When you have in your hands
a very portable and compact
4-string diatonic acoustic instrument
like the Merlin
it’s difficult to stop to play.
It’s body is really special
with its shape, its top
and even its rosette!
Its neck is characterized
by its usual frets.
The Merlin was designed to be played
like a guitar
but its position is free
even if it’s better to place it
in a diagonal one.
It’s only an optimization for the movements
of the left hand on the neck.
It’s interesting that you can pluck
the strings of the Merlin
with a pick
or with your fingertips.
The fact that the double small strings
are an octave higher than the D string
allows to use them as sympathetic strings.