Caglama

The caglama is a contemporary Turkish hybrid instrument that blends the tonal language of the Anatolian baglama with electric guitar amplification. It was conceived and first played by the Turkish musician Omur Kilicarslan to bridge traditional saz practice with amplified ensemble and crossover contexts. The caglama keeps the fret layout of the baglama — so it can voice the koma intervals of Turkish music — while borrowing from the electric guitar its steel strings, a neck reinforced with a truss rod, and a magnetic pickup system.

Our range covers two builds. The Caglama – Double Pick Up models are made by the Tapadum team at our workshop in Brisighella, Italy: a mulberry body with an oak or elm top, an ash neck and an afromosia fingerboard, fitted with a double Epiphone pickup set and a custom bridge. The Caglama Box – Kutu Saz models are compact, box-bodied versions: the neck and body are carved from a single piece of wood (yekpare), with a 58 cm scale, a 77 cm total length and a magnetic pickup with volume and tone controls. Two of them carry original hand-painted artwork, so each is a unique piece.

Stringing and tuning follow baglama conventions, with D–A–D a common setup. Players can use a plectrum, the fingerstyle selpe technique, or a standard guitar pick, and shape the sound further through the onboard controls, amplifiers and effects pedals.

The caglama is used by contemporary Turkish musicians exploring fusion between traditional Anatolian repertoire and amplified ensemble settings — including jazz crossover, world music projects, and modern recording contexts where the saz’s microtonal voicing needs to project alongside electric instruments. It represents the latest evolution of the baglama saz family within the broader string instruments tradition.

At Tapadum, our string instruments specialist Sertan Sarioglu tests each caglama for amplified response, acoustic balance, microtonal fret accuracy, and pickup output before listing. Each instrument ships from our Brisighella, Italy showroom.