anyone try these cheap guts?

[wilsonn]

This looks too good to be true, which means it surely is, but wondering if any of his recent buyers have been TB members who will comment on these strings.
thanks
Neal

http://cgi.ebay.com/Global-Upright-D...QQcmdZViewItem

[Marcus Johnson]

"They are rectified to bring them to a standard diameter".

So that's how they get 'em outta there...

[wilsonn]

LOL

[Carl Johnson]

"They are rectified to bring them to a standard diameter".

So that's how they get 'em outta there...

Coffee out my nose!?!?!

[KSB - Ken Smith]

The G, D, A and E strings are plain gut, (GDAE) in the following four tensions/gauges Length- 180cm

String Diameter (in millimeters): E 4.5, A 3.7, D 2.8, G 2.1

Ok.. so they are all plain gut. But, how will the tension be on the A and E?

Wasn't it the copper windings 200 years ago that added enough mass and specific gravity to have a 4th string tuned down to E that could be heard when most of the Basses in England, France and Italy were 3 string?

Has anyone here ever used all 4 strings plain gut without windings? Please tell us how they were.

[wilsonn]

Good point, Ken. In previous auctions, they've sold single strings, so one could buy their G and D bare gut, and match them gut-friendly A and E. Still hoping that someone here has taken a chance on them and can report. I'd love to try gut, but a set of Gamuts are out of my range right now.
Neal

[Uncletoad]

You get what you pay for.

Cheap gut strings are suitable for fishing line and tennis rackets.

You're better off with garden variety steel strings.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

Has anyone here ever used all 4 strings plain gut without windings? Please tell us how they were.

I've tried the Upton "Clef" set briefly on a student's bass (Eberle ply). For jazz pizz, they were okay, but it was a case of diminishing return from high to low- pitches and volume on the E string were almost nonexistent. Arco was a little better for me. On a better bass, played by someone who's more used to playing guts, it would probably be a better result.

[KSB - Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

I've tried the Upton "Clef" set briefly on a student's bass (Eberle ply). For jazz pizz, they were okay, but it was a case of diminishing return from high to low- pitches and volume on the E string were almost nonexistent. Arco was a little better for me. On a better bass, played by someone who's more used to playing guts, it would probably be a better result.

Did you try these with the Bow? Also, how do other Es sound on that Bass?

It would be interesting to hear from anyone that have played/bowed both the Clef and these Ebay Guts from India and compare them IF anyone has tried them both on the same Bass.

Economic cost of making strings has to factor in the price as well. Do you think these String made or sold from India might be available in other packages as well like another brand but the same exact string?

If I bought a set of unvarnished Gut I would try somehow to Varnish them. I was thinking of our Gel Varnish we put on as the final coats of our oil/varnish process on our BGs.

I would have to pick one of my Basses and designate it as a Gut-String-Only-Bass to get the best from it. Perhaps an older Bass that was made when Guts were the only game in town and is still not overly fortified for Steels, just a thought. Using a Steel set-up and then just throwing Guts on it may not get you the best out of the Gut experience I would think. Think back if you can of when you took a bass with Guts that never saw a steel string and what had to be done to the Bass to make it work with Steels. Replacing the Bassbar was done on many Basses as well but often too late after damage occurred.

[KSB - Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

It would be interesting to hear from anyone that have played/bowed both the Clef and these Ebay Guts from India and compare them IF anyone has tried them both on the same Bass.

Ok, I will be satisfied with review of JUST the Clef brand Bowed. I am curious in classical type playing how this fat E and A for thet matter Bow. I have some experience with G and D guts but have never played the lower two unwrapped.

Anyone Bowing these Clefs in Classical out there?

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

Did you try these with the Bow? Also, how do other Es sound on that Bass?

It was pretty brief... and I'm pretty much a "jazz arco" guy, so I'm sure you could get more out of them. In addition, that particular bass is not all that strong with any E on it.... the best I've heard it was with Eurosonics, but even that was a little anemic. So you raise a couple of good points. But the arco sound was nice to my my ears.... and I was able to get 'em moving without any real "drama".

They felt really nice... big, of course. I would like to give them a longer workout on a better bass before making any kind of judgment call.

[nathanmcnathan]

Has anybody noticed that the strings are being sold by a place called EMERSON SPORTS?!?!?!?!?

[Peck_Time]

Originally Posted by nathanmcnathan

Has anybody noticed that the strings are being sold by a place called EMERSON SPORTS?!?!?!?!?

