In the Yugoslavian restaurants the walls are covered with handcarved gusles and pipes. There are some excellent carvings sometimes, and I agree that gusles should used for decorative purposes only. To play them you'd have to sing the old epics like a local bard. Forget about using them with average folk music.
Malcolm - I don't now about Yugoslavian brandy, but you should try the slivovic, an excellent brew distilled from plums.