nylgut strings

[billkilpatrick]

i don't know if this is common knowledge or not but there is a string manufacturer here in italy that make a synthetic gut string out of nylon. it's a wonderful product, appropriