— Collection
String Instruments
Tapadum’s String Instruments collection spans four traditions — Anatolian, Persian, Mediterranean Greek, and Balkan — every instrument hand-built by master luthiers we curate or finished in our own Izmir workshop. The lineup grows from oud cluster heritage (with Feramis Aktas and Yildirim Palabiyik at the center) outward to lavtas, qanuns, Persian tars, setars, hammered dulcimers, and contemporary hybrid builds.
Family architecture:
- Plectrum-played lutes — oud (Arabic 5-6 course / Turkish 5-6 course), saz and baglama, lavta, bouzouki, Bulgarian tambura. Mustafa Gezerdag builds both ouds and lavtas; Ahmet Topan focuses on ouds.
- Fretless lutes — Persian setar (with movable gut frets), tar, tanbur, fretless guitars. The Persian roster is anchored by Amin Golestani and Mohamad Hatami, with a smaller circle of Tehran luthiers we partner with for specific builds.
- Hammered dulcimers — qanun and santur. Necati Gurbuz builds qanuns alongside ouds and classical kemence; Persian santurs come from established Tehran workshops.
- Hybrid and contemporary — cümbüş (banjo-oud fusion, Zeynel Abidin, early 1900s), oğur sazı (Erkan Oğur design), caglama (electric baglama hybrid). Sertan Sarioglu builds lavtas in the Ottoman classical tradition.
Each instrument follows centuries of regional tuning, fretting, and resonance conventions — our curation respects these distinctions rather than blending them.
At Tapadum’s Izmir workshop, we hand-finish in-house builds and test every instrument we curate under both warm and cool studio conditions before listing — string tension, fret intonation (where applicable), and tonal balance calibrated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which traditions do these string instruments come from?
Tapadum's string collection draws from four main traditions: Turkish/Anatolian (oud, saz/baglama, lavta, çalgama), Persian (setar, tar, santur, tanbur), Mediterranean/Greek (bouzouki, lavta), and Balkan (Bulgarian tambura, qanun). Each tradition has its own tuning systems, fretting choices, and playing techniques. Our curation respects these distinctions — ouds are built by Turkish luthiers in Izmir, setars come from Tehran workshops, qanuns and santurs from regional makers in their home traditions.
I'm new to ethnic string instruments — should I start with a Turkish oud or a Persian setar?
Start with the playing posture you're comfortable with. Ouds are larger (60-70 cm scale), played on the lap with a plectrum (risha), and forgiving on the fingers — a good entry for players coming from Western guitar backgrounds. Setars are smaller (~26-28 inches), held vertically with the bowl resting on the right thigh, played with the index fingernail — they reward patience and have a steeper learning curve. Our Turkish ouds start around €1,200 (Yildirim Palabiyik's Sultan Plus tier); entry-level Persian setars start around €600.
What's the difference between fretted and fretless instruments in this category?
Fretted instruments (saz, baglama, bouzouki, qanun) anchor your finger placement to fixed positions, simplifying tuning across modes (makam, dastgah). Fretless instruments (Persian setar — though it has movable gut frets, tanbur, fretless guitars) require ear training and slide intonation, opening microtonal expression but demanding more practice. Most students new to world music start fretted, then graduate to fretless once their ear is trained.
What separates a high-end handmade instrument from a mass-produced one?
Several factors compound on a handmade instrument that mass production cannot replicate:
- Material selection — choosing the right wood species for each component (resonant tonewood for the soundboard, dense hardwood for the fingerboard, well-seasoned timber for the body), often sourced from specific regions for traditional characteristics.
- Aging and drying — properly cured wood (typically several years of slow drying) is dimensionally stable and tonally responsive; rushed kiln drying or unseasoned timber produces instruments that warp, crack, or lose tone within months.
- Construction time — every joint, every glue cure, every finishing pass needs its own waiting period; a luthier spending weeks on a single oud or setar produces a fundamentally different instrument than a factory line turning out hundreds per day.
- Component-level attention — body resonance chamber, soundboard top, fingerboard, frets, pegs, bridges, and nut slots are each tuned by hand, not template-cut.
Atelier pick
Turkish Lavta – Electro Acoustic
Handcrafted electro-acoustic Turkish lavta with walnut body, East Black Sea Spruce soundboard, mahogany neck, and built-in Fishman Piezo pickup. Built by Tapadu…
Original price was: €939,00.€897,16Current price is: €897,16. Open piece →
