< Back to Articles
Do Gut Strings Smell?
By Adam Guggemos
Occasionally we see comments regarding the smell of natural gut strings: “putrid,” “musty,” “like rotting animal matter,” “similar to a wet dog,” “smelling of organs(??),” “vaguely of feces,” etc.
Correctly manufactured natural gut strings are just bonded collagen and are fairly inert in terms of pH and odor (although they are quite hygroscopic, meaning they can pick up smells from the surrounding environment if not mindfully stored). Once the gut material is properly cleaned, scraped, processed, twisted, dried, and polished, they should not smell like much of anything at all.
At the final stages of production, Gamut Music strings are hand-rubbed with a light oil (and coated with optional string varnish), which will be the most notable odor coming from the gut string.
Improper initial cleaning of the gut — removal of fat, feces, muscularis, submucosa, and muscularius muscosae — can lead off-putting smells, but this is a flaw in the manufacturing process, not an inherent quality of correctly made gut strings.
Think of gut strings like a basement: if it smells there is a problem, because a basement (and gut strings) should not smell.