Bouzouki manner of a Neapolitan mandolins so as to increase the strength of the body to withstand thicker steel strings. The type of the instrument used in Rembetika music was a three-stringed instrument, but in the 1950s a four-string variety by Manolis Chiotis was introduced. From a construction point of view, the bouzouki can have differences not only in the number of strings but also in other features, e.g. neck length, width, height, depth of the bowl or main body, the width of the staves (the wooden gores or slices of the bowl) etc. These differences are determined by the manufacturer,
Guqin strings silk and also they were louder and more stable. A set could last many years and not break. The only drawback for traditionalists was that the strings had a harsh metallic sound which was considered inelegant. Another factor was that the strings could eventually wear the lacquer out requiring the qin surface to be repaired more often. Around 2007, a new set of strings were produced made of mostly a nylon core coiled with nylon like the metal-nylon strings, possibly in imitation of Western catgut strings. The sound is similar to the metal-nylon strings but without the metallic tone to