Cello inexpensive wood that has been blackened or "ebonized" to look like ebony, which is much harder and more expensive. Ebonised parts such as tuning pegs may crack or split, and the black surface of the fingerboard will eventually wear down to reveal the lighter wood underneath. Historically, cello strings had cores made out of catgut, which, despite its name is made from sheep or goat intestines which are dried out. Most modern strings used in the 2010s are wound with metallic materials like aluminum, titanium and chromium. Cellists may mix different types of strings on their instruments. The pitches of
Strings (tennis) stringing may be a good alternative to natural gut and multi-filament strings. This is especially true for those who have had tennis elbow and find natural gut string to be too costly. Metal wire, usually piano wire, was used in some historical racquets. The "gauge" number determines the thickness of the string. A string rated with a high gauge number is a thinner string, and vice versa. Thinner strings typically offer higher performance but break more frequently than thicker strings. Virtually all modern raquets are strung in a criss-cross horizontal-vertical pattern. Various other patterns have been used in history with