Shami Oud Black Walnut

I am so blown away with every aspect of this finely crafted instrument. Everything was delivered on time and flawlessly. I also love the gig bag. If I ever consider an upgrade will definitely be back ISA.

This is my first time buying an oud, and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. The instrument arrived summarily without blemish, and I recieved excellent customer service both before and after the instrument arrived. They were helpful in selecting an oud as well as giving answers and feedback to questions I had after having recieved the oud. They even put my order on express and covered the shipping cost when I had accidentally purchased a pre-order oud through no fault of their own.

If you are a new oud player, you should bear the following in mind:

1) The tuning pegs will slip and detune, especially within the first few days. Be sure to tighten the pegs when tuning (see the following vid by OudforGuitarists https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EIVXbk-7rhE&pp=ygUIT3VkIHBlZ3M%3D), and they will gradually become less susceptible to slipping with time.

2) The sound of the instrument may initially be a little "brighter" than the demonstration video; the sound will improve as you break the strings in, and also learn to articulate notes better.

3) If this is your first time owning an instrument with sets of strings, make sure your Oud is tuned, get a universal tuner (this will also be helpful for practicing intonation, as the instrument is fretless, and much of the music in regions using the oud utilizes microtones which can be difficult for those not accustomed to them). If at the very least the sets of strings aren't tuned together well, then nothing you play will sound good.

To reiterate, I am very happy with my purchase, and I highly reccomend anyone interested in getting an oud get it through Ethnic Musical.

After being a fan of Ethnic Musical for years, I’m excited to finally own an oud designed by the company. And I was happy to see Master Ahmet was chosen to make the oud.

I have always wanted to own an oud made be a true luthier. Thank you to this website for making that possible. The instrument was initially a bit heavier than I would have guessed, but that ultimately proved to be just fine. I found myself learning and loving every moment of the experience. I can now honestly say I have at least some skill with this instrument. Once I got used to things, I found it to be remarkably intuitive.

Looking for a Shami oud that wouldn’t cost me a ton of money, I found this specific example while researching online. Can I tell you I’m so glad I decided to pick one up? The price is great, but there is so much else to this oud that I have come to love. I needed to replace my oud after an accident, and I couldn’t have asked for a better answer than this one.

Beyond the flawless sound quality production, the resonance, volume, and tone are all perfection. This may not be an ideal oud for beginners. As someone with prior experience, I can’t say. That said, even with my experience being a little limited, I found this black walnut (beautiful!) oud to be very easy to tune and play with.

Also, as far as tuning is concerned, the mechanical pegs are just perfect! I’m spending less time tuning, and a lot more time playing!