Right string height for gut?

[nathanmcnathan]

Hey everybody. I've always wanted the sound of gut strings, and until now I've thought that I might not have the string height I need for guts. Will this work for guts?
G - 4.5-5mm
D - 6mm
A - 7.5-8mm
E - 8.5-9mm

I just quickly measured the heights, but I did it pretty accurately (I think). Any opinions?
Thanks!

[bonaventura]

Originally Posted by nathanmcnathan

Hey everybody.... Will this work for guts?
G - 4.5-5mm
D - 6mm
A - 7.5-8mm
E - 8.5-9mm

That would be what I could play with for steel strings, but gut needs room to vibrate.

How did you measure that? Fingerboard to the middle of the string? or only to the inside edge of the string?

[ablumley]

Nathan,

If you're seriously interested in putting gut strings on your bass, it's worth it to spend the money to get your instrument set up for them (nut & bridge slots widened, bridge height raised). Otherwise, you won't be able to get a decent acoustic sound and you also run the risk of shortening the life of expensive gut strings. I've encountered a few people playing with lower action, but they mostly use the wrapped sets like eudoxas or olives. If you want to use plain/wrapped gut string sets, you'll probably want action no lower than 7mm on the G and 9 or 10 mm on the E. Basses and the people who play them are all different, however, and you might find that you want to try even a little bit higher action. In my 9 months and counting of playing with gut strings, I've found that higher action will allow for a more articulate attack, therefore helping the projection, clarity and accuracy of each pitch. Also, your bow technique will take some time to adjust.

There's tons of information on these pages if you're really serious about getting guts. It's worth plowing through...

Aaron

[MT Spaces]

FWIW .... with my Gamut Pistoy G, D, Plain A and Garbo E .... I'm running 11 mm at E down to 9 mm at G. The bridge arc is cut somewhat flat and I have a bevelled Kay neck, I don't bow at all on this bass.

The bass is very playable right now but I will likely crank the bridge adjusters up even more. Sometimes the plain A gets wanking around a tad and hits the FB at times when I really don't want that nice click. It is all fairly controllable and depends a lot on the direction, angle, up-down fingerboard location, and gusto of my right hand single index finger pull.

So far in my limited experience with guts and pizz, higher is better to a large extent. These strings can be played pretty high without hurting my left hand at all .... very elastic.

[bonaventura]

FWIW, I've currently got Oliv G and Pizzicato D, A and E at about 7.5, 8, 9, and 10mm. I wouldn't want to be any lower.

Guts need more height to get the good sound and they play easier at a greater height than steel, energy-wise.

In terms of projection, the guts project up into the upper positions with more volume and clarity than steel, so you want to have them set up correctly.

If you don't have bridge height adjusters, that might be something to think about...

[nathanmcnathan]

I think I'm going to be sticking with steel strings... I can play more with steels than with guts... maybe orchestral strings...