I purchased a few sets of Aquila's gut strings (hard to find!) and strung up my old Favilla Bros soprano last night - wow! They settled quite quickly and boy howdy they do feel great under the fingers! A clearer, punchier tone than the Living Water they replaced. While the fluoro strings seemed to "over drive" under a heavy attack, the gut does not, staying clean and strong regardless of how hard they are played. I find the string noise from gut a nice sonic addition to the overall sound. Rubbing noises and little ticking sounds from the fingers moving on the strings adds a kind of percussive element to the sound........I like this......a lot. The instrument seems more acoustic, for lack of a better way to put it. I'm impressed. I do expect a shorter life, but for the tonal advantage I'm willing to put up with that.
What's been your experience with natural gut on a soprano?
What's been your experience with natural gut on a soprano?