strings used to be made of gut. they are now mostly made of steel or nylon. adjusters can only be used with some strings. the front of the violin body is made of spruce. the back and sides of the body are made of maple. the bow can be made of several kinds of wood. an example would be pernambuco. some players today use bows made of carbon fibre. the bow is strung with horsehair (horsehair is hair that comes from the back of the horse's head also known as the mane or from the horse's tail).