Treble Gut (Beef Serosa)

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.

This is another variety of treble gut. 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.

This type of string is characterized by a low twist that is sometimes not even visible and the color of the string ranges from clear to white. Because beef gut strings are stronger than sheep gut strings they are a good choice for instruments with a long string length, or higher tension situations.

Beef serosa has a higher tensile strength than does sheep gut, so this string is useful for instruments that require extra durability. If your instrument has a longer string length which puts it beyond the comfortable range for sheep gut strings, the beef gut would be a good choice for string selection as it will stand the strain a little better.

Treble gut strings are best used for:

  • Violin: e-1, a-2

  • Viola: a-1

  • Bass Viol: d-1

  • Tenor Viol: g-1

  • Treble Viol: d-1

  • Lute: g-1, d-2, a-3, and octaves on bass courses

  • Harp: Treble strings

Treble gut (beef) strings are available in millimeter gauges from .38mm to .98mm in increments of .02mm.

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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.