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Gamut strings are hand-made to order — shipping timelines are calculated from when your order leaves the workshop, not when the order was placed. We will send a sales receipt with tracking # when your order leaves the shop.

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Contrabass A-3 Pistoy

Academie

5 reviews Write a Review
SKU:
A432_
﷼1,246.01
Width:
8.00 (in)
Height:
8.00 (in)
Depth:
0.10 (in)
Shipping:
Calculated at Checkout
﷼1,246.01

Description

Table of Contrabass Gauges
  Light Light+ Medium Medium+ Heavy Heavy+
A-3 Pistoy 3.80mm 3.86mm 3.90mm 3.96mm 4.00mm 4.06mm

 

Gamut Academie strings are designed for Baroque instruments by those musicians playing historical performance practice at a=415, and are perfectly suitable for modern a=440 practice, but the result will be a little bit more tension at a=440.

This is a single-length (80", 200cm), double twist, Pistoy-style contrabass (double bass) string made with beef serosa available with either a natural or varnish finish.

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. There is an additional charge for varnished strings. 

In order to secure the bass string in the tailpiece, Gamut Music has developed the use of a leather washer as a stop. A washer is an option you can choose if you do not want to tie a knot at the end of the string as a securing feature. Bass strings are quite thick and sometimes stiff, and tying a knot can be complex and inelegant. The leather washer is a reliable and secure solution to the problem of securing the string at the tailpiece.

The Pistoy string is a unique development of Daniel Larson at Gamut Music. It is named for the town in Italy which was famous for producing the best string for basses, being "flexible, smooth, and well twisted." Our reproduction is made of three strands of gut twisted in one direction, and then the three combined together by twisting in the other direction in rope fashion. When dry, the string is polished down to the specific gauge required by the instrument. The results are a very flexible string with a quick response and a full, round sound. The string is characterized by a noticeable twist and flexible feel.

This is not a polished catline as some think. At first glance this might look like such a thing. However, the Pistoy is fundamentally a different kind of string. It shares one trait with the catline in that the string is made with two directions of twists. This is where the similarity ends. The Pistoy has no space in the structure like the catline does, and therefore has the same density as any plain gut string. The Pistoy string is expensive to make because it takes a lot of time to sort the gut into small bundles to twist and retwist. The gain is in the flexibility. Even in thick gauges the string remains supple and responsive. The color ranges from clear white on thinner strings (1.00mm to 1.10mm) to opaque yellow on thicker strings.

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Hand-made in the USA by Gamut Music, Inc., a leader in the revival of early music strings and instruments. Gut strings are not intended to be used with fine tuners or string adjusters, and those devices should be removed before installing the gut string on the instrument.

All Gamut Academie strings (pure gut and gut/metal-wound) are made with beef serosa unless they specifically say "Sheep Gut." All pure gut Tricolore violin and viola strings are made with sheep gut; gut/metal-wound Tricolore and all Red Diamond strings are made with beef serosa.

Gamut gut string gauges are approximate (≈) diameter. Meaning, that while a ≈0.60mm string is polished in the workshop to a diameter of 0.60mm, changes in ambient humidity, temperature, shipping, and storage conditions can cause to string to expand or contract slightly.

Gimped gut strings and custom gauged equal tension strings are gauged with the equivalent-gauge (=) system. This means that the gauge listed, such as =1.50mm, indicates that the string is approximately equal in weight to a plain gut string of that diameter. Of course, because the wire is much heavier than gut, the string will be much thinner than a plain gut string.

More information about Gamut gut strings, string types, gauges, and string tensions can be found on our FAQ/Articles page. Not finding an answer to your question? Please contact us directly: support@gamutmusic.com.

Extra Information

Brand:
Academie
Width:
8.00 (in)
Height:
8.00 (in)
Depth:
0.10 (in)

    5 Reviews

  • Posted by Luico Hopper on Jun 3rd 2024

    5

    Contrabass A-3 Pistoy

    I recently acquired a Gamut Pistoy Natural Medium A string to go along with my other Gamut strings for my vintage Juzek bass. I am really happy I switched to the natural A. This string blends well with the rest of the set and after about a week of stretching, holds it’s pitch and feels great under the hands. I live in a hot desert area and did my first gig with the new A string having no issues with the string going out of tune. The string is a perfect match for my med. Pistoy D and med. Lyon G strings. I’m really enjoying playing the Gamut Gut strings and see why so many bassist mention they are “The “Cream Of The Crop”!!!

  • Posted by Dirk Dickson on Nov 2nd 2021

    5

    A bass string

    Lovely.

  • Posted by Monte on Jun 6th 2018

    5

    Getting close to a matching set!

    Got the A to go along with my D & G after my wrapped gut from another brand was starting to die. RIght out of the box big sound, minimal buzz, not as floppy and unlear as other plaun guts I've tried.

  • Posted by Matthew on Mar 23rd 2018

    5

    The king of A strings

    I bought the Pistoy plain A to replace a Lenzner plain A, which wasn't bad, but the Pistoy is in another league. It's an expensive string, but it sounds fantastic on my old German bass. It retains a lot of the clarity and crispness of higher pitched Pistoys, with a massive fundamental that fills the room with bass.

  • Posted by Josh on Apr 1st 2016

    5

    Awesome

    This pistoy gut a string is everything I dreamed of. I finally splurged and bought it as I got 20% off. It is a big hunk of thumpin sheep gut! Sounds absolutely amazing. I had a lenzner gut a string in before and the gamut blows it away. We actually wrote a song about this string in practice last night called the 'naughty a string'. Wildly expensive, but you get the sound you pay for.