Gamut Academie Gimped Gut is a standard length (48"/120cm) Pistoy-style string made of beef gut (beef serosa) with a copper wire twisted into the gut and polished smooth for extra flexibility. The Gimped string, being thinner and having some metal content, offers a brighter tone and quicker response than a plain gut string of the same gauge density.
The string comes with plain, unknotted ends. Instructions on how to tie a string knot are on the back of each package.
Plain gut strings are available with a natural or varnish finish. Natural strings are hand-rubbed with a light oil. Varnished strings have three coats of finish before being hand-polished with the oil.
Gimped strings are gauged by the Equivalent Gauge (=) system. This means that a given Gimped string is equal in weight to a plain gut string of that diameter, but because the wire is much heavier than gut, the string will be much thinner than a plain gut string. Gimped strings are characterized by a barber's pole or candy-stripe appearance of the wire in the twist of the gut.
Gimped strings were first mentioned in an advertisement in the 1664 edition of John Playford’s Introduction to the Skill of Music. The exact historical nature of these strings is not known, and the strings we produce are based on the descriptions of gimped lace of the period.
Gimped gut strings are best used for:
- Violin: D-3, G-4
- Viola: G-3, C-4
- Cello: G-3, C-4
- Bass Viol: C-4, G-5, D-6
- Tenor Viol: F-4, C-5 G-6
- Treble Viol: C-4 G-5, D-6
- Lute: C-5, G-6, and lower fundamentals
- Harp: Bass strings
Use our String Calculators to find the correct strings for your instrument. You can find Specific String Tensions here.
