Gut Thoughts for Orchestral Bowing

[David Powell]

So I take it this is the first you've heard of Boston Catlines, Ken? I think the name is a play on the ancient Italian name, and since the market is mostly period use on period reproduction instruments, the name is serious, if not reflective of the materials used now or then. You can reach Olav Chris Henriksen of Boston Catlines by e-mail at Calines@aol.com. It seems from my communications that he prefers to take custom orders over the telephone (I know;- that technology is ancient).


I was told his strings were the very very best available by a local Renaissance / Baroque instrument lutenist. I think I'll order a D/G plain gut pair and see what these are like since this supplier is obviously not too well known. And as always, I appreciate your informed precautions. Dlugolecki makes a wound string for violones in 80 gauge that is intended as a D string (baroque tuning) for 95-105 cm mensur. At 110 cm., same tension, that is a C string, which puts it only a half-step up from the low B. And then when you invoke modern A=440, it is even closer. So it might be a little loose, but a shade larger would be right on target, perhaps an 83 gauge?

I don't yet know of any plain gut strings that would come close to the low B at reasonable tension.

When I look at the attendant difficulties associated with 5 strings, I also look at historical violones with 6 strings (lowest tuning DD) and wonder how the increased difficulties were dealt with in those times. Perhaps it is in the way hair tension is achieved with the baroque style bows? Being able to vary the tension on the fly might be the answer. When is Katie Long going to pop in and enlighten us????

I do still have my old 4-stringer and maybe that would be the place to start, but I really want the low notes and the configuration/mensur I'm used to. Definitely a second DB is the answer. I need a spare 5-er anyway.

I do think the Catgut Society is called something else now, but we are getting off topic there. When I get a couple of the Boston Catline strings and bow on them, I'll check back in and report. I'll see what Olav thinks about the BB possibilities.

[Calvin Marks]

Ken, have you tried Damien Dlogolecki strings? I have a G and D on my bass right now because I'm doing some period playing, these strings are as good as it gets for an authentic baroque sound, they of course bow very nicely with a beautiful warm gut sound. Chi-Chi Nwanoku (Principal of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) uses these strings...you should check out her website for sound clips...

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Calvin Marks

Ken, have you tried Damien Dlogolecki strings? I have a G and D on my bass right now because I'm doing some period playing, these strings are as good as it gets for an authentic baroque sound, they of course bow very nicely with a beautiful warm gut sound. Chi-Chi Nwanoku (Principal of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) uses these strings...you should check out her website for sound clips...

Never tried them but I am looking for regular Orchestra Strings, not any specific 'period'. I have the Chordas on a Bass now and they are not so easy to play. I start rehearsals next week and 2 concerts after that. From the looks of it now, the Guts may not make it to the show!

[Calvin Marks]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

Never tried them but I am looking for regular Orchestra Strings, not any specific 'period'. I have the Chordas on a Bass now and they are not so easy to play. I start rehearsals next week and 2 concerts after that. From the looks of it now, the Guts may not make it to the show!

IMO Chorda's work better for jazz playing. Pirastro claims that they're an "authentic period instrument string" but I disagree...anything by Damian Dlugolecki or Aquila puts Chorda's to shame in every category. I don't think you'll find anyone playing in a section using pure gut strings today...I've seen a lot of section bassists use Eudoxa's and Olivs, but let's be honest...A Eudoxa is close to that good old beefy gut sound but it's no cigar for bach, handel, vivaldi, telemann. I take it you've tried Olivs Ken? These might be a good match for symphony playing, they blend well with steel and still have an attractive gut sound...kinda the best of both worlds.

If I can be completely honest with you, I have on my bass now a Eudoxa A, tuned to 415, I recently swapped it for a Dominant and the Dominant matched the unwound guts on top better. I really found there to be a huge gap in sound between natural gut and Eudoxa's/Olivs.

[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.

[Ken Smith]

Ok, if anyone's still listening.. I did a rehearsal last Thursday night and Saturday morning with the Guts. After the Sunday Concert (the first of two Concerts), I questioned the other Bassists in the section and they think the Guts did just fine. Plenty of Pizz and Arco switching in this program especially in the 'West Side Story'. Steels would be better for some things but not all around. The Guts are way easier on my fingers for the Pizz. Also, we are playing outdoors so you don't hear the Bass coming back to you off a wall like in a regular indoor venue.

Tonight we did the second Concert at another Park and used the same Bass and strings. It was about the same results as Sunday (Fathers Day).

Although these may not be the best Guts for this Bass or for me on any Bass for that matter, I felt they had to be tested in action before passing judgment. I just wish I had a program to use the LaBellas on awhile back as I only played them in the office. Hopefully soon, I will test another set from them and try it on at least one Concert this time.

I am waiting for Labella to make me an Ext.E/C which I was told was possible. Then I will give it a better try the 2nd time around. Actually, I think I liked the Labella Guts a little more than the Chordas but it was well over a year ago and it was a different Bass as well. Not the best way to compare but it's all I can remember.

On the Lombardi Bass I had to move the Bridge up closer to the Fingerboard to raise the string height (after I set the sound post) because it was just too low and doesn't have any adjusters. I might just have Arnold make me a new Bridge soon without Adjusters for now and keep the Guts on this Bass. Moving the sound post closer to the Bridge (or vise versa actually) should probably help with a bad Wolf I have on the A-string. Also, making the string length longer (or where it should be) should help as well. Still, with all the 'fudging', I still enjoyed this experiment to date.

Also, I have been told that lighter weighted Basses are better candidates for Gut strings than heavier Basses. The Lombardi feel light in comparison to my other Basses so that's one of the reasons I picked it for the test.

Either way, it has been fun playing on these Guts for the last week in action. These Chordas are well made professional strings. Having very little to go by I can't say much more about them other than they sound nice and fat, like they look.. lol

[Pete George]

I think I'm going to try playing a set of the Genssler guts in my orchestras.

He makes almost anything you'd want, including a long C.

Not having played guts at all in about four decades, I'm going to go first with the wrapped guts. If that works, I'll probably go to unwrapped (D and G, anyway) the next time I re-string.

These will go on my Arvi, which is about six years old, but with a pretty dark, full sound.

I'll report back if anyone is interested.