Gut/Metal-Wound Strings

Gamut Music offers a unique line of gut/metal-wound strings for bowed and plucked instruments. The machines used to put the wire on the gut cores were manufactured and originally used by the Perfection Musical String Co. of Brunswick, IN — the company that made the old Wonder Tone, Gold Label, and Tricolore strings. The cello string machine in our workshop was made in about 1900 and has been making strings almost daily for over 120 years.

The recipes of the strings, the diameters of gut and wire, have been carefully researched to duplicate the kind of tones and tensions that were used historically.

Silver-Wound / Gut Core (polished)

We use pure silver wire that is specially drawn and tempered to our specifications for each type of instrument. The silver wire is laid onto the core in tandem, except for the equal tension silver-wound strings which have a single wire wound on to them. The wire is round, but when the wire is in place on the core it is polished so that the surface of the string is smooth. The tone of the silver string is characterized by warmth and power.

Silver/Copper-Wound / Gut Core (polished)

This type of string is represented by several extant samples of strings from the early 1800s that were made for the violin and cello. The copper and silver wires are laid onto the gut core in tandem creating a striped barber-pole affect if the string is looked at closely. Like the silver-wound strings, the round wire is wound onto the core and then polished smooth. Since the speed of sound is faster in copper than it is in silver, the copper wire lends a little brightness to the tone of these strings making the silver/copper-wound string a good choice for an instrument that has a dark lower register, or if you just want to try a new tone on your instrument.

Silver-Plated Copper-Wound / Gut Core (round wire)

One of the most common wires seen on historical strings is silver-plated copper. Before the advent of electroplating, wire was plated with silver through a chemical process and there are extant strings of this type that were made for the violin family and keyboard instruments. The wire we use, like the historical examples, is round and left round on the core so that the tops of the wire can be felt. If the wire were polished the plating would be removed. The tone of these strings is very bright and this is a good, general use string for most instruments.

Copper-Wound / Gut Core (polished)

This is a special string we make only for the violin and contrabass. It consists of a round copper wire that is wound onto the gut core and then polished smooth. It has a bright tone, but because the wire is polished it is not as bright as a round wire string. The copper string is especially useful for instruments that have a dark lower register that needs to have the tone brightened and clarified.

Wound Strings Are Available For:

    • Violin: G-4

    • Viola: G-3 and C-4

    • Cello: G-3 and C-4

    • Contrabass A-3, E-4 and C/D-5

    • Bass viol: G-5, D-6 and A-7

    • Tenor viol: C-5 and G-6

    • Treble viol: G-5 and D-6

Underlayer and No Underlayer

Gamut gut/metal-wound strings come with a silk underlayer by default to increase the internal damping, which gives the string a warmer tone. We offer the option for Academie gut/metal-wound strings to exclude the silk underlayer.

What Are Those Little Black Squares That Came With My String??

The little black squares are anti-tarnish strips put in the envelopes of strings wound in sterling silver to avoid tarnish.