Irish bouzouki when having a longer scale length. The fifth course is usually either a lowest bass course tuned to C2 or D2 on an instrument with a long scale, or a highest treble course tuned to G4 or A4 on a shorter scale. Luthier Stefan Sobell, who coined the term "cittern" for his modern, mandolin-based instruments, originally used the term for short scale instruments irrespective of the number of their strings, but he now applies "cittern" to all 5 course instruments irrespective of scale length, and "octave mandolin" to all 4 course instruments, leaving out bouzouki entirely. Mandolin-family luthiers producing an
Strings (tennis) are strings that have more than one filament. They are most commonly made of many filaments of nylon, but can incorporate other materials such as polyurethane, Zyex, Vectran, Kevlar, and other materials. Multi-filament strings offer better elasticity than single filament strings, but usually inferior durability. No multi-filament string holds its tension as well as natural gut, and none of them is as soft. However, in comparison to mono-filament "synthetic gut", multi-filament strings can offer a much closer approximation of natural gut's performance. The softest multi-filament strings can be made with Zyex and polyolefin, although some of the softest of these