Wow Sports guts! they make you play faster!

[KSB - Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by nathanmcnathan

Has anybody noticed that the strings are being sold by a place called EMERSON SPORTS?!?!?!?!?

And... has anyone noticed that they are the EXACT same gauges as the CLEF Guts as advertised not to mention the text of both ads? The only difference is the Upton mention of 'made by European Craftsman'. Is India considered Europe yet?..lol

I am not implying they are the same strings. It's just kind of close from what I can see. Also, it's the only two companies that sell all 4 strings plain gut which today is quite rare.

I may just have to get some and see what they can do.

[KSB - Ken Smith]

Hey, is it me of were they selling on Ebay yesterday for $100? Now it's selling for $105.

Now I see 2/$199 with free shipping.

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

Hey, is it me of were they selling on Ebay yesterday for $100? Now it's selling for $105.

Now I see 2/$199 with free shipping.

Yer driving the price up Ken. Quit talking before they go to $150.

[KSB - Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

Yer driving the price up Ken. Quit talking before they go to $150.

Well, Mr. Keeper of the Cows..(lol).. I have some information about String history to remind people about past problems with Guts..

In The Brun book he talks about the problems they had 200 years ago producing a good A string and the problems with anything below that including an E string. The plain Guts did not have enough weight mass to produce clear equal volume low notes until coper wire covered As and Es came out.

Why is it then after 200 years they are selling 'all' Gut sets again. Didn't we learn the hard way 2 centuries ago? I guess most of you are too young to remember King George III be-heading 2 Bass players for using a 4-string Bass when all the rest were doing just fine with 3-strings. Of course when the new covered Guts came out, it was too late to re-head those two Bassists.

Ok.. bad joke.. It was bad then and it's just as bad now.. lol

Bottom line is that Guts today have their limitations. Gut As and Es have even more limitations. Why bother? Do any Pros bother with these 'all gut' sets?

I think it would be nice if we had some kind of 'Consumer Reports' stickys on various String types. I know we have and have had many stickys but we need some that are more factual for all and not just peoples tastes.

I started a couple of Threads on Guts for fact finding and I am still not sure I even want to waste my time changing strings much less the expense of buying strings.

My best sounding Bass is my Cornerless Italian attr. to Storioni. That Bass pumps some air regardless of what string I put on it. I was thinking of trying Guts on that Bass but I recently tried several sets of Steels on it (Flex 92s, Hellicore solo and Flatchromes) and I can't see any advantage in wasting my time with Guts.

[R Sturm]

I made them an offer and they countered, so if you are interested try it and save a few dollars over buy it now. Probably with shipping it'll be $100, maybe a little less. I didn't buy them after all, I got Lenzers. No reason to believe that either one is superior, both are probably fairly typical for all guts.

Ken is right, and maybe that's why basses had only 3 strings for a long time. 4 and 5 strings only started making sense when there were alternatives to pure gut.

However, all guts do have a place for the right music. If the note isn't that important, just the boom (and possibly followed by a whack, whack), all guts might be the ticket.

My experience: They are wonderful as long as you don't care too much about pitch or want to bow. Feel great, you can play hard for hours without getting blisters. Good that there isn't that much pitch because they go out of tune all the time anyway (steels stabilize in a few hours, synthetics in a few days, guts never). A bass with all guts is a much closer cousin to the washtub bass than to a cello. I enjoy them for that (and their easiness on the hands), they are fun, and I'll keep them on my beater bass for the right occasions, like this one:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hk4CzOfMJVs

Gives you an idea of how all guts sound. I'd say no discernible pitch below the D, but they play easy, slap is mellow. That day (a month after I put them on), they still went 1/4 note flat every 20 mins.

Forget about bowing (even the top 2 strings have a very nasal tone to it, hard to start as well - very baroque like, but maybe you care about authenticity. Steel strings spoiled me).

If you are looking for a powerful and clear sound, don't go that way. I have steel strings on my other basses for that reason. Guts are fun to play in the right setting, though.

[nathanmcnathan]

I think it's kinda dumb - you don't see any other string players going back to guts, outide of a baroque ensemble.

[milomo]

Originally Posted by nathanmcnathan

I think it's kinda dumb - you don't see any other string players going back to guts, outide of a baroque ensemble.

Wrong. There are plenty of jazz players who play gut strings.