Electric mandolin and "EM-8", with carved top bodies and four and eight strings respectively. Blue Star produces four and five string models under the name "Mandoblaster". Jbovier produces four and five string "EMC" electric mandolins, which resemble the Fender electric mandolins, and a four string "ELS" electric mandolin. EMC stands for Electric Mandocaster and ELS stands for Electric Leo Smith. The Eastwood Guitars manufactures solid body eight string electric mandolin under the name "Mandocaster". It has Telecaster resembling body, two single coil pickups and a pickup switch known from Stratocaster guitars. They also make "Mandocaster 12" which is actually an octave guitar.
Mandolin course). Much of mandolin development revolved around the soundboard (the top). Pre-mandolin instruments were quiet instruments, strung with as many as six courses of gut strings, and were plucked with the fingers or with a quill. However, modern instruments are louder—using four courses of metal strings, which exert more pressure than the gut strings. The modern soundboard is designed to withstand the pressure of metal strings that would break earlier instruments. The soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. There is usually one or more "sound holes" in the soundboard, either round,