The cumbus is the Turkish banjo β an aluminum-bodied, skin-headed, fretless cousin of the oud with a bright, percussive voice that carries through any room. It is a young instrument with a famous birth certificate: it was invented in Istanbul in 1930 by luthier Zeynel Abidin, and the name β meaning "fun, revelry, festivity" in Turkish β was given to it by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk himself. Within a generation it became the signature sound of Roma weddings, fasil meyhane nights, and the urban Ottoman-Turkish street music tradition. At Sala Muzik we carry the standard cumbus, the long-neck bowed sazbus, the dervish-voiced yayli tanbur cumbus, and the electric cumbus β most stamped by the original Zeynel Abidin family workshop, still building these instruments in Istanbul today.
Quick recommendationIf this is your first cumbus, start with the Turkish Cumbus By Zeynel Abidin CC-121 ($349) β the authentic entry-level instrument from the family that invented it. Ready to upgrade or perform? The Professional CC-621S ($399) is the workhorse of fasil players. For bowed music, choose the Sazbus CS-621S ($399); for dervish-style melodic lines, the Cumbus Yayli Tanbur CYT-621S ($599); and for amplified stage use, the Electric Cumbus CEC-521 ($599).
Quick picks
The cumbus family β which variant for which music?
What people call "the cumbus" is really a small family of instruments built on the same aluminum-bowl-and-skin-head idea. Each variant lives in a different musical world:
Standard cumbusplucked, oud-tuned, fasil & Roma music
Sazbus (long-neck)bowed, long fretless neck, lyrical lines
Yayli tanbur cumbusbowed tanbur voice, dervish & Sufi
Electric cumbusamplified for stage & recording
Cumbus accessoriesheads, strings, gig bags, pickups
Saz & baglamabrowse Turkish long-neck family
Standard cumbus vs sazbus vs yayli tanbur
Three instruments, one body shape, three completely different roles in an ensemble. Use this table to choose:
| Variant | How it is played | Neck | Best for | Starts at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard cumbus | Plucked with a plectrum | Short, fretless, oud-tuned | Fasil, Roma weddings, Ottoman urban music | $349 |
| Sazbus (long-neck) | Bowed | Long fretless neck | Lyrical solo lines, slower melodic playing | $329 |
| Yayli tanbur cumbus | Bowed | Long tanbur-style neck | Dervish & Sufi repertoire, classical Turkish | $599 |
| Electric cumbus | Plucked, amplified | Short, fretless | Stage performance, recording, fusion | $599 |
What makes a quality cumbus
Aluminum body
The signature cumbus bowl is spun aluminum β light, resonant, and almost indestructible compared to a wooden oud. A well-made body has a clean rim, no warping, and a perfectly true seat for the head. All Zeynel Abidin cumbuses in this collection use the original-spec aluminum bowl.
Skin or synthetic head
The soundboard is a tensioned head, much like a banjo. A good head is even in thickness, tensioned uniformly across the bowl, and seated tight to the rim. Heads are consumables β they can be retensioned and eventually replaced (see the Cumbus Replacement Head).
Fretless neck workmanship
The cumbus neck is unfretted, like an oud. Quality shows in the straightness of the neck, the smoothness of the fingerboard, and the precision of the nut and bridge. A bad neck will buzz against the head; a good neck lets the string speak cleanly from open all the way up.
Replaceable everything
One of the genius design choices Zeynel Abidin made in 1930: every part of a cumbus is serviceable. Head, strings, neck, tuners β all replaceable. Treat a cumbus well and it stays in service for generations.
Zeynel Abidin family pedigree
The Zeynel Abidin workshop in Istanbul has been building cumbuses continuously since 1930. When a cumbus carries that stamp, it is built on the original tooling and quality control that produced the very first cumbus β not a copy.
A short history
The cumbus was born in 1930 in Istanbul. Zeynel Abidin, a luthier looking for a louder, more durable folk instrument, spun an aluminum bowl, fitted a tensioned skin head and an oud-style fretless neck, and produced the first prototype. He brought it to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who reportedly heard it played and exclaimed "cumbus!" β the Turkish word for revelry and festivity β and the name stuck.
Within a decade the cumbus had spread across Turkey. Its loud, bright, weather-proof aluminum body made it the instrument of choice at Roma (Gypsy) weddings, where it had to compete with clarinets, darbukas, and dancing crowds. It became central to fasil meyhane evenings β the long Istanbul tradition of food, raki, and live classical-folk crossover music. The bowed variants (sazbus and yayli tanbur cumbus) appeared later as the family workshop extended the idea into different musical territories.
Today the cumbus enjoys a strong revival. Younger players are picking it up for everything from traditional fasil to electric fusion, and the Zeynel Abidin workshop continues to build them in Istanbul exactly the way they always have.
FAQ
Who invented the cumbus?
The cumbus was invented by Turkish luthier Zeynel Abidin in Istanbul in 1930. His family workshop is still the leading maker, and most cumbuses in this collection are stamped "By Zeynel Abidin."
Why is it called "cumbus"?
The name was given by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. "Cumbus" means fun, revelry, and festivity in Turkish β a fitting name for an instrument that became the centerpiece of Roma weddings and fasil meyhane evenings.
What is the difference between a cumbus and a banjo?
The construction is similar β both have a tensioned head over a round body. But a cumbus has an aluminum bowl (not wood), a fretless neck (a banjo is fretted), and is tuned in oud-style courses for Middle Eastern and Turkish music. The sound is brighter and more percussive than an oud, but more melodic and Eastern than a banjo.
What is a sazbus?
The sazbus is the long-neck bowed version of the cumbus. It uses the same aluminum-body construction, but with a long fretless neck and is played with a bow for lyrical, sustained melodic lines.
What is a yayli tanbur cumbus?
It is a bowed cumbus built on a long tanbur-style neck, giving a deep, sustained voice well suited to dervish, Sufi, and classical Turkish repertoire. See the yayli tanbur collection for related instruments.
Is the cumbus fretted or fretless?
The cumbus is fretless, like an oud. This is what lets it produce the microtonal intervals (commas) that are central to Turkish and Middle Eastern music.
How is a cumbus tuned?
A standard cumbus is tuned in six courses, like an oud. Common tunings are D-A-E-B-F#-C# (low to high) or the alternative Arabic oud tuning. The fretless neck lets you adjust microtonally as needed.
Can the head be replaced?
Yes β this is one of the design strengths of the cumbus. Heads are consumables and can be re-tensioned or replaced. We stock the Cumbus Replacement Head for exactly this purpose.
Do you ship cumbus worldwide?
Yes, worldwide. Sala Muzik has shipped cumbus instruments since 2009. Every cumbus is professionally packed in a structured case inside a double-walled outer carton, fully insured. Free standard shipping delivers in 3β5 weeks. Express shipping is available at extra cost and typically arrives in 3β5 business days. You choose the carrier (DHL Express, FedEx, or standard postal) at checkout.
Will my cumbus arrive tuned and ready to play?
Strings are loosened for safe transit, and the head settles slightly during shipping. You will retune and lightly re-tension the head on arrival β a five-minute process. Setup notes ship with every instrument.
Istanbul workshopSala Muzik since 2009
Zeynel Abidin makeroriginal family workshop
Worldwide shippingtracked & insured
Setup before dispatchtuned, checked, ready