Mike's Oud Forums

banjo cumbus

michoud - 5-2-2009 at 06:12 PM

Hi all
My brother wants to buy a good turkish banjo cumbus, but he doesnt know where to find it
Anybody knows where?
Thanks in advance

Jack_Campin - 5-3-2009 at 12:20 AM

I'm not sure what you mean - you can get the cumbus body with a number of different string arrangements beside the usual six double courses, but I've never seen one set up like either a five-string or tenor banjo.

If he wants a normal cumbus, the place to go is the Zeynel Abidin Cumbus shop at Ataturk Bulvari, Unkapani.

urfali_63 - 5-3-2009 at 01:39 AM

try this : http://cgi.ebay.com/Banjo-Cumbus-Soft-Case-23-New-Turkey-plus-chord...

or did you mean an adres in Turkey so you can buy it your self?

michoud - 5-3-2009 at 02:06 AM

Hi Jack, thanks
When I said banjo cumbus I mean a short necked cumbus with frets, I saw few instruments like this in some websites, but I dont know if those cumbus are qod quality cumbus.

Thanks urfali, do you know about the quality of this instrument?

Emir - 5-3-2009 at 12:09 PM

Hi michoud,

i searced in turkish pages and i found one website. i hope this link helps you.
http://gelgel.net/asd/anasayfa.asp?part=cumbusler (first cumbus)

detail link;
http://gelgel.net/asd/urunincele.asp?ID=351

bowl and neck were made by mahogany,
price is about 500 usd

urfali_63 - 5-3-2009 at 12:26 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by michoud

Thanks urfali, do you know about the quality of this instrument?


No, i don't know the quality of that instrument but if you look at the picture is you can read "zeynel abidin" on the cumbus, and that's one of the famous builder.

By the way Zeynel Abidin doesn't live anymore since 1947

Jack_Campin - 5-3-2009 at 01:26 PM

All cumbuses are made by the Zeynel Abidin firm. Nowadays their quality control is good on the larger sizes. The people in their Istanbul shop are a delight to deal with, wonderfully friendly.

However: the thing in that EBay auction is a cumbus-body mandolin. Much smaller than a standard cumbus. My girlfriend's got one - it's somewhere in this room but I can't find it. It doesn't sound very good (metallic and harsh) but would be okay as a cheap mandolin to learn on. The sound is improved if you tune it down a semitone. Maybe different strings might help. We paid the equivalent of about 15 UK pounds for it at the Zeynel Abidin shop in Istanbul six or seven years ago, if I remember right (that was when they were still in the underground market at the north end of the Galata Bridge).

That guy's "buy it now" price is insane. You can buy them from British music shops for less than half of that. He's a crook.

michoud - 5-3-2009 at 05:47 PM

thanks all!!!!
Anybody know about string lenghts in all kind of cumbus? maybe my brother prefers to buy larger size cumbus, not a cumbus with mandoline size.

Emir: I cant read turkish. Can you take a look in the website http://gelgel.net/
to know about shipment costs to spain?

What do you think about the quality of musical instruments in this website?? darbuka, zarb, cumbus, saz...

panço - 5-4-2009 at 12:03 PM

hı michoud
you would find a cumbus zeynel abıdın
The veysel muzik have different cumbus model .it name ahenk

Zeynel abıdın shop is from unkapanı
veysel muzık from haseki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z_VKM5ydPc


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TwU_1nGT3k&feature=related

regards

Jack_Campin - 5-4-2009 at 03:42 PM

An ahenk is somewhere between an ud and a cumbus in sound.

A couple of videos showing the ordinary cumbus in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuxjjzJf0ek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l866X99du1c

(The second is left-handed. And I find it quite mind-boggling that you can get permission to film any kind of music in that location...)

You might want to look at my page on the cumbus:
http://www.campin.me.uk/Music/Cumbus/

I was playing in my usual Sunday afternoon mainly-Scottish music session in an Edinburgh pub yesterday when a Tibetan singer came in doing this sort of stuff (only better and less manic):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hYn5VQlTOE
He pronounced the name of that ahenk-like instrument something like "grunyon". It's tuned in fourths, E-A-D like the 2-3-4 courses of the cumbus, so I should be able to play Tibetan music on the cumbus too!

michoud - 5-4-2009 at 05:39 PM

Thanks a lot!

Panco do you know about the string lenght of the ahenk?? is it like the turkish oud? and what about the tuning?
do you know how much costs an ahenk?

Jack, the same question for the ordinary cumbus,how many cm are the string lenght?and the tuning?
About the tibetan video...:bounce:

Jack_Campin - 5-5-2009 at 06:26 AM

Bridge to nut on my standard cumbus is 54.2cm.
On the little old one, 45.1cm (you are very unlikely ever to see one of those).
Tuning and string gauges are described on my webpage.

michoud - 5-5-2009 at 07:48 AM

Hi Jack, great website!
The neck of the cumbus is metal or wood??
Where do you think I can find a good one for a reasonable price??
I saw this website http://www.gelgel.net but I cant read turkish and I dont know if they can send me the cumbus to Spain

Jack_Campin - 5-5-2009 at 08:11 AM

The neck is wood (not sure what, beech is what was used on both of mine but they're both very old). The fingerboard can be wood or (as on both of mine) Formica (the same sort of plastic laminate they use for kitchen worktops).

I would try to deal with the Zeynel Abidin firm in Istanbul directly. They probably have somebody who speaks English, but keep trying - their staff seem to come in and out of the shop at random. But I can't find any way to contact them via the web.

michoud - 5-6-2009 at 08:03 AM

Thanks Jack!
I have a friend who studied with Necati Celik in Istambul, maybe he can call him and ask him about Zeynel Abidin firm...
Thanks again