The Oud instrument is the most iconic instrument of the Middle East, and more popular today than ever. It is a tear shaped, fretless string instrument with 11 strings in 6 courses, played across the Arab world, Turkey and North Africa. Think of it as the guitar of the East, with a deep, warm, romantic voice all its own. We stock handmade Arabic, Turkish and Electric Ouds from $339, each set up and checked by an Oud player before it ships, with Free Worldwide Shipping. Read more...
$620.00Original price was: $620.00.$520.00Current price is: $520.00.
Quick Picks: Which Oud Should You Buy?
Short answers first; the long ones follow below.
Your first Oud ($339). Our handmade series, the best selling Oud we carry. Solid spruce top, real wood pegs, a bone nut, soft case and picks included, plus an internal pickup so you can plug in. Two to choose from: Handmade Arabic Oud, Black and Handmade Turkish Oud, Walnut.
Best first serious Oud ($499 to $599). The Shami Oud by Zeryab, Classic. Looks simple, built very solidly, and it ships with Pyramid 650/11 strings, a truss rod and a full setup. Our most recommended step up.
Stepping up ($699 to $999). Better woods and finer work: mahogany backs, cedar tops, ebony fingerboards, and our own house brand, the Lux series, from $899. Try the Arabic Oud PRO Purpleheart, Cedar Top, or the Arabic Khaleeji Oud, Dubai for a full, oriental bass.
Concert and professional ($1,600+). Concert Ouds by masters Feramis and Habib, in the woods the best makers reach for, ironwood, tigerwood and cocobolo, dressed with mother of pearl, from $1,699. Start with the Concert Arabic Oud Pamela by Feramis.
Coming from guitar ($649+). An Electric or Semi Hollow Oud lets you practise quietly while you make the switch.
Oud Prices: What a Good Oud Costs
Beginner Ouds start at $339 with our handmade series, the best seller in the store: solid spruce top, real wood pegs, a real bone nut, soft case and picks included.
At $499, the first Zeryab Ouds arrive, simple looking but very solid, with a truss rod and a full setup, and they punch well above their price.
From $600 to $999 the woods and the craftsmanship step up, mahogany backs, cedar tops, ebony fingerboards, more careful detailing wherever you look closely. Our own house brand, the Lux series, starts here at $899 in maple.
Electric and Silent Ouds start at $599. Most players go home with an Oud at $699, and that number is worth sitting with; it is where sound, build and price meet.
Above $1,600 you are into the concert Ouds by masters Feramis and Habib, aged woods and mother of pearl, from $1,699. Free Worldwide Shipping.
The Oud and the Guitar
Coming from guitar? Good news and bad news. The good news is the left hand. There are no frets, and you would expect months of hunting for pitch, yet most guitarists find the right note faster and with less effort than they thought possible.
The bad news is the right hand. Hold the risha (the Oud plectrum) like a guitar pick and play from the fingers, and it will not sound like an Oud, no matter how clean your technique is. The movement comes from the whole arm and wrist, not the fingers, closer to turning a skewer on a grill than to strumming. This is relearning, not learning, a bit like a baby taking first steps: looks easy, is not.
The Oud is fretless and strung in courses, eleven strings in pairs, so guitar muscle memory does not carry over. If you want to practise quietly while you switch, an Electric or Silent Oud is a good first step.
Arabic Oud vs Turkish Oud
Turkish vs Arabic ouds at a glance
The quickest way to choose is by sound, and you hear it in seconds. Arabic Ouds are warm and deep, with plenty of bass. Turkish Ouds are brighter, with more attack, a crystal sound that cuts through the mix.
Arabic Ouds have a deeper bowl, 20 to 22cm, and a longer scale; Turkish Ouds are smaller, 19cm, and a shorter scale. One detail most sellers skip: Egyptian Arabic Ouds were first built with a string length, nut to bridge, of 61.5cm, a real finger stretch. Over time 58.5cm became standard for most Ouds, Arabic included, so the stretch is no longer hard. We still offer some 60cm Ouds for the classic reach.
Tuning follows: Arabic to C, Turkish higher, from C# through D to E, and Gulf and Iraqi players often F to F. Strings feel looser on an Arabic Oud, tighter on a Turkish one. Sound holes matter more than people expect. Larger oval holes give the open, vowel like Arabic tone; smaller Turkish holes tighten it; some single hole Ouds push all the bass through one opening for a very strong low end.
Play both if you can. If you cannot, choose by the music you love, Arabic maqam, or Turkish classical and Sufi.
What Makes a Quality Oud
Oud making is an art passed from father to son, and some of it cannot be taught. The finest instruments come from patient, meticulous handwork that all comes together into a single voice.
The top is the most important part, and the hardest to judge from a photo. A figured, fancy back matters far less than most buyers think. Good makers choose the tonewood by hand, knocking on a board to hear if the right sound is in it, then drying it well before cutting. The top's thickness, and how it is shaped across its whole area, must be judged and adjusted with great care, because that is where most of the sound and projection come from.
Many of our Arabic Ouds have a western red cedar top; on the Feramis Ouds it is AAA grade, the densest and best dried. A quality Oud uses a hard wood like maple for the bridge, bone glue rather than synthetic, and a shellac finish, glossy and protective, that does not choke the sound. Turkish tops are often left plain.
Setup is where cheap Ouds fall down. In our Ouds, the fingerboard is leveled, a step Turkish makers call tasfiye, so it sits true to nut and bridge and does not buzz. The nut is cut for the right height and spacing, so it plays in tune and stays comfortable. At the top of the range: mother of pearl, aged woods, and pegs given a final hand polish before the Oud is signed off.
How Every Oud Reaches You
Every Oud passes a quality check against a full list before it leaves the workshop; we use dedicated tools to set the string action at the nut. Every Oud is also played by an Oud player before it ships. If anything was missed, it goes back to the luthier, and it is only marked ready to ship once it passes. For the journey, the Oud is carefully detuned to protect the top and neck, then packed in a rigid, three layer carton box with first class packing materials. You tune it on arrival. That takes a minute. And you have 14 days to return it if it is not right for you. Free Worldwide Shipping.
Choose by sound. If you are not sure where to start, a Zeryab Oud is hard to beat for how solidly it is built, and it has a truss rod, which makes it our most recommended first serious Oud.
The question we are asked most. Action is the height between the strings and the fingerboard, ideally 2 to 3mm, depending on whether the Oud is Turkish or Arabic. We set a comfortable, low action on every Oud, and we send photos of the actual Oud in stock so you can see it before you buy.
Ideal action height is 2–3 mm, depending on whether the Oud is Arabic or Turkish.
Arabic is deeper and warmer, with a longer scale; Turkish is brighter, with more attack. See the comparison above, and if in doubt, choose by the music you love. A woman will often prefer a Turkish Oud for its more comfortable size.
It arrives set up and checked by an Oud player, then detuned and packed in a rigid box to protect it in transit. You tune it on arrival, which takes a minute, and then it is ready to play.
First notes come sooner than you think. An Oud is mostly played in the first three tones, under your three middle fingers, so the area to master is small and comfortably spaced, unlike the violin. Coming from guitar, the left hand is easy; the right hand takes real relearning.
Yes, Free Worldwide Shipping, with express options at checkout and 14 day returns. Each Oud is detuned and packed in a rigid, three layer carton box with first class materials so it arrives safe.
A Short History of the Oud
The Oud is one of the oldest instruments still being played. It grew out of an older Middle Eastern lute, the Barbat, and over the centuries it became the central instrument of Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, Kurdish and Greek music, as well as the direct ancestor of the European lute. Little has changed in how it is made. That is not nostalgia; the design simply worked. In skilled hands, a bowl of wood with a spruce or cedar top sings closer to the human voice than almost any other instrument. For the full story, the makers and the great players, read our full history of the Oud. Free Worldwide Shipping.
