The Turkestani and Badakhshani are fretless with a body and neck carved from a single block of wood, usually mulberry or apricot. The is played with much banging and scratching on the instrument to help give a percussive sound. The two strings are made of nylon (in modern times) or gut. They cross a short bridge to a pin at the other end of the body. There is a tiny sound hole in the back of the instrument, while the top is thick wood. It is not finished with any varnish, filing/sanding of any kind, and as with all other Turkic instruments there is some decoration.