Gut & Silk 900

Name: Gut &amp; Silk 900
SKU: 1173
Availability: InStock

€8.00 – €57.00 + VAT

Setup used on guitars between 1870 and 1946 approx.

Up to the middle of the 20th century, the only available strings for guitar were plain gut for Trebles and wound on silk core for Basses. Their acoustical performance was quite different from that of modern setups. It was characterised by a marked tonal presence and brightness, typical of the high-pitched gut strings (certainly superior to plain nylon and closer to fluocarbon strings, in a way) while, on the other hand, the silvered copper wound basses had an exquisitely vocal quality, i.e. with less sustain, with a sound more centered on the fundamental harmonics, and not as bright as modern wound strings on nylon cores are.

Gut treble belonged to A.Segovia (1930-1940 period)

Available in only one degree of tension, this set recreates the exact typical historical setting of the period of Llobet and Tàrrega, by using varnished gut strings for Trebles and silk-core wound basses, as stated by Pujol in his “Escuela Razonada de la Guitarra” of 1934. The gut used for Trebles is rigid and very smooth, an exact copy of a guitar treble used by Andres Segovia that we studied.

Gut strings are varnished (before 1950 they were simply oiled): it’s a modern solution that allows for longer string life, greater tuning stability and a smooth surface, similar to modern plastic strings.

Notice

We suggest using this set at a pitch of 435 Hz. When not playing, it is also recommended to tune the three wound basses approx. a semitone lower. These simple steps are useful to ensure a maximum lifetime of the strings.

In addition, gut strings are in themselves very strong to traction, but suffer greatly from potential sliding or contact points that are even minimally sharp (sharp edges). Therefore, the nut of the guitar must be properly prepared and adapted, with only slightly cut grooves and no clear bending points, as shown in the picture below.

Read the article on how to correctly install gut strings

Please note

Basses of this set are made with real silk that, being naturally produced by an insect, cannot be steadily constant in size. As a consequence, it could happen that, at 12th fret, bass strings may be flat or sharp to a certain extent. The limit we accept is +/- 8 cents. Beyond this value, the string is considered non-compliant and it will be replaced.
Besides, we would like to remind that the degree of compensation introduced by the inclination of the bone of the bridge – which is calibrated to the modern strings with a Nylon core – may not apply to strings with a core of natural silk.

AUDIO SAMPLES

Listen to the sound of an Antonio de Torres guitar, strung with Gut & Silk 900: Stefano Grondona plays three catalan folk songs by Miguel Llobet (1878-1938).

Sample 1 – El testament d’Amelia