Buying Musical Instruments Online
Everybody knows it’s risky to buy online. If you are buying cloth, you might find that the shirt is too small. Checking, learning, and preparing the purchase will help to avoid such mistakes.
Nobody likes to see in his credit card unknown charges or extra, unknown payment. That’s why shopping online should be done with a sense of caution.
3 useful tips:
- Make sure the site is SSL secured. It is easy to detect it with the green “v” and the “lock” symbol in the address bar of your browser.
- Read reviews about the shop. Make sure there’s an easy way to contact the shop in case of any problems.
- Read the return policy. What if you don’t like your item? Is it easy to return? in Ethnic Musical, we offer 30-days easy returns. Sweet, ah?
How disappointed will you be if the instrument arrives broken?
Every oud buyer out there has this nightmare. The box finally arrives, and after the long-anticipated wait, you open the box. Your smile turns into a horror look as you see your instrument cracked and broken.
Packing fragile instruments isn’t an easy and straightforward thing. It has to be done with extreme care, and with a custom approach to each instrument.
When buying an Oud online, make sure the shop knows its stuff when it comes to packing. Here, at Ethnic Musical, we use German packing materials with 2-layered cartons. Make sure all packages arrive safe.
There are so many options out there, how do I choose?
A good buyer is a smart buyer. So do your research carefully when it comes to choosing your oud. Learning about the different factors that make ouds differ from each other will help you make up your mind.
Price
Ouds can be found at a pretty wide range of prices. Starting at 300$ up to 10,000$. When you decide to invest in an oud that is in the expensive range, ask yourself:
- Why do I pay the extra money? Is it the materials? The brand’s or maker’s name? Often nonfamous makers will produce better ouds than the “famous” names.
- What does the price include? Does it include free shipping? The cost of shipping from Turkey to the USA can get to 150$ or more.
- Are any picks of accessories included? At Ethnic Musical, we ship each of our ouds with Free picks and cases!
Materials
Materials can certainly drive up the price of an oud. Quality materials will often make the difference, from beginner quality to professional and expensive ones. However, some materials might make your oud more beautiful but not necessarily more professional.
The most important of all, it’s the oud’s wood. The recommended tonewoods for an Oud’s bowl are Maple, wenge, walnut, mahogany, purpleheart & cocobolo.
Each of these tonewoods gives differs significantly. Wenge has its rather ‘cold’ sound, due to its high density. Walnut on the contrary has a very classic pleasing warm sound.
The neck is often made of walnut. Professional instruments will have an additional layer of ebony on the fretboard, making them stronger and easier to play on the high octaves.
One of every oud player’s difficulties is tuning the oud. That’s why we recommend making sure that the oud you are planning to buy has Ebony pegs. Ebony is a very dense material, making it fit in the pegbox without sleeping too often.
Some makers choose to decorate the neck with the mother of pearl or other materials. We highly recommend avoiding such ouds, as they tend to buzz and rattle.
Quality
Every maker has its own standards when it comes to the finish of the instrument. Some can be easily spotted and some would require an actual physical check of it.
When looking at ouds on different stores, try to spot these important things:
- Are there any dents on the Oud’s surface?
- Does the bridge look centered?
- Take a close on the nut and the spacing of the strings. Does the strings look equally spaced?
- Inspect the bowl for any suspicions small cracks that can evolve later
Purchasing An Oud – The Safe Way
If you are reading this article, you are probably located a few hundred kilometers from any Oud shop anywhere around you. That’s a real shame because the best possible way to shop for Oud is by touching, hearing it, and feeling it.
Having said that, here at Ethnic Musical every oud goes through a strict inspection before advertising it. We know how difficult it is to shop for a musical instrument, especially oud, online. The Ouds you’ll see in our catalog are exclusively made by highly skilled makers.
Here are some of our recent ouds. Could your instrument be one of them?
Arabic Ouds Turkish Ouds Syrian Ouds
