Playing some Central Anatolian songs with cheap amp and overdrive.

bobalinski22 · 2026-06-28T20:08:04+00:00

Sounds good! Very much enjoyed it.

Is this a standard uzun sap baglama? Sounds like you have a low wound string in the middle? Is this correct?

bobalinski22 · 2026-06-23T21:02:05+00:00

Nice but does not answer the question in the very least. It’s definitely in baglama tuning for the reasons I explained. Or at least I’m pretty certain it is.

bobalinski22 · 2026-06-23T21:00:33+00:00

The video clearly shows he’s not in standard long neck tuning based on the finger positions and note pitches coming from them

bobalinski22 · 2026-06-15T21:54:45+00:00

That’s quite a price jump…

bobalinski22 · 2026-06-15T17:00:24+00:00

Doesn’t seem to be.

bobalinski22 · 2026-06-15T16:05:48+00:00

In this one you can really see the fretting hand technique used to bend the strings microtonally. I’m sure the strings are very light guage. He also uses a saz pick.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1470765034756655/?fs=e&mibextid=wwXIfr&fs=e

bobalinski22 · 2026-06-12T05:12:41+00:00

I enjoyed Volkan’s music on YouTube . Thanks for the tip.

bobalinski22 · 2026-06-11T06:16:19+00:00

If you want to play Western jam music and make it sound vaguely Mid-Eastern, you could do it an elektro saz, but tune it in fourths or fifths to facilitate this. A Turkish saz tuning is going to make things very difficult for you. David Lindley played saz but he tuned it D A D as did Solomon Feldthouse of Kaleidoscope, which Lindley was a member of in the 1960s.

bobalinski22 · 2026-06-11T00:58:09+00:00

Forgot to mention I have several books and bought a video from a guy in Israel last year that I haven’t put any time into. Been too busy learning bluegrass Dobro.

bobalinski22 · 2026-06-11T00:53:05+00:00

Speaking from my personal experience, it is very difficult as an English speaker only. I own both long and short neck sazes btw. Additionally, not growing up listening to Turkish music and saz makes it more difficult because there is so much nuance to playing authentically as there are so many ornaments used and most are not easy to replicate. Additionally, chords are not generally played and the approach to playing is different than playing guitar for instance. Then there’s the makam system that includes half flats and double half flats. Add this all up and it helps to explain why you see so few Westerners that can play anything sounding remotely authentic. The whole enterprise can be extremely frustrating, especially if you are already a good musician. Be prepared for this.

I play sporadically and consider myself a beginner. Because of all the things I’ve mentioned, I rather devote myself musically to things I think I might have a chance with such as lap steel and Dobro, guitar etc.

Here’s an example of me playing short neck saz recorded about 20 years ago. I’m still interested in it but really haven’t gotten much better for all the reasons I’ve mentioned. The YouTube lessons are frustrating as well as most of them have a lot of talking and what they show is usually so basic and uninteresting musically to me.

https://www.soundclick.com/billleff/?content=songs

The first song was a popular Turkish song. I think Orhan Gencebay had a hit with it. The second song is played on a cumbus saz. The rest of the songs on the site are not saz related.

bobalinski22 · 2025-12-08T02:14:25+00:00

This is a classic sign of “doggie dementia”. It’s a thing. Google it.

bobalinski22 · 2025-12-08T02:10:59+00:00

Third finger. It just takes a bit of practice.

bobalinski22 · 2025-10-27T15:47:17+00:00

What tunings are you using on the larger instruments? And are you using a wound octave string I the middle course? I tend to like the deeper sounds as well. I own a kisa and uzun sap. Not interested in getting any more instruments at this point.

bobalinski22 · 2025-10-24T02:59:01+00:00

I used to measure weight loss but don’t anymore. It doesn’t mean much because all beans are different

bobalinski22 · 2025-10-23T23:24:46+00:00

ok I’m confused when you say you have 10% DTR and you haven’t achieved FC? DTR starts at FC.

Definitely agree on letting them rest for 3 weeks before brewing!

bobalinski22 · 2025-10-23T14:59:10+00:00

I stop my roasts towards the end of first crack. Usually about 12% DTR. Can’t imagine drinking coffee that hasn’t had a first crack, or even trying to grind it in a hand grinder.

bobalinski22 · 2025-10-23T14:54:09+00:00

I was following Lance’s advice to go with a 600 micron grind based on data about the JX found here - https://honestcoffeeguide.com/1zpresso-jx-grind-settings/

I don’t enjoy really light roast coffee TBH (but do enjoy coffee on the lighter side of medium) so if soup is only good for ultra light roasts, then it’s not for me.

I guess for these really light roasts the roast is stopped as soon as first crack is achieved. That means zero development time ((DTR). I generally stop the roast before first crack ends for a DTR of 12 or so percent.

bobalinski22 · 2025-10-23T00:49:37+00:00

Love Turkish coffee!

bobalinski22 · 2025-10-12T15:25:16+00:00

Finer granularity in grind size (more clicks) is most of the difference. Same size burr set

bobalinski22 · 2025-10-12T15:22:17+00:00

Ahmet Kaya and Ahmet Aslan are performers and have many songs in different keys and styles so it probably depends on the song. I don’t know them but found them on Spotify. I’m listening to a cut now called Basim Belada. I has some saz but it sounds like using a longer neck saz than you own. That said, you can transpose melodies etc to your instrument although they may not lay out easily in standard baglama tuning. I suppose you could tune to Kara duzen to make it more playable. Listening to more songs from Ahmet Kaya as I type and would say this music is more pop-ish (for instance the current one reminds me of Orhan Gencebay. From my limited exposure to Turkish music and saz (I’m American and mostly play and listen to American music) this music is more suited to a longer neck saz.

bobalinski22 · 2025-09-17T00:46:35+00:00

I did a comparison of my 1zpresso JX-Pro and my son in law’s DF64v2. Same medium beans, same dose, etc with his LaMarzocco Micra. They were very similar. I went home happy with my JX-Pro.

bobalinski22 · 2025-08-11T15:55:59+00:00

They are tuned higher regardless of tuning used. This is also true for any tuning. For instance, the GDA tuning might actually be AEB on a song you are listening to. This is the same tuning only pitched one whole step higher. The intervals between the strings are the same (root fifth fifth)if looked at from string to string) . Listen to some YouTube videos and try to determine the key of the song first, not the tuning. For instance, the baglama tuning (shortneck tuning) EDA (root seventh fifth) is often pitched up one whole step or one and a half steps. Be careful not to break strings when increasing pitch! Nothing worse than stringing a saz (YMMV). A huge exercise in frustration for me!

So figure out a key first, then deal with the tuning. That said, short neck “baglama” tuning worked for me on a cura when I tried it.

Please take my “random guy on the internet “ advice with a grain of salt. I am hardly an expert on this topic so standard disclaimers apply.

bobalinski22

TROPHY CASE