Do have a scan of the Milushkin book you can share? the old link is gone.
The one that's
linked to in that first post I linked there still works for me. It even mentions an (overwound) C string of 6-6.5mm! Not entirely sure what to think about that one.
I will note, that's the third edition Milushkin book, and older editions might have had larger gauges yet listed. It's also talking about a string length of only around 89-90 cm, but while I can't find them right now, other old method books I've found scans of that actually listed string gauges were both talking about more adult sized instruments and, depending on time and place, either fell in line with what become common here around the 40s and 50s
or line up with what some others have talked about on here in being almost a reverse-bumped set (use an A string for a D, use a D string for a G, you get the picture).
Most of them don't list specific gauges, and fall more in line with the
Invalid Link Removed (12th page in, "Les Choix des Cordes") I just looked at a little bit ago—"don't go too thin or too thick, but solo strings can preferably be thinner than your orchestra strings because they should be faster and easier to play on, but don't go too big on your orchestra strings because you still want to conserve your agility and have a big sound." Or, as he put it:
Le cordes ne doivent etre, ni trop fines, ni trop grosses; trop grosses elle sont plus difficiles a mettre en vibration, donnent un son lorde, et sont generalement moins justes; trop fines, elles ont un sonorite grele et "fouettent" plus facilement sur la touche. Cependant pour la musique de chambre ou le "Solo" les cordes fine sont preferables, car l'attaque en est plus facile et surtout plus instantanee, mais pour l'Orchestre ou l'on doit chercher a obtenir une plus grand sonorite, tout en conservant l'agilite, il vaut mieux en choisir de moyennes; l'important est surtout de les prendre bien en rapport entre-elles.
I hope all the French speakers of the site can forgive me for not brushing up on my alt key codes to get all the little diacritics while I was rewriting the whole thing.
Then, you get around to 1939 here in the states, and like I said, you hit closer to "modern" gauges (from
Oscar Zimmerman's method, specifically):
It is advisable that the length of the strings, from the bridge to the nut, be 41 inches. The gauge of the strings should be as follows: G-string 40°, D-string 60°, A-string 55°, and E-string 70°. It is best to have the G- and D-strings of gut, and the A- and E-strings of aluminum-wound gut. The bridge should not be too high, but just high enough so that the strings, when played, do not hit the fingerboard and cause a buzzing sound.
The only gauge measurement I can find that makes sense with those numbers is Pirazzi meter, which would have been introduced by that time, I think. That gives you a 2mm G, 3mm D, 2.75mm overwound A, and 3.5mm E. Still a bit on the heavier side for some of those, but a lot more in line with what a lot of us are used to, I'd imagine.
Does anyone have any opinions or experience with gut or gut like strings that have a little more tension?Obviously less than steel but maybe more in line with Evah weichs or Holstein Heritage? Thanks in advance!
