The Best Oud Instruments for the Money

I won't pretend there's a definitive "best" oud waiting to be crowned, no independent testing exists comparing makers, and anyone claiming otherwise is guessing just as much as the rest of us. What I can offer is an honest sense of what actually changes as you move up through the tiers, so your money goes towards the things that genuinely matter rather than the most confident-sounding description.

Best for a First Instrument

At the beginner tier, geometry and reliability matter more than ornament. A student instrument with a straight neck, a properly seated bridge and reasonably even response across its courses will teach you everything you need in your first year or two, and a heavily decorated instrument with poor underlying geometry will only make learning harder. Save the rosette-admiring for later, once you've got enough experience to actually judge tone rather than looks.

Best for Committed Learners

Once you know the oud is staying in your life, stepping up to an intermediate instrument tends to be worthwhile. You'll generally find better wood selection, more consistent setup straight out of the box, and a fuller, more responsive tone once your technique has developed enough to draw it out properly. This is also the point where trying a few different plectrums, a risha or mızrap depending on your tradition, starts to make a real, noticeable difference.

Best for Professional Performance

Professional-level instruments are built for projection and nuance under real performance conditions, qualities that matter far less in a practice room than on a stage. Unless you're already performing regularly, this tier is rarely the sensible next purchase, however appealing the idea of owning the finest instrument you can find. Let your playing genuinely outgrow the tier below before reaching for this level of oud.

Best for Arabic Repertoire

If you're drawn to Arabic maqam traditions, look for an instrument built with that larger body and deeper, warmer voicing in mind, since Arabic ouds are generally suited to lower pitch centres and rounder tone. Trying to force a bright, small-bodied oud into this repertoire tends to fight the music rather than serve it.

Best for Turkish Repertoire

Turkish makam traditions generally favour a smaller, lighter oud voiced brighter and pitched higher. If this is the repertoire pulling you in, don't assume a larger Arabic-style instrument will simply adapt, setup and tuning may need real adjustment, and a purpose-built Turkish instrument will usually serve you better from day one.

Best for Recording and Amplified Settings

Playing alongside louder instruments or recording regularly changes what you should prioritise. Ask about pickup or microphone options before you buy, since not every instrument is set up for amplification as standard, and a well-placed contact pickup lets an oud hold its own in a mix without fighting acoustically for space. This is worth raising directly with a specialist rather than assuming any instrument will cope equally well.

Best for Travel and Limited Space

A full-size oud is a genuinely large object to store and transport, and that's worth factoring in honestly if space or regular travel is part of your life. Smaller-bodied or Turkish-style instruments naturally suit this better than their larger Arabic counterparts, trading a little depth of tone for practicality. That's a perfectly sensible compromise if the alternative is not playing regularly at all.

Best for a Second, Backup Instrument

Once you own one properly set-up oud, a second, even a modest student model, earns its place: a spare for a shared teaching space, something left set up in a different room, or a backup while your main instrument is with a specialist for repair. There's no shame in a simpler instrument serving this role well.

What Actually Separates the Tiers

None of this is about a maker's name alone, it's about matching an instrument's actual priorities to where you are in your own playing.

My Honest Take

If you take one thing from this, let it be: don't buy above where your playing genuinely sits, and don't let a confident-sounding description do your thinking for you. For the fuller detail on construction and what to check before buying, our complete buyer's guide goes deeper than tiers alone, and the explainer on how the instrument works is worth a read if any of the traditions mentioned above are new to you.

Just Starting Out?

If you're completely new to the oud, our beginner's guide is a gentler place to start than a tier-by-tier breakdown like this one.

Frequently Asked Questions