Wound Strings: Underlayer vs. No Underlayer

By default, Gamut gut/metal-wound strings come with a thin wrapping of silk that is wound around the gut core before the wire (silver, silverplate, copper, copper/silver) is wound on.

The effect of the underlayer is to increase the internal damping in the string which gives the string a warmer tone. Without the underlayer, the tone of the string is brighter and has more of the lush, ravishing tone attributed to historical times. The addition of the underlayer also assists in stabilizing the string and increases its longevity.

According to our research, it is unlikely that such an underlayer would have been used on gut/metal-wound music strings before about 1900 — and for those players who want to explore the true nature of historical strings, we offer to make Academie strings without this buffer layer.

Will the Underlayer Protect Against Changes to Humidity?

There is no difference in regard to protection against humidity with underlayer versus no underlayer. The gut core will expand or shrink depending on the environment, regardless of windings.

The best advice we can give to protect your strings is to shoot for 30-45% relative humidity and a temperature-consistent environment.