View Full Version : Cumbus, anyone?
Still searching for the perfect, affordable mandolin banjo. I have stumbled across this breed of instrument:
tiny cumbus (http://www.musicoutfitters.com/ethnic/cmbb.htm)
These are available all over if you search for "cumbus".
23" long, 4 courses of two strings, tunable to mandolin tuning, pure aluminum body with adjustable neck.
Anyone got any in-the flesh experience with these things?
Frank Russell
Apr-25-2006, 10:31am
Someplace I used to frequent sold those, maybe McCabe's Music. The ones I saw were made in Turkey? I remember I was interested until I played one. Harsh. Hard to keep in tune also. Frank
Eric F.
Apr-25-2006, 10:42am
I played one last fall. Yuck! Harsh is right.
Paul Hostetter
Apr-27-2006, 12:07am
Contemporary cumbuses have plastic heads, but not so long ago, they only came with real skin, and they really sounded a lot better with calf or goat instead of mylar. Even with the plastic heads these days, you see them with the really broad bridge feet which had a purpose on the hide heads:
http://www.oud.eclipse.co.uk/gallery/hicdonmez6a.jpg
In the old ones the head was really supposed to sink, and the bridge was supposed to be high, and the snowshoe feet were to keep the head from getting punctured. By sink I mean at least half an inch of deflection under tension. A dead-flat, taut head sounds wrong. You had an optimal bridge for an optimally sunken head, and you adjusted the neck angle to your preferred action with the key.
The real issue with most of the aluminum-pot cumbuses is that the fret spacing is often really haywire. There's no way you can make them play in tune unless you replace the fingerboard. At least check that before you buy.
Cumbus simply refers to the banjo pot (the root word means "joke") - they come with all sorts of necks and stringing arrangements. Better players in Turkey and across North Africa play cumbuses with more conventional banjo pots.
Keith Erickson
Apr-27-2006, 9:34am
Paul,
If you wouldn't have told me what that thing was I would have mis-took it as a portable commode with long handle http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif
Yikes that thing is scary lóóking http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Walter
Apr-27-2006, 11:57am
Kww,
I have one. It is unique for sure. The sound is very loud and harsh. Lark in the Morning Music also sells these. If interested, I'll sell mine cheap.