What is the difference between a sitar and a sarod?

A sitar and a sarod differ first under the left hand: the sitar has curved metal frets, while the sarod's fingerboard is fretless and faced with polished steel. In Musical Instruments of India (1978), B. Chaitanya Deva names a gourd as the sitar's main sound box. Makers hollow the sarod's body and neck from one piece of wood and cover the belly with skin.

A sitarist plucks with the mizrab, a wire plectrum worn on the index finger; a sarod player holds the java, a triangular plectrum. The sitar buzzes off its broad jawari bridge and bends notes across its frets. The sarod's tone is clean and bell-like, and its slides can run the whole fingerboard.