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What to check and what to avoid when you are choosing your strings.
The most important thing to check is that the twisting of your string is even in the whole vibrating lenght. No white spots, no open twist, no different angles. You can easily feel those by Mersenne's test.
What is less important is the color. Strings shouldn't be too white, it means they are bleached too much with chemicals. I wouldn't matter if they are yellow or brown, it is really just a matter of how they are cleaned, disinfected, and chemically treated. Brown strings can sound fantastic in the middle and basses, but I would prefer straw yellow for the chanterelles. Not too bleached, but perfectly clean.
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baroque music, double-bass strings, early music, gut strings, gut strings maintenance, viol strings, viola da gamba strings, viola strings, violin strings, violoncello strings
How the gauge is determined at the polishing and on half polished and smooth strings…. Can you guess why you can never be sure of the quality of a polished string? Want to know more? There’s a downloadable report here, it’s free, no opt-in!
Read MoreEverything it’s said in this great video is valid also for gut wound strings. Really clearly explained. We had round or ground wound (hand polished) until…. 1910 when Thomastick patented a machine to wound with flat wire.
Read MoreListen to the sound of your strings before even using them! Described from Marin Mersenne in Harmonie Universelle (1636), this test is used by string-makers to check if the string is even or false, by watching if the fuse of the string is regular or not. But there’s something more for a sensible musician: try
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