The BEST Guts for Orchestra Playing?

[Pete G]

I'm thinking of setting up a bass with all gut strings, strictly for orchestra playing. It would be nice if the setup were one accepted by conductors, contractors, etc. for authentic early music performance.

That said, what do you gutophiles consider the very best gut strings for orchestral playing, assuming string cost is no object? (The wife can always get a second job.)

I'd be grateful for any and all responses!
Thanks,
PG

[Bobby King]

http://gamutstrings.com/

Of course, as you say, this would be for "authentic early music performance". Contemporary orchestra conductors, contractors and bass sections would not take kindly to gut.

[Pete G]

Originally Posted by Bobby King

http://gamutstrings.com/

Of course, as you say, this would be for "authentic early music performance". Contemporary orchestra conductors, contractors and bass sections would not take kindly to gut.

Is that really such an issue? I have heard that Arnold Gregorian has continued to play gut strings in the Baltimore Symphony, years after other players moved to steel. I also played in the mid-80s in a good university orchestra with a New York player named Phil Fried who used guts and sounded great.

Anyone have any recent experiences on this score?

[Bobby King]

Pete,

I'm not really an expert on this, I've often heard that the timbre of bowed gut really sticks out against steel, but perhaps it depends on the individual bassist, bass, etc.
Better informed perspectives are likely to appear here.

Gamut strings are excellent however!

[Jeremy Allen]

John Hood of the Philadelphia Orchestra mentioned to me that he loves to play Pirastro Olivs in the orchestra. Of course, at the time he had his bass strung with Original Flatchromes (which are steel strings), and I don't know if he would use a full set of Olivs or mix-and-match. I also think Olivs aren't the kind of thing that early music folks regard as being "authentic" (a tough term to work with).

[Jake]

I saw another contemporary bassist from the Met on the Pirastro site that also plays Olives.

[Adrian Cho]

The important point here is that wound guts (like Olivs) can blend fine with a section of steel string players but unwound gut (like the Gamuts) definitely will not. Unwound guts (at least on G and D) are expected for authentic early music performance.

[GriffithLea]

It's been a while, but about 18 years ago I was playing Pirastro Eudoxa's on my carved bass of the time. Loved the sound, but they're expensive and don't last as long as e.g. Helicores.

[toman]

To me, Olivs are like candy.

[GriffithLea]

Heh - I often say Eudoxa's are the dark chocolate of bass strings.

[bejoyous]

RobW uses gut strings and he sounds great. I've heard him a few times at auditions and his bass has a really deep wall of sound. You coud PM him to find out what brand he uses.

[Ashley Long]

Gamut all the way, best (unwound) gut strings Ive found for tuning stability and general longevity.

[toman]

Originally Posted by GriffithLea

Heh - I often say Eudoxa's are the dark chocolate of bass strings.

I would agree with that, but if the Eudoxas are dark chocolate, Olivs are like rich, creamy hand-made caramels. You know, the kind that really make your teeth hurt?

[Don Higdon]

Originally Posted by Jake

I saw another contemporary bassist from the Met on the Pirastro site that also plays Olives.

Jeremy McCoy. Also Louise Koby, Orchestra of St Luke's. Her sound inspired me to go to Olivs several years ago.

[gor-gy]

hello pete here's xav' from france. for orcherstral playing you can try with PIRASTRO chorda it's THE set from Pirastro for earlier music D /G : gut extrem twist A /E : silver plate on gut. It's my favorite set I play lot of "folkloric music" ( balkan, gypsy, western...) and that's arco / pizz / or slap the string are always ok. it's the more extrem twist that's I saw, the twist is just horizontal so you can put your string and play immediately, the tune is well, the are varnished, . you can find that the "sound" of your bow on silver plate is a litte bite agressive than seel. But it's the biggest warm sound that i heard on my bass. The oliv are great too is you prefer a easy arco ( the "sound bow" it's the same that steel) playing, you can try E /A oliv + D / G chorda ( the G / D chorda can be mix with all Pirastro gut). otherwise do you know KUERSCHNER saiten ( www.kuerschner-saiten.de/ ) it's great german gut string maker ( for all kind instrument ) it's a good and really cheap it's not a "gut joke" like some gut string on internet. it's a just real good gut with a honest price ... i hope you understand me, & let's swing baby

[toman]

Originally Posted by gor-gy

let's swing baby

errr... Let's not.