When I was a kid, I learned how to play one of these Jean Ritchie-style on a borrowed instrument. I didn't stick with it, really, so I wasn't along for the ride as folks in the 1980s and 1990s "pushed the envelope" by fretting chords and adding fancy picking patterns. Plus some great instruments have been built in the meantime, producing a surprisingly big sound for the size of the things.

I still apreciate the sweet tone of the things, but I especially appreciate the drone sounds in certain kinds of "pre-Bluegrass" music.

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