Hey,

We were playing a house concert this weekend for some long time fans and friends. One friend had been to Thailand and brought back gifts for Margaret, Kate, and me. She gave me a two stringed bowed instrument that seems to be made of a coconut shell, with holes drilled in the bottom. There's a stick, up to two tuning pegs. I think I need to put a bridge on it. It looks a lot like the Chinese erhu (arho? my aplogies for probably terribly misspelling the word). I know the bow needs some rosin and I think the notes are supposed to be made by stopping the string vibrations in the air, not on the stick. My friend did not know the name of the instrument.

My other question would be whether it was your opinion that this was something to hang on the wall for the tourists, or whether I might be able to play something on it? Would I be better off putting nylong/gut strings on it, rather then the steel wires it currently has? I guess size wise it's a bit under two feet long. The bow is really cool and I can use it on my bowed psaltery, if nothing else. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks. Phil