Thanks for the info Johnny J. I never would have figured that out.

And thanks Curmudgeonly Bastard - er sorry, I mean gillymor. :-D

Bouzoukis and mandolins can sound beautiful. A few of my music session friends play mandolins but a couple of those musicians can play overwhelmingly loud and off-rhythm and it can be very annoying, especially when one of them plays his mandolin with the metal resonator plate on it like a dobro. The other musician friends play well and it is always a pleasure to hear them. All of them mostly play melodies but the session groups I know around here are not large.