Gamut Music, Inc. specializes in early music strings and handcrafted instruments made by Dan Larson, luthier, located in Duluth, Minnesota, USA.

The Gamut Music string workshop provides hand-made natural gut strings in many styles suitable for early music / historically informed performance and modern music performance practice.

All Gamut Academie strings (pure gut and gut/metal-wound) are made with beef serosa unless they specifically say “Sheep Gut.” All pure gut Tricolore violin and viola strings are made with sheep gut; gut/metal-wound Tricolore strings, Dependable Coated Violin Strings, and all Red Diamond bass strings are made with beef serosa.

Most* Gamut Academie strings are designed for Baroque instruments by those musicians playing historical performance practice at a=415 tuning, and are perfectly suitable for modern a=440 practice, but the result will be a little bit more tension at a=440. (*Academie Renaissance lute, vihuela, classical guitar, and banjo strings are designed for a=440 tuning.) Tricolore violin and viola, and Red Diamond strings are designed for modern performance practice at a=440. Dependable Coated Violin Strings are Medium gauge and are easily tuned to a=440 or a=415.

Hand-made Gamut Workshop instruments include guitars, violins, vihuelas, and Renaissance and Baroque lutes.

A mailing list is available which will keep those interested up to date with the instruments and strings available from Gamut Music. Occasional messages will include information about instruments for sale and special offers on strings. Go to our mail list sign up page to be placed on this mailing list.

Dan Larson featured on WDSE/WRPT PBS’ Making It Up North (April 2019).

Gamut Strings Are Available in Four Formats:

Individual Strings by Instrument: These individual instrument strings offer the best performance for the instrument and the most agreeable response for the player. The gauges are graduated according to modern performance practice so that the top string has the most tension and each successive lower string is decreased slightly in tension. Our set prices are based off of our individual string prices, so there is no penalty for ordering individual strings à la carte.

Standard Sets: Where the strings are grouped for particular instruments according to the most popular types. In these sets the gauges are matched to allow the best performance for the instrument and the most agreeable response for the player. The gauges are graduated according to modern performance practice so that the top string has the most tension and each successive lower string is decreased slightly in tension.

Equal Tension Sets: Where the strings are grouped in sets according to the recommendation of historical theoreticians such as Merssanne, who felt that for the instrument to be balanced and respond in proportion all the strings on the instrument should have the same tension.

Custom Gauged Strings: Each type of string we make is available in a range of gauges and can be custom polished for your application. If you do not see a gauge in the list of strings in the standard sets that you want, you can order the exact gauge you require in the type of string you want by selecting from the Custom Gauged string catalog.

Academie Gut Strings

Gamut Academie gut strings are designed for Baroque instruments by those musicians playing historical performance practice at a=415, and are perfectly suitable for modern a=440 practice, but the result will be a little bit more tension at a=440.

This is a variety of treble gut string. The serosa from which it is made comes from cattle from the green fields of Ireland and has a higher tensile strength than does sheep gut. Like the sheep treble string, the beef treble string also has a twist angle of about 15º, and this construction gives it the strength and resistance it needs to stand the strain in the treble register.

Academie Gold Sheep Gut Strings

Gamut Academie Gold sheep gut strings are designed for Baroque instruments by those musicians playing historical performance practice at a=415, and are perfectly suitable for modern a=440 practice, but the result will be a little bit more tension at a=440.

Sheep gut (or sheep intestine, or sheep serosa) is the classical material that has for centuries been used to make music strings throughout Europe and the Americas. The tone has a golden, warm and rich sonority that is preferred by discerning players. Sheep gut strings have slightly different properties than beef gut. In broad terms, it has a warmer tone. One of our clients with a poetic flair describes sheep gut as having a “golden” tone and beef gut having a “silver” tone. The sheep gut has fibers and collagen that bond very well, making a tight structure with a lovely transparency. The texture supports the plucking or bowing very well, and the sound carries well in a room. If you feel you need a tone with more warmth and clarity than you are getting now, then sheep gut might be a good choice.

Dependable Coated Gut Violin Strings

Dependable strings are Medium gauge and tuned easily to a=440 or a=415.

Whether you’re playing an open-air concert, sweating through a packed hall, or rehearsing under hot lights, your strings should keep up with you, not wear out on you. Dependable Coated Gut Violin Strings are engineered to perform where traditional gut might falter: in humidity, heat, and even under the attack from acidic perspiration.

While most gut violin strings rely on varnish for protection, Dependable strings go further. Each one is coated with a thick, nontoxic polymer layer that delivers superior resistance to environmental stress without compromising tone. The result? Unmatched stability, longer life, and confidence in any setting.

For those who demand historical tone without historical headaches, choose Dependable — the red string.

Tricolore Violin and Viola Sheep Gut Strings + the Heifetz Legacy

Tricolore strings are designed for modern performance practice at a=440.

The Tricolore brand of Violin and Viola, strings used by many famous violin soloists, was one of the most well known violin strings made in the 20th century. Now, after many decades of being unavailable, we are pleased to offer these strings again. This string was developed by Ray Neiner at the Perfection Musical String Co. Brunswick, IN, just south of Chicago. These strings are accurate replications of the ones that filled American concert halls with sound in the 20th century.

The Tricolore line at Gamut is favored by numerous artists playing in the Heifetz lineage, tradition, and style. Click here to see what Dan Larson has to say about Tricolore strings.

Red Diamond Bass Strings

Red Diamond strings are designed for modern performance practice at a=440.

Gamut Music is pleased to announce an update to our Red Diamond line of bass strings, now featuring protective varnished gut for the g-1 and d-2. Nylon winding for these strings has been discontinued. 

Our Red Diamond line of gut bass strings are designed to satisfy the needs of active, professional bass players who need that real gut sound for jazz, bluegrass, blues, rockabilly, and other musical forms that require a strong bottom end to the sound and the stylistic stage presence of an upright bass. Red Diamond strings are the solution for worry-free durability whatever the conditions of the performance situation.

Our new Red Diamond bass strings are a great way to play our gut strings at a convenient price for you. Click here to learn more about them!

Types of Gamut Strings:

  • Treble Gut: Used for high and mid-range strings of most small instruments.

  • Lyon Gut: Used for top strings on larger instruments like cellos and basses, mid-range and low strings on other instruments.

  • Pistoy Gut: Used for mid-range and low strings on most instruments.

  • Gut/Metal-Wound Strings: Used for low strings on most instruments.

  • Gimped Gut: Used for mid-range and low strings on most instruments.

  • Diapason Gut: Is long lengths of gut for archlutes, theorbos, etc.

Helpful Tools for Finding the Right String

Gamut Music has string calculators that will enable you to find the correct strings for your instrument. Use them to check tensions, gauges, and play "what if" scenarios to see how changes in your instrument will effect your strings.

Use our tables for string lengths and string tensions to find the perfect string for your instrument.

Our Articles section has a information on making gut strings, string types, gauges, string tension and more.

Hand-made in the USA by Gamut Music, Inc., a leader in the revival of early music strings and instruments. Gut strings are not intended to be used with fine tuners or string adjusters, and those devices should be removed before installing the gut string on the instrument.

All Gamut Academie strings (pure gut and gut/metal-wound) are made with beef serosa unless they specifically say "Sheep Gut." All pure gut Tricolore violin and viola strings are made with sheep gut; Dependable Coated Violin Strings, gut/metal-wound Tricolore and all Red Diamond strings are made with beef serosa.

Gamut gut string gauges are approximate (≈) diameter. Meaning, that while a ≈0.60mm string is polished in the workshop to a diameter of 0.60mm, changes in ambient humidity, temperature, shipping, and storage conditions can cause to string to expand or contract slightly.

Gimped gut strings and custom gauged equal tension strings are gauged with the equivalent-gauge (=) system. This means that the gauge listed, such as =1.50mm, indicates that the string is approximately equal in weight to a plain gut string of that diameter. Of course, because the wire is much heavier than gut, the string will be much thinner than a plain gut string.

More information about Gamut gut strings, string types, gauges, and string tensions can be found on our FAQ/Articles page. Not finding an answer to your question? Please contact us.