Kabosy

The kabosy is a box-shaped wooden guitar commonly played in music of Madagascar.

It has four to six strings and is commonly thought to be a direct descendant of the Arabic oud through the gambus played in Malay-populated areas of Southeast Asia.

[1] The kabosy has staggered frets, many of which do not even cross the entire fretboard, and is generally tuned to an open chord.

A kabosy-like instrument with standard frets is known as a mandalina or mandoliny.

Kabosys may be strung with nylon (often used fishing line) or steel (often from scrap wire or cable).