I want to play a string instrument, after I get about 20 more whistles that I want, so it will be a while before I get it, but I like to have opinions and have an idea of what I’m going to get a long time before so when I do actually get it, I know a little bit about what I’m doing. I want something relatively easy to play simply.
I actually have an accoustic guitar that’s lost that I got when I was about 13, but I never played it. Guitars are just too…normal, though.
Opinions?
Mandolin , to me , is kinda like whistle-
It’s as complex or as simple as you want it to be.
Mountain dulcimer and autoharp come to mind. Both are seemingly simple to sound decent on, but both can sound amazing in an expert hands (If you have ever seen or heard Mike Seeger with an autoharp (or a mountain dulcimer too, actually) you know what I mean).
Frailing (also known as clawhammer, rapping the banjo, etc) the five-string banjo is not too hard once you get the basic motion down, although it does confuse many people initially. The motion itself is really not hard though and you can add embellishments such as double thumbing or what have you later on. Mostly goes with old-time Appalachian music, although some people have modified it to be more melodic, and I have heard people playing Irish music this way (I don’t much care for it myself). Frailing is great fun, sounds very good solo (its like you have a full band, unlike Scruggs (three finger bluegrass picking) where you need a strong rhythm section). It is most probably the oldest style of playing the banjo.
Wow, I use parentheses too much.
If I were going to take up a string instrument, it would be the mountain dulcimer. It’s a beautiful instrument, both in sound and appearance, and it’s not supposed to be too awfully difficult for a beginner. (My dad played guitar rather well, but my fingers just couldn’t do it.)
Simple?
The Chinese Morin Khur sounds like the way to go, it only has 2 strings… except their about $600. That should cure your Whoa for a while.
Good call Tony!
I was just gonna say, “Get an erhu,” although I’ve never played one myself…
Joey
I know of no simpler string instrument than a bowed psaltery. They have a beautiful, ethereal sound, and good ones range in price from around $150 to $400. Check out instruments by James Jones, Jerry Read Smith, and Omega Strings (Richard Spencer). Range goes from 2 octaves (small) through 2.5 octaves (standard) to 3 octaves (large). All are chromatic…
Best.
Byll
Unless you can find a washbasin base somewhere (one string), that’d be the mountain dulcimer. 3,4, or six strings, arranged in three groups. Two sets (on a four string, two strings) are drones and the third string or pair are the melody strings. You play it on your lap or a tabletop, pressing the fret on the melody strings with your finger or a noter and strumming the entire string set. Believe me, it sounds more complicated than it is.
What I’ve described is the traditional or simple playing style. More advanced players often play chords by fretting all three string sets, much like but still simpler than playing a guitar. Of course, this method sacrifices the drones that in my opinion give the mountain dulcimer a large part of its charm.
My vote would have to rest with the Mando. I just took it up myself, and am having a blast with it… (my fiddle and my whistles are feeling very neglected, I’m sure… :roll: ) Relatively easy, you can play melody, counter-melody, back up, as well as do some percussive things with the tone.
Very fun. 
Easiest stringed instrument? Strum stick. Hands down.
Here is one link for them:
There is this to be said for guitar.
With about three or four chords and
a simple strum or finger pick, you can play
or accompany hundreds of tunes
simply and beautifully.
Standard American tramp instrument, the “one string”. Made from a length of 2X4, two nails, bit of wire, and a paint can. You use a stick to beat on the string, and the neck of a whiskey bottle as a slide.
Do a Google search on “One String Blues”. It’s the stringed-instrument equivalent of the slide whistle.
Have fun! 
serpent
I believe the “Diddley Bow” is one of your older and simpler stringed instruments. In Africa I think the Diddley Bow would have been accompanied by a cane flute with three or more holes. This combination lent itself to a particular riff that crept into rock and roll as the “Bo Dibbley Beat” and was the basis of innumerable hits by the immortal Bo Diddley.
Tom D.
The version of the strumstick that is shaped somewhat like the bouzouki, is especially appealing. Cedar Creek Dulcimer Company, in Branson, ( http://www.cedarcreekdulcimers.com ) sell an inexpensive version for the same price as an original Strumstick. I’ve not seen them online, but tried one in their store. Definitely an easy and fun instrument. Or for a higher end one, that looks great, there is the Olympia Walkabout Dulcimer ( http://www.olywa.net/olydulcimer/ ). These are really just diatonic bouzoukia.
Of course the mandolin, mandola, and bouzouki aren’t all that hard to start off on. Both the bouzouki and the Appalachian dulcimer have about the same string length and gauge, so sound a little alike, anyway.
I started on mandolin, as string instruments go, and play the Appalachian lap dulcimer, the octave mandola, and the bouzouki. The OM and bouzouki play about the same method, but the bouzouki has a longer neck, and thus requires more of a stretch.
My sister (a very beginner) definitely prefers the ease and sound of the bouzouki.
The YO-YO
You can’t play it as a musical instrument, but could use it to threaten bodhran and box players that are playing to fast 
MarkB
I’ll echo Ridseard’s vote for the dulcimer enthisiastically, and add that - in my experience at least - it is MUCH easier to fret a dulcimer than either a guitar or a banjo (anyone have any idea why that might be the case?).
Tom
, Mark!
Then there’s the berimbau…you might want to take up capoeira, though. 
My suspicions would be:
Incidentally, on the Strumstick, or Walkabout, I see the single-string issue, as its biggest weakness, as, while this is fine for the dulcimer, which sits in front of you like a keyboard, it’s not that easy on an instrument you’re holding by the (long) neck, like a banjo, as you are going way up, and way down that neck. Whereas, on a GDAE instrument, such as mandolin or bouzouki, you usually only need to go up to the 7th fret, except in playing really high notes. Perhaps a strap would help in this respect. The Walkabout isn’t a new concept, as early citterns were also fretted diatonically, though they tended to have more courses of strings. http://www.earlycittern.com
What is this? A whole page of replies, and not one vote for the ‘King of Strings’, the UKULELE?? (‘Ukelele’ to some, not Hawaiians.)
The ukulele is a fun, versatile, affordable, and easy to play instrument!
Because of the way the strings are tuned it makes beautiful chords (in contrast to the mandolin’s chords which to my ears sound ugly).
In the last several years the popularity of the ukulele has grown incredibly, not just in Hawaii, but also in the mainland USA & Japan. I can’t speak for other countries…
The ukulele player in the band I play with is amazing. See the KEK Hawaiian Band link below..
IMHO, every musician should own at least one ukulele!!!
I’ll chime in with another vote for the mountain/Appalachian/lap dulcimer. It’s a diatonic instrument with a two-octave range just like the whistle, so it’s an easy transition. It has three strings, although the modern versions usually have four, with the melody string doubled to increase its volume. The traditional Appalachian style has you strumming all four strings, but only fretting the melody strings, giving an effect that’s like a cross between pipes and mandolin.
If you have some mechanical ability, I’d recommend a kit from the Hughes Dulcimer Company in Denver. (There’s a lot to be said for playing a dulcimer you made yourself.) Their less-expensive kits are <$50; I’d spring for a solid spruce top. Their top-of-the-line kit has sound that rivals my Blue Lion that cost >5x as much. There are also several reputable makers in WV, although their names slip my mind.