The Saz is a Turkish instrument - a kind of long-necked lute. It has got seven strings falling into three groups. The instrument is tuned in fourths and fifths, the open strings being g -d- a.
(You can listen to this tuning below)My first Saz, which I bought at the age of about 16, had only six strings. But the tuning remained a kind of lottery due to the frets between the main frets and my lacking knowledge about the exact tuning mode.
A small course in a Turkish community helped me, but I couldn't get beyond some easy pieces like Türkmen geleni or Ekin aktim cöllere, because unfortunately the course was finished after some lessons.
The black circle in the left picture is a sticker.
The sound hole of the Saz is at the bottom of the instrument, as you can see in the right picture.
For visitors who are interested in the tuning, I made a survey where you can find the single notes on the Saz. Since the Saz sounds an octave lower I would have to put a small 8 beneath the violin clef. But this 8 is often omitted.
Tuning machine
Since not every owner of a Saz has got a piano or a tuning machine, I offer a virtual tuner here.
The illustration on the left shows a simplified Saz.
On top you see the head of the Saz, so it is clear that you are looking at the front of the Saz and you see the strings.
The neck is missing because there isn't enough space here.
If you click on the letters (G G D A A) you'll hear the standard tuning of the Saz.