Labella guts: info and experiences wanted!

[Captain_joe6]

After all the passion that went into the last thread of ours, I felt it time to end that one and begin fresh. My new question: What are people's experiences with the LaBella 980 Plain Gut set (the one with the bare G and D and the wrapped A and E as seen here: http://shop1.mailordercentral.com/le...p?number=S1550)? And secondly, I can't remember ever hearing anyone talk about going arco on wrapped strings. Is it possible? Would it be possible with these? Thanks much!

[KSB - Ken Smith]

Gee, when we used them in HS there was so much rosin on the strings you couldn't even see the space between the windings down by the bridge.

I think they had a wider and less direct sound with Pizz and a similar but slightly smoother sound than the G and D did. I believe that most Gut sets then were Wound Bottoms and Plain Tops.

BTW, When Labella was in NY/Queens I used to go to the factory. They had this Vat like a Fridge where they cured/dried the Gut as they were being made. Laborous type of process that takes dedication.

[jneuman]

Originally Posted by Captain_joe6

After all the passion that went into the last thread of ours, I felt it time to end that one and begin fresh. My new question: What are people's experiences with the LaBella 980 Plain Gut set (the one with the bare G and D and the wrapped A and E as seen here: http://shop1.mailordercentral.com/le...p?number=S1550)? And secondly, I can't remember ever hearing anyone talk about going arco on wrapped strings. Is it possible? Would it be possible with these? Thanks much!

Captain

Please see my new post in the other Gut Strings thread for some more info. Do not be afraid of bowing on round wound gut. It is very doable and historically more accurate than anything else for the E string at least. Bowing on roundwound wrapped gut strings has been going on since they were first introduced in the 1600's. It seems that historically that use of unwound gut E strings was rare after the beginning of the 1800's. The poor response of the unwound E was one reason the move was made to go with the 3-string bass in Italy rather than the 4-string according to Paul Brun's research. Although the norm for a long time, the unwound A string largely went away by the early/middle part of the 20th Century depending on what country one was in. In contrast, Flatwound gut like Pirastro strings is a relatively new developement. Modern string making techniques are required to make the flat wrap stay intact with the gut cores' forever changng diameter according to one gut string maker.
-Jon