best possible way to buy Oud is by touching it, hearing it, and feeling it. And feeling it.
After that, here at Ethnic Musical, each oud goes through a rigorous examination before the advertisement. We know how difficult it is to buy a musical instrument, especially oud, online. The ouds you will see in our catalog are exclusively made by highly skilled makers.
Quality
Each manufacturer has its own standards when it comes to the finish of the instrument. Some can be easily spotted and some would require real physical control of it.
When looking for goods in different stores, try to find the important things:
Are there any dents on the oud surface?
Does the bridge look centered?
Take a close look at the nut and the spacing of the strings. Do the strings look straight-spaced?
Inspect the bowl for any suspicions of small cracks that may evolve later