Mandolin-banjo became more popular. In the heyday of mandolin orchestras and banjo bands (late 19th–early 20th century), all sorts of instruments were produced. The mandolin-banjo is one of the hybrids that resulted. It enabled mandolinists to produce a banjo sound without having to learn that instrument's fingerings. The instrument adds the banjo's volume to the mandolin. The banjolin is different from the banjo-mandolin in the number of strings that it has. Banjolins today are supposed to have four strings instead of 8 strings (in courses or pairs). However, that distinction is not universal; the "banjolin" name was patented in 1885 by
Mandolin is the Roman style mandolin, which has influenced it. The Roman mandolin had a fingerboard that was more curved and narrow. The fingerboard was lengthened over the sound hole for the E strings, the high pitched strings. The shape of the back of the neck was different, less rounded with an edge, the bridge was curved making the G strings higher. The Roman mandolin had mechanical tuning gears before the Neapolitan. Prominent Italian manufacturers include Vinaccia (Naples), Embergher (Rome) and Calace (Naples). Other modern manufacturers include Lorenzo Lippi (Milan), Hendrik van den Broek (Netherlands), Brian Dean (Canada), Salvatore Masiello and