The early mandolin was made in a number of places, particularly in Italy, and each place seemed to make a variant on the basic design. Some instruments, such as those made in Milan were gut-strung, and can essentially be considered as small lutes. The most common type of mandolin, and the one whose popularity remains to this day, is the Neapolitan mandolin, an instrument with four pairs of strings, tuned in fifths in the same manner as a violin.
Early mandolins were always made with bowl-shaped backs, made using a lot of individual staves or ribs, although modern mandolins often have flat or carved front (soundboard) and back.