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String Oil in History

Some people insist on using oil to wipe down strings, but we have not found it to be useful. If you insist on the need to use oil on your gut strings, almond oil is the least detrimental, as it leaves behind little residue and will dry completely — versus something like olive oil or vegetable oil which does not dry completely and can lead to strings becoming gummy, and can also reduce their durability.

Gamut Music does not recommend soaking strings in oil or any other solution as it may cause the material to expand internally and/or break down the bonds within the string.

Historically, almond oil and olive oil were recommended in the process of making gut strings, but as one can see, not everything is created equal — even 200 years ago:

“… the fifth work, the smearing can no longer improve the mistake [refers to the too hot drying in the sulfur box]. This must be done with the best oils. But not every oil is suitable for this: no matter how pure and odorless it may be; and in the selection of it the chief cause may be found, why the strings now made are so dry and brittle, and last so little. Only olive oil, with or without almond oil, is suitable for lubricating the gut strings. All vegetable oils, poppy, rapeseed, sunflower, etc., are completely unsuitable for this because of their resinous components, even if they are mixed with olive oil, because they dry out, make the strings brittle, and apart from the unpleasant sounding of the tones, they rob them of all durability.

It should therefore not be useless to draw the attention of the makers of gut strings to this, for if one traces the point in time at which the strings begin to become untenable, one will find that it is the time when the above-mentioned vegetable oils became known to us, and because of its low price it is also sold mixed with olive oil, so that, except in pharmacies, it is almost impossible to get pure olive oil.

This should not be said as if the structure of the oil plants is not desirable, but only that the oil made from them for lubricating the strings is harmful, and not even suitable for lubricating the spinning wheels, as good as it is for dressing and glazing a salad.”

[German] Neues Kunst und Gewerbeblatt 9, 1823 (New Art and Trade Journal, Vol. 9, 1823) - Polytechnic Association for the Kingdom of Bavaria, 1823

Excerpt translated from [German] [PDF] Meisterleistungen Deutscher Instrumentenbaukunst, Bd. 8: Saitenherstellung in Markneukirchen und im Vogtland (Masterpieces of German Instrument Making, Vol. 8: String Production in Markneukirchen and In the Vogtland) - Kai Köpp, Jane Achtman, Johannes Gebauer (editors). Markneukirchen/Bern, 2019

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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; 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 directly: support@gamutmusic.com.