Description
The Electro Acoustic Short Neck Baglama brings together the two things Turkish folk players ask for most: the bright, punchy voice of a short-neck saz and the flexibility of a built-in pickup. A member of the wider baglama and saz family, it is equally at home in a quiet room and plugged into a stage PA.
The short-neck saz
The baglama is built in two neck lengths, and this is the short-neck form. The short neck was developed in the 1970s by shortening the traditional long neck and dropping its lowest pitches, so the hand no longer has to make large stretches between positions. The result is a saz that is easier and more comfortable to play, with a brighter, more immediate voice — a short-neck instrument carries roughly nineteen frets, against about twenty-three on a long neck. It is usually tuned in the A–G–D duzen, and like every baglama the neck carries movable tied frets that can be nudged to sound the microtonal koma intervals of Turkish folk music.
Mahogany bowl and ebony fingerboard
The teardrop bowl is built from mahogany, a wood that gives a warm, rounded tone with a solid low end. The fingerboard is ebony, a hard, close-grained wood that resists wear and stays smooth and fast under the fingers — well suited to both plectrum (pena) and fingerstyle (selpe) playing.
The electro-acoustic voice
What sets this saz apart is its electro-acoustic system. A built-in pickup lets the instrument connect directly to an amplifier, PA or audio interface, so the same baglama moves from an unplugged living-room session to a loud stage or a recording setup without changing instruments. Unplugged it keeps the natural resonance of the mahogany bowl; amplified, it delivers a clear, controllable signal for folk, fusion and world-music settings.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Instrument | Electro-acoustic short-neck baglama (saz) |
| Bowl | Mahogany |
| Fingerboard | Ebony |
| Neck | Short neck (kisa sap) |
| Frets | Movable tied frets (microtonal) |
| Electronics | Built-in pickup (electro-acoustic) |
| Playing | Plectrum (pena) or fingerstyle (selpe) |
| Tradition | Turkish folk (baglama / saz family) |
| Includes | Gig bag + extra set of strings |
Who it is for
The short neck makes this a friendly instrument for students and players with smaller hands, while the pickup makes it a practical choice for gigging and recording musicians who need to be heard alongside other instruments. It accompanies turku folk songs beautifully and holds its own in amplified ensembles. Players exploring the family may also like the long-scale Professional Electro Baglama or the compact Turkish kopuz.
What’s included and care
The baglama ships with a high-quality gig bag for safe transport and an extra set of strings, so a replacement is always on hand. Keep the instrument away from direct heat and sudden humidity changes, wipe the strings down after playing, and check that the tied frets stay seated. Every saz is selected by our string specialist Sertan Sarioglu and inspected at our Brisighella, Italy showroom before shipping. Learn more about the baglama tradition. Worldwide shipping & 15-day return.
