Cumbus

Cümbüş (Cumbush or Cumbus) is a stringed instrument with aluminum body and skin soundboard. It bears its maker’s, Zeynel Abidin Cümbüş’s surname, which is given by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey. Zeynel Abidin Cümbüş developed this instrument in 1930s. Actually, “cümbüş” means fun and revelry in Turkish. When you see a standard cümbüş, you will notice that it looks like and even sounds like an American banjo.

All types of cümbüş generate a metallic timbre. Other than standard cümbüş, you will find in our catalogue the long-necked cümbüş which is played with a bow and called as sazbüş (sazbus). Under the cümbüş category you will also notice cümbüş with walnut and maple body, electric cümbüş, cura, long-neck and sort-necked sazbüş, and cümbüş ukulele. Do not hesitate to visit our store in Istanbul or check the variety of cümbüş in our catalogue through our website. We believe you will find here the right cümbüş for you at the best value.

This instrument was 'state of the art' for its time. It was ready-to-go, as it had a removable neck so that you could easily put it in a package and send it by post all over Anatolia or the rest of the world. Another revolutionary idea was to take different sized necks for only one body. Within a minute you can turn the standard oud-type into a long neck lute or a mandoline, just by changing the neck.