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Varnished Strings

Since we have started offering the option of varnished strings we have received many questions about the advantages of purchasing the varnished rather than the natural strings.

When we varnish strings we put on three coats of a special varnish that we have found stretches with the gut.

The Answer Depends a Little On Your Own Circumstance:

How you play, your environment, and the acid content of your perspiration.

The varnish offers a protective layer between the surface of the gut and the environment around it. This layer inhibits — but does not stop — the absorption of moisture, oil and acid into the string. The varnish layer is useful under a few conditions:

  • If you perspire a lot

  • If you live in a hot, humid environment, or it is summer time

  • If you have an acidic touch

Under these conditions, the varnish can extend the life of a string. Moisture and acid break down the collagen bond that holds the fibers of the gut together and can cause fibers to separate and ultimately lead to the failure of the string.

This protection comes with a couple of trade-offs:

  • The varnish makes the string a little stiffer

  • The varnish can not be put on the string perfectly evenly, so the varnish creates a little inharmonic content to the string, particularly in the upper partial range. Those players with particularly sensitive ears may find that the varnished string sounds a little false.

The decision of whether to have your strings varnished or not is a personal one. For some players it will be a great help and to others it will make no difference.

Solvents and Cleaning Strings:

It is not recommended to use alcohol or other liquid solvents on gut strings, as it can cause the material to physically break down reducing the lifespan of the string (and even damage the lacquer of an instrument). Instead, the simplest most effective method is to wipe off your strings with a soft, dry cotton or microfiber cloth after playing.

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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.