The Oud, and Shopping for Musical Instruments in Cairo
Return to the Tour Egypt Feature Story, The Oud, and Shopping for Musical Instruments in Cairo
Muhammad Ali Street is the place to shop for professional grade musical instruments, and some of the finest of these are the oud, a stringed instrument similar to the guitar in many ways, but different in its own right.
August 2nd, 2006 at 12:21 am
Is there any online shops specializing in good quality ouds ? I want to write about them.
August 25th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
Great page! I’ve been in Cairo for 3 weeks now, and have been a bass/guitar player for about 20 yrs. I left all of my instruments and equipment back in the US because it was too expensive to ship, and have been searching for musical instruments since I got here, but there isn’t a whole lot of option in Ma’adi. Now I know where to go. Do the stores in this district deal in any western instruments (standard guitars, basses) or is it strictly Ouds?
Thanks!
September 1st, 2006 at 3:01 pm
OK, now I will answer my own questions. I went down to Muhammad Ali street today with a friend who speaks Arabic (he is Lebanese though, not Egyptian.) As the website says, there are many Oud shops that also carry a variety of other instruments, including Egyptian drums (smallish “conga” style drums, many with intricate inlay - only the drum in built in an angular concave shape rather than curved convex like most congas.)
The shops are not what Westerners typically think of as music shops. Many were simply little holes in the wall with no more than 100-150sq. ft. of floor space. The second shop we visited stretched way back, though, and had some very nice looking Ouds. The owner said that his shop had been in the Oud business for over 100 years. As we went along, I thought that this old shop which made the Ouds on-site (hence the shop stretching way back) had instruments of noticeably better quality and sound, and until I found the Oud I actually bought I was ready to turn back around and get one from him (I may yet!) Also, he showed me three very nice Ouds, one of which his shop helper played for me a little, and quoted each as being 500 pounds, which was a surprise since the website had indicated some of the best could go upwards of 3000 pounds. Eager to do some comparison shopping though, we moved on and thanked the owner for his time.
We probably went in and out of about another ten shops (all onthe same side of the street) finding pretty much instruments and variety of the same quality and price. Most of the quotes were between 150 and 500 pounds, which is ridiculously cheap when you consider that 150 Egyptian pounds is a little over 25 US dollars. But none of the ones were as appealing in aesthetics or tone as the above-mentioned shop, so we entered and exited these shops relatively quickly. In a couple, we did get cornered by the owners who wanteed us to sit down and try a few different Ouds, but in terms of what I saw hanging on walls or sitting in storefront windows, I tried hard to avoid this. Egyptian market shopping is an interesting ordeal and if you know you’re not interested, it’s best to beat a hasty retreat rather than get locked into some interaction that begins to feel obligatory.
Then I saw what I had come for, and I encourage anyone who is in the market for Western stringed instruments to take note here: ASH music.
Many of the Oud stores also had some cheaply made classical guitars, so even though I was looking for a guitar, after a bit, I didn’t get too excited when I saw when in the shop window. But when I poked my head into the ASH music store (which by all accounts as shop space isn’t any different than the others) I saw the first bass and electric guitars of the day! It turns out that this shop was one of three in the Cairo area, and they have a catalog and sell a wide variety of instruments, including Ouds, Tabla (Egyptian drum), Mizmar (Egyptian wind instrument like a recorder), Anoon (like an Autoharp), Rababa (the bowed instrument mentioned in the article), and basses and guitars - most of which were body-copies of popular models such as the Fender Strat, Jackson Randy Rhoads model, Fender P-bass, but with a company headstock.
I was very excited to see the basses, and I began by asking prices. The P-bass style was 950 pounds, and so I asked to plug and play. Of course, in Egypt they are happy to accomodate you with anything you might need to feel comfortable with a product (and then buy it!) So I sat down with it and I really felt that it was a quality instrument. Good weight, nice neck action, solid tone, and it looked great too. Then I looked up to the second floor and saw an acoustic bass hanging on the wall up there, an item I didn’t expect to see, so again I asked price (1450) and to play. The bass had a good quality electric input, and when I held it I knew instantly that I was going to buy it. Then I plucked it and it was magic. This acoustic bass, that had a superb finish and sound, would easily have cost $800 in the US, perhaps more. Here I was about to walk out with it costing a hair over $250. I didn’t even try to bargain with the guy, who spoke fairly good English. I knew it was a steal, and the price is what the market is willing to bear. Hell, I would have paid more. I got a great double stand also, a couple of straps, and a tuner, plus the two basses all for 2650 pounds. The basses have the ASH logo on the headstocks. They didn’t have cases, unfortunately, so the guy is going to call me tomorrow - he has a friend who can make custom cases so we’ll haggle on price there. What’s more, I told my wife I plan to go back to their shop and buy a few of the guitars - the Strat was appealing at 1000 pounds, there was a hollow-body that was a little smaller than the Gibson ES-styles, and really beautiful going for 1600, and then he had a variety of excellent six-strings - steel or classical, dreadnought and cutaway styles, ranging from 1100 to 1600 pounds. I played one of them and I confess, I am really sold on this company as quality manufacturer’s, so I want to do everything I can to promote them to folks in the Cairo area, especially as I have found that import guitars (I have come across Fenders, Ovation, Ibanez) can be really pricey. It’s good to support local businesses.
Oh…and after I had paid for my basses (I now need an amp) we went a few shops down and I bought an Oud. The corner store that we went into I could tell had really quality instruments. One of the hard things about looking at Ouds is that so many of them are so nice looking. Don’t settle for any old design though - there are so many subtle variation and inlays that you will eventually come across the one that is right for you. The gentleman in this shop happened to have three that caught my eye. One of the things I liked about his Ouds is that they aren’t too “lacquered” looking, which gives them a plastic-like appearance. The finish was shiny, but it was because the wood was quality and well-cared for. For about twenty minutes, I rotated the three trying to decide which tone I liked best (actually, I didn’t particular care for one of the tones - on the one that had first caught my eye - so I spent most of the time back and forth between two) and settled on one that had some excellent mother-of-pearl inlay in the rosettes, a plain neck, and the alternating striped design on the back with a few of the “stripes” having inlay. The other one had more intricate inlay, but it was all wood inlay, and I just felt that the mother-of-pearl was more appealing. As I was playing (I use that very loosely) the Ouds, the shop owner was telling us that this store had been in family business for about 60 years, and that in Oud-making, sound quality always takes priority over aesthestics. Makes sense. Again, I didn’t bargain. I felt that 650 was a more than fair price, and I got a soft case for another 50 pounds. It turns out that the picture of the shop owner on the website is from the same store I bought my Oud!
Anyway, it was a great shopping day for me, and I want to leave my thanks for Seif Kamel for putting together a great Oud page and directing me towards Muhammad Ali street. I also want to leave the website for ASH music, and encourage anyone who is looking for a quality Egyptian made bass or guitar to check them out. I am a US expatriate teacher teaching in one of the Americans High Schools in Cairo (math, not music) and I am going to recommend them to our music department whcih is in need of some stringed electrics.
Thanks again!
September 1st, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Haha…and now for the website: www.elshamsmusic.com
October 11th, 2006 at 3:43 am
Hi Alex and Jason, My husband and I are living in Giza for the next 10 months, and we, too, have been looking for stores selling western-style guitars. That’s great that you found what you were looking for, and thanks so much for passing on the great information!!
December 21st, 2006 at 10:30 pm
Egypt would like to thank you all a lot
THANKS!:)