Description
The Nova Turkish Oud joins the Tapadum Sultan Collection alongside the Smyrna, built for players who want the traditional Turkish oud voice — friction pegs, bone saddle, spruce top — in a well-made instrument at an approachable price.
A solid spruce soundboard sets the tone. Spruce takes a little longer to open up than cedar, but rewards the wait with a clearer, more focused mid-range — the kind of projection Turkish fasıl ensemble playing and solo taqsim improvisation call for, where fast ornamented passages need to cut through rather than blur together.
Turn the instrument over and the mahogany bowl is immediately visible: narrow staves run in a tight, hand-fitted radial pattern from the neck joint down to the base, finished to a warm, even gloss. A carved bone-and-ebony medallion marks the heel where the staves converge — a detail rooted in traditional Anatolian oud making rather than added purely for decoration.
The pegbox holds eleven rosewood friction pegs, tuned the traditional way rather than through a geared mechanism — the method generations of Turkish oud players have used, and one many still prefer for its direct feel under the hand once the ear adjusts to it. The ebony fingerboard carries the fretless neck, supporting the quarter-tones and slides central to maqam ornamentation. At the two points where the strings meet wood, an ebony lower saddle anchors them at the bowl and a bone upper saddle sits at the neck joint — bone transmits string vibration into the neck more efficiently than synthetic alternatives, a small material choice with a real effect on sustain and clarity. The Nova ships strung with a set of Kürschner Premium German strings, tuned and ready to play.
Nova Turkish Oud — Materials & Specifications
| Detail | Spec |
|---|---|
| Soundboard (Top) | Spruce |
| Bowl (Body) | Mahogany |
| Fingerboard | Ebony |
| Pegs | Rosewood |
| Lower Saddle | Ebony |
| Upper Saddle | Bone |
| Strings | Kürschner Premium German Strings |
| Body Length | 48.5 cm (19.3″) |
| Fingerboard Length | 19.5 cm (7.7″) |
| String Length | 58.5 cm (23″) |
| Depth | 19 cm (7.5″) |
| Width | 3.8 – 5.6 cm (1.5 – 2.2″) |
The Nova suits players moving beyond their first instrument — students ready to step up from a budget import, or oud owners adding a second, traditionally-pegged instrument alongside a geared-peg oud in Tapadum’s Turkish Oud collection.
Tonally, the Nova sits at home in Turkish classical repertoire — fasıl ensemble work, solo taqsim improvisation, and the modal maqam vocabulary at the core of Ottoman oud tradition. The 4/4 body size and 58.5 cm string length follow standard Turkish oud proportions, so the instrument suits players already comfortable with the tuning and hand position of the tradition.
Care is straightforward: keep the instrument away from direct heat and sudden humidity swings, wipe the strings and soundboard down after playing, and store it in a padded case from Tapadum’s oud accessories range between sessions — friction pegs in particular benefit from stable, moderate humidity to hold their tuning. Each instrument is inspected before it leaves our Brisighella, Italy showroom.
Worldwide shipping & 15-day return.
