The Irish Bouzouki (sometimes called a cittern) is a unique form of an octave mandolin adopted into and adapted for Irish and other forms of European traditional music from the late 1960s onward. The most common tuning used is GDAD but other tunings including GDAE ADAD and CFAD can be used. The Gold Tone Bouzouki is setup with octave strings for the third and fourth courses and unison strings for the first and second courses. The BZ-500 Irish Bouzouki is a solid-top model producing dramatic traditional Irish tone and is easy to play thanks to the precision setup by Gold Tone s skilled luthiers. Includes hardshell case.