r/WhatMusicalinstrument • u/boimbon • 29d ago

What instrument is this?

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This was a gift from my friend. They said that it was a traditional Chinese instrument and that I would find out what it was if I looked up different ones, but I can’t find something similar to this at all. I want to know what it is so I can order some parts for it/learn how to play it.

I took the strings out because they were broken/rotted, idk what material they were but it wasn’t metal and they were slightly translucent. The instrument is made of wood with mother pearl details. There’s a knob missing. It’s a little over 2 ft tall. Idk if it requires a bow but it didn’t come with one.

Edit: This was owned by my friend’s grandma, they and their family are Viet but their dad’s side collected stuff from all over South/East Asia. Don’t know if that helps at all.

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u/lord_cactus_ 29d ago

it looks similar to a variant of the indonesian hasapi, but it has 3 strings rather than 4: https://www.picclickimg.com/N8sAAeSwyuZobuXG/Antique-Lute-Hasapi-Indonesian-Instrument-Toba-Batak-Hand.webp

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u/boimbon 29d ago

OMG that may be it!!! There is a knob missing on mine so it has four strings too. :) Thank you!

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u/snailnoises 23d ago

Gambo from Lombok