My first oud: Cairo - Egypt

My first oud was bought in Cairo in the spring of 2007. However, it stayed in its case, until May 2011, when I got my first lesson.

When I bought it, it was the first time for me to touch an oud! So, really I had no idea of what I was buying. However, my teacher to-be advised me to get a very plain oud. The plainer the better. The rationale is that ornamentation on the sounboard dampen the vibrations, and lessen the sound quality. Also, the holes should be open, to reduce attenuation to the sound (like guitars are). This is good advice, but leaves the player with a dull looking oud. So, your choice, do you want it to look good? or sound good? maybe a bit of both.

Although the quality of the oud in general is good, some workmanship details are disappointing. However, for a first oud, it has been good enough for me to learn the basics, and of course there is a lot to learn. For example, the 'nut' at the end of the fingerboard, at the beginning of the pegbox, was not accurately made in terms of the spacing between the strings, as well the height that determines the 'action' (height of the string above the sound board). I had to re-work it to stop the strings touching each other when vibrating, and adjust the height using packing. Still, it is not great, but better than before.