Insights Into the String Trade of the Early 20th Century

"The Making of Strings for Musical Instruments From a Commercial and Sentimental Standpoint by Charles Bobzin, 1905

Germany, the country in which 80% of the Gut strings are manufactured for the use of stringed instruments, secures the gut from the sheep raised in the mountains of Afghanistan, Roumania [sic], Cashmere, Manchuria, Bulgaria, Barbary, England and many parts of Asia Minor, Russia and the Northern Coast of Africa.

Italy absorbs its supplies from the sheep that are bred on the islands in the Mediterranean, namely; Crete, Corsica, Sicily, Sardinia, Malta, and the mountains of Greece, Turkey and the Himalayas.

Curiously enough England controls the market for the raw material, and it is in that country the preparation for its use in the manufacture of strings begins. After it is properly prepared and baled, it is shipped to Germany and Italy, ready for the consumption of the manufacturers there, and the finished product is in turned shipped from Germany, and Italy, to all corners of the earth.

It is quite impossible to go into detail of the manufacture, but the art of manufacturing violin strings has been so much improved during the past 25 years, that German strings as delivered to the consumer today, can be produced for about one-third of the cost 25 years ago. In the office of Mr. Robert B. Gregory, of Lyon & Healy's, are two bills in a frame. One of these bills calls for one bundle of violin E strings No. 30 at $4.50, and beside it is another bill made about the year 1900, for one bundle of violin E strings No. 30 at $1.80. During the 70's violin strings came into this country free of duty, but the strings billed in 1900 paid a duty of 45%. It is easy to see, therefore, that the Germans have not stood still in the matter of manufacturing strings for musical instruments; on the contrary they have improved their methods, improved their machinery, improved their facilities, and increased their output to such an extent that today the best German strings can be bought by the retail purchaser for a fraction of what they paid 25 years ago. The German strings are sought after by users that exact and demand lasting qualities.

Quite the reverse must be said of the Italian makers. The system of manufacture in Italy has not undergone any marked improvements during the past 25 years. The strings come from Italy today in the same primitive way, and are sought for by musicians who purchase them for tonal qualities and regardless of their lasting qualities. The gut is prepared in such a way by the Italians, and the quality of gut used is so fine, that the application of a bow to it wears through the strands quickly, consequently the Italian strings cannot be recommended for strength, but only for tone. It is a curious paradox, therefore, that the tensile strength of Italian strings is one-third greater than the tensile strength of German strings. One of our best string makers recently tested a German string 21 inches long with weights, and it broke when a weight of 15 pounds was attached to it. On the contrary an Italian string of the same length broke only after a weight of 20 pounds was attached.

Many strings come to America, and are sold for Italian that are made in Germany. It is also a fact that many strings are sold in Italy for genuine Italian strings which have been first shipped from Germany to Italy, after being especially prepared to imitate the Italian strings.

There are but few makers of strings in Italy, while in Germany their number is legion, and the strings of commerce, or in other words, the strings the jobbers and the retailers use to make money with, are put in attractive boxes and beautiful envelopes, with attractive names by the Germans, while many of these strings are really worthy of consideration as first-class and reliable, the great majority of them fall far short, and below the standard of excellence advertised. Frequently certain brands of strings are put before the buying public with a great blare of trumpets, and a tremendous amount of advertising, and are really what they are represented to be at the start, but gradually the greed of the parties selling them overcomes their better judgement, and the envelopes in which the strings are put will be stuffed with inferior strings. This soon ends the popularity of that particular brand and the owner concludes it is better and wiser to drop it and start over again. It is, therefore, the part of wisdom for the small buyers and retailers, to confine themselves to purchasing from houses of known integrity.

A bit of advice right here will not come amiss. If interested readers are using strings, or selling them, and the source of supplies is entirely satisfactory, stick to it, don't change.

A tradition exists that good strings must be very clear and white. In a measure this is true but many manufacturers use a bleaching process that is harmful, and the strings lose their strength because of this process. The season of the year, and the weather has much to do with the beauty of color, and the months of June, July and August, are usually chosen for the manufacture of the finest qualities, and when the weather is propitious the artificial process of bleaching is entirely unnecessary, therefore, do not be suspicious of strings that are what some call 'off color,' rather be suspicious of the very clear strings, unless you know with whom you are dealing.

Another tradition has it that when strings are old they are not good. Experience has taught us that is strings are properly cared for, age strengthens them and does not interfere with their tonal qualities. By properly cared for we mean they must be left in original packages. We know of several musicians connected with the large orchestras in this country who use Italian strings, buying them when fresh and full of oil and permitting them to mature by putting them aside for several months. One of the first violinists in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, going to far as to tell us that he placed fresh Italian strings on his window sill in the sunlight and let them lay for a week or ten days, before attempting to use them, claiming the sunlight added both to their strength and the beauty of tone. This, however, is severe treatment and we do not recommend it.

Of recent years the Germans have been coating gut strings with a preparation that makes them moisture proof, and the strings are eminently satisfactory and practical for use during hot weather. In fact they are more satisfactory and give fuller and better tone, than the silk strings manufactured in Germany and France, which are the so called 'hot weather' strings.

Little can be said of the strings manufactured in France. Both the gut and wound strings are very inferior in lasting qualities. They are bleached by artificial process and as a rule have no strength. The only useful strings coming from France are the double bass strings, and they are imported to America in very large quantities, because of cheapness.

The manufacture of gut strings in America, up to the present time has been experimental. A maker in Chicago has been fairly successful, but we think it doubtful if he lives long enough to see the American product preferred to the imported. We think his heirs will reap benefits from his labors, which have been commendable and earnest.

The manufacture of wound strings at the present time is an exact science, and the sense of touch is as necessary for an expert winder or spinner of wire wound string, as it is for the blind. A singular condition prevails with the wound string industry. America leads the world in this direction. Some years ago all the strings used in America, were brought from Germany, France and Italy, including wound strings. Today we bring to this country what is called spinning gut, wind it and reship it to all the countries from which we formerly derived our supplies. Another case of the 'Yankee beats the world.'

The winding of gut strings for violin, violoncello and double bass, is a fine art and the process is elaborate. There are but few manufacturers in America, and if these manufacturers were not experts and artists in their particular lines, they would soon be driven out of business. It has been a problem for years, and the problem has been solved at last, how to produce a wound string that would not rattle. An elaborate system of stretching the gut has been invented and when the tension is right another system comes into play that puts the stretched string into a machine without varying the tension. When properly placed the string is ready for winding, and it is then the sense of touch becomes useful. Instinct guides the spinner, and long experience teaches him, or her, how to use what might be called another sense. There are, of course, many qualities of spinning gut used, and the sense of touch, and the quality, are not considered when manufacturing the cheaper strings, but for the better strings the best Italian gut is used, and by the best we mean strings with four strands. It is here where the tensile strength of the Italian strings excel, and when used prove much more satisfactory than the German strings. There are a number of string winders in America, who lay much stress upon the fact that they wind strings by foot power, and consequently secure better results. Don't believe it. The most perfect strings are wound on machines with which either steam or electricity is used, and the old fashioned notion that what is made by hand is better than what is made by machinery, does not apply. The most expert and scientific winder of gut strings for musical instruments, known to us at the present time, is Mr. Hugo Schindler of Boston. he is too honest to ever become rich, as his motto is: Never make a poor string for the sake of filling your purse. Mr. Schindler has recently added to his laurels, and proved himself a careful student of acoustics, by placing before discriminating musicians a wound D string for the violin. Ten years ago it would have been impossible to place such a string on the market, for the reason that the materials necessary for the manufacture of wound D violin strings were not to be had, and not known. In the manufacture of these strings only the finest Italian gut can be used, which is spun with aluminum wire, and unknown product ten years ago. While aluminum is a musical metal it has never before been successfully used for the manufacture of anything connected with a musical instrument, but its peculiar properties are such that when used for a D violin string make it superior in many ways to the gut string now in use, as it balances the tone and clarifies it to such an extent the transition from gut to wound strings is practically unnoticed, and the usual break and change in the nature of tone between the D and G strings is entirely eliminated.

Mr. Schindler is also the only string winder in the world who has made it possible to give particular violinists the most beautiful and responsive G string ever placed upon a violin. This G string is spun on finest Italian gut, with pure gold, and never before has such fulsome praise, and such instantaneous success been accorded a string winder, because of his enterprise, which emanates entirely from a sentimental source and because of the great desire to satisfy the cravings of people with artistic temperaments for beauty and responsiveness of tone.

These pure gold strings are costly and unprofitable, never the less there is not a state, territory or foreign country in which they are not known today, and up to the present time they have never been successfully imitated in foreign countries.

The manufacture of steel strings originated in the city of Boston, about the year 1875. The idea was conceived by a firm named Stedman & Morse, and this was at the time the heavy duties were exacted by the government on gut strings. In the beginning these steel strings were manufactured with a desire to supplant the use of gut strings, and were made always of the better qualities. The demand for steel strings, however, never lessened, but a permanent demand for gut strings has been established, and today they are a necessity, and useful in many ways, and for many instruments.

The largest manufacturers of steel strings, guitar strings wound on silk, banjo strings wound on silk, and wound strings of all descriptions in the world, are the National Musical String Company, and 'long may they wave,' because of their desire always to give their clientele the best that money can buy.

We have before us a table of statistics showing the exports to the United States, from Germany of musical instruments and accessories, beginning with the year 1896, and ending with the year 1903. In 1896, according to this report, the U.S. brought from Germany, Marks 427,029 worth of gut string, and in 1903, Marks 280,326. Why there was such a falling off and a steady decrease during the eight years following 1896, we do not know, but we do know that three jobbing houses in the U.S. imported from Germany 75% of the gross amount received in 1903, and these houses are located in the three principal cities of America, Boston, New York and Chicago."

— The Crescendo, November, 1909