All about Ouds

From Wikipedia:
The oud (Arabic: عود‎ ʿūd, plural: أعواد, a‘wād; Assyrian: ܥܘܕ ūd, Persian: بربط barbat; Turkish: ud or ut;^[1] Greek: ούτι; Armenian: ուդ, Azeri: ud; Hebrew: עוד ud); Somali: Cuud "'uud" or Kaban) is a pear-shaped, stringed instrument, which is often seen as the predecessor of the western lute, distinguished primarily by being without frets, commonly used in Middle Eastern music.

Please post your comments concerning this amazing instrument. Do you prefer Arabic or Egyptian ouds? 11, 12 string? What tuning do you use? What woods are in your oud?