Gut Thoughts for Orchestral Bowing

[Ken Smith]

Ok, I put the Chordas on a few days ago and they are no where near being settled in yet. Each day I tune them up about a half step as they seem to keep stretching.

They are on the thick side comparing them to the Labellas from what I can remember. They bow well on the G and D and pizz great. I put one coat of gel varnish on the plain G/D but I can't say if its better with or without having not tried them before hand.

The A plays better both Arco and Pizz than the E but I can't say that I have an optimum set-up with the Guts as far as the Bridge goes. The Nut (seems to be original) looks as if it was cut for Guts originally but I doubt the Bridge is original.

Tomorrow, Phil (Uncle Toad) will be 'In the House' for the day trying Basses so I will make sure to get his opinion on these strings.

For now as far as playing in an Orchestra I cannot see any advantages overall for playing on Guts. The top strings sound great and loud. For Pizz they have a nice thick 'pump'-type sound but the E seems weak or at lease hard to play and the A is just 'ok' nothing to write home about.

The Bass I am testing them on is a 1981 Italian Bass by Lombardi. The FlatBack and wide Ribs are made from plain type Poplar. The Top is a low arched flatsawn local type Fir or Pine. The String length on this 3/4 Bass is 41 1/2".

The test bass (Lombardi) is generally quite loud and slightly bright sounding as far as presence goes but not at all thin sounding. I thought this would be a good Bass for the test. I will let Phil throw in his 2 cents on it if he feels up to it.