Thumbs up What is a Phin Guitar?
The Phin (Thai: พิณ, pronounced [pʰīn]) is a type of lute originating in the Isan region of Thailand and played mostly by ethnic Laotians in Thailand and Laos.
It has an odd selection of frets on the neck, over which three or four metal strings run.
It is commonly strummed with a plectrum.
These are usually 21"-22" scale length. Three strings are the most common, tuned E, A, E. The most common fret selection is 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24. Or, in terms of the E string, there is only 1 sharp (F#) and only in the first octave. There are other fret selections that include C# in order to play more modern Thai songs.
There are also versions that includes all frets.
Occasionally, you will see a four string version or double-neck model.
The three traditional body shapes that you will find are a spade, a leaf and a teardrop shape.
The teardrop shape is often referred to as the "pear" shape.
These are incredibly fun to play. Its hard to sound bad.
How bout adding some keys to the mix. My wife is Thai as well and she dug this up:
^^^^^^^^^^^^ well, it has all that cowbell needed!
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
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