A good quality
zhongruan is usually made of
rosewood (). For the best sound quality and visual appearance, it is made of
red sandalwood (), because red sandalwood is best known for its beautiful
wood grain, unique purplish color, hardness and rareness. Therefore, a red sandalwood made
zhongruan is heavier and more expensive. The lute head () is for decoration. Three common decorative patterns are
ruyi (, good fortune),
peony and
dragon. They are usually made of plastic or
ivory. Under the lute head is a
pegbox () with
tuning pegs () that hold the strings. The pegs are usually made of wood or buffalo horn. Nowadays, most
zhongruans have tuning
machine heads () instead of a peg box, since they make it easier to tune. There are some makers that still use the traditional peg box system but coupled with fine tuners at the tailpiece. The strings () were made of silk in the old times. The number of strands of silk determined the thickness of the string. Nowadays, metal wound polymer strings are used. A
nut () is placed between the pegbox and the neck to secure the strings. It is usually made of plastic, buffalo bone or ivory. The neck () connects the lute head and the body. It has a
fingerboard () and 24
frets (). The frets are usually made of plastic, buffalo bone, wood and metal (copper). For a good quality
zhongruan, the frets are made of a combination of plastic and copper, or wood and copper, with the metal part inlaid at the top of each fret. In combining two materials, the frets last without damaging from long-time practice. The circular
sound box () body is made of a combination of front board, back board and side board. There are two
sound holes () on the front board to transmit sound. Some common shapes for the sound holds are circle, moon, S, and bird. At the lower part of the body, a
bridge () is placed to support the strings and transmit vibration. At the bottom of the body is a
tailpiece () to anchor the strings. Note that the frets on all Chinese lutes are high so that the fingers never touch the actual body—distinctively different from western fretted instruments. This allows for a greater control over timbre and intonation than their western counterparts, but makes chordal playing more difficult. ==Some Zhongruan music pieces==