Combolins

[Joel Glassman]

Check this link:
http://www.corries.com/
These are the Corries--a Scottish folk duo
They're known for playing Combolins, pictured
on their homepage. (the one higher in the picture
is easier to see: no space between the necks with
a headless mando and strings on the edge of the body.
Very clever. I have one of their records from 1970. No
Combolin on it though.

[mandocrucian]

more combolin details (http://www.ucfv.bc.ca/cis/franklinp/corries/#COMBOLINS)

[Steph]

I was a big Corries fan at the time the combolins were built and heard them played live on several occasions. They were almost always used for ballads where the open bass and the sympathetic drone stings added a huge amount of atmosphere - I guess nowadays this would be done using electronics. As the article that Niles posted points out they were designed to complement each other - which they did to great effect.