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String Workshop Update - Production Insights
Several of our customers have asked about the current state of the Gamut Music string workshop, so I thought I would offer a short description of the changes we have made in recent years to ensure that you receive the best quality natural gut strings that we can make.
I have been in close contact with our suppliers to impress upon them the necessity of very high quality gut to start with. We got a supply of sheep gut from Egypt a few years ago, but it was less promising than the samples they first sent us — a problem we have encountered multiple times with different suppliers in recent years. The strings were very strong, but there were numerous casings with irregular qualities making them unsuitable for strings. I was disappointed that the yield was not more per hank, which drives up the cost of string manufacturing. The quality of raw gut we receive currently is very good, but each shipment can come with its own unique characteristics and potential production issues.
We put a new water softening system in the twisting workshop that includes a carbon filter to remove chlorine and other chemicals, so we have the most pure and pH neutral water possible for making strings (it definitely does not hurt that our water in Duluth comes from Lake Superior, which is of exceptionally good quality to start with). This allows us to control the processing of the gut more completely with confidence that there will be no reactions in the water with the chemicals we use.
The drying cycle for the strings has been extended to 48 hours or longer to ensure that the collagen in the strings bonds thoroughly and make the strongest strings possible. We have also put in some extra environmental controls to maintain a more even humidity through the twisting and drying processes.
Strings are seasoned for at least two weeks after the drying cycle before they are processed, and in most cases longer than that (contrabass strings, for example, take up to six weeks). Additionally, more testing is taking place with each batch of strings to check on the strength and durability of the batches. The standard for gut strength is expressed as the breaking tension and the surface area of the cross section of the string, as Kilograms of tension divided by the surface area: Kg/mm².
There are two types of strength tests that are done on gut: one is called Knot-Pull, which tests the tension at which the string will break when knotted, and the other is the Straight-Pull test where the strength of the straight string is established. Gut strength is usually expressed from the Straight-Pull figures and suture makers of the 20th century established the standard of about 50 Kg/mm² for beef gut and about 40 Kg/mm² for sheep gut.
The tests on our current beef gut production focus on the Straight-Pull test and we are getting between 50 Kg/mm² and 56 Kg/mm² and the sheep gut is testing between 40 Kg/mm² and 45 Kg/mm². In musical terms, this means that a beef gut violin e-1 string of .62mm will break at about “g” above the violin “e,” and a .62mm sheep gut string will break at about “g#” above the violin “e.” This is at a pitch of a=440.
Gut is a funny material and the changes and tests we are doing help a lot to ensure consistency in quality, but, still, some strings will break as is the nature of gut. Please be assured that we are always working to reduce this possibility.
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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.