Aquila Genuine Gut strings?

YogiTom

YogiTom

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Has anyone tried these? I’m very interested in trying them out on my vintage ukes, but given I could buy several sets of other strings for the price of one of these I wanted to ask here first.

Follow up question: does anyone know what animal’s guts are used for these strings? I know cat was traditional, but if it is still the case, that will end my curiosity pretty quickly...I feel like my two cats would know and then silently judge me whenever I play the gut strings...
 
Arcy said:
To the follow up: Your felines are safe. The only “cat” is in the name. Traditionally from sheep or goat or cow intestine. Cats will judge you anyway.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catgut
Click to expand...

Good to know! I always thought it odd that cat gut was the preferred choice...

And I know using other animal gut isn’t ideal, either, but at least my brain can rationalize it as they are being slaughtered for meat anyway, why let the intestines go to waste?

Though, I suppose shelters often have euthanized cats...

Sorry, this turned much darker than I anticipated!
 
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Well you have to choose your gut carefully, depending on whether you want more of a "meooowwww" or a "baa-aa-aa-aa-aa" or a "moooooooo" sound. Dogs are safe, since nobody wants their ukulele to "ruff! ruff! ruff!"
 
bkrownd said:
Well you have to choose your gut carefully, depending on whether you want more of a "meooowwww" or a "baa-aa-aa-aa-aa" or a "moooooooo" sound. Dogs are safe, since nobody wants their ukulele to "ruff! ruff! ruff!"
Click to expand...

I would’ve thought that the classic onomatopoeia of “bark” would be exactly what ukulele players are looking for, though... ;)
 
If you run electric then avoid snakes, weasels and hummingbirds: don't want any hisses, pops, or hums!
 
Well, my curiosity got the better of me. Added a soprano set to my order and will give them a whirl once they arrive. I’ll report back with an update on the sound the make. ;)
 
YogiTom said:
Has anyone tried these? I’m very interested in trying them out on my vintage ukes, but given I could buy several sets of other strings for the price of one of these I wanted to ask here first.

Follow up question: does anyone know what animal’s guts are used for these strings? I know cat was traditional, but if it is still the case, that will end my curiosity pretty quickly...I feel like my two cats would know and then silently judge me whenever I play the gut strings...
Click to expand...

Knowing cats it might be the first time they actually respected you - if it's even possible for a cat to respect a human ... :rolleyes:
 
bkrownd said:
They know they're the superior species, and humans live to serve. Happy cat, happy life. :cool:
Click to expand...

As soon as I realized that cats immediately forget what they’ve done and that “punishment” for bad behavior just makes them hate you for being mean, my life with cats has improved exponentially! :)
 
but.. what the heck you thinks that we make gut strings from cats? Catgut= cattlegut (it come from a long time ago...)
Now more seriusly, gut strings are expensive because we employ 12 days to make them; mostly by hands.
see here our job:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ywzxkC0NAc&t=11s
take care dude and.. yes, I am the guy that is polishing the gut strings on the frame by a dryed grass and oliv oil..
Mimmo Italy
 
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Ukecaster said:
I always heard that you can tune gut uke strings as "My Cat Has Fleas". Maybe I have that wrong? :confused:
Click to expand...

The cat would deny having fleas.
 
mimmo said:
but.. what the heck you thinks that we make gut strings from cats? Catgut= cattlegut (it come from a long time ago...)
Now more seriusly, gut strings are expensive because we employ 12 days to make them; mostly by hands.
see here our job:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ywzxkC0NAc&t=11s
take care dude and.. yes, I am the guy that is polishing the gut strings on the frame by a dryed grass and oliv oil..
Mimmo Italy
Click to expand...

Thanks for the explanation mimmo, I wondered how it got the name catgut!
 
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mimmo said:
but.. what the heck you thinks that we make gut strings from cats? Catgut= cattlegut (it come from a long time ago...)
Now more seriusly, gut strings are expensive because we employ 12 days to make them; mostly by hands.
see here our job:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ywzxkC0NAc&t=11s
take care dude and.. yes, I am the guy that is polishing the gut strings on the frame by a dryed grass and oliv oil..
Mimmo Italy
Click to expand...

Thanks for your hard work! I’m genuinely excited to try these more traditional strings out, and now I know who to thank for that. Keep up the good work! I’m sure it isn’t easy, but most things worth doing rarely are.
 
You will have to compare them to the Aquilla Nylgut and see if they indeed captured the sound of the gut strings.

Mimmo, thanks for the work y'all do for ukulele instruments. You have improved the experience immeasurably for thousands of players.
 
mimmo said:
but.. what the heck you thinks that we make gut strings from cats? Catgut= cattlegut (it come from a long time ago...)
Now more seriusly, gut strings are expensive because we employ 12 days to make them; mostly by hands.
see here our job:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ywzxkC0NAc&t=11s
take care dude and.. yes, I am the guy that is polishing the gut strings on the frame by a dryed grass and oliv oil..
Mimmo Italy
Click to expand...

Wow, very educational video! With such a labor intensive process, I'd expect them to cost much more than Nylgut strings.
 
I agree -- that was really fascinating. Thanks Mimmo, for posting that video. I did not know how these strings were made at all, but I have always wondered. Very, very labor-intensive.
 
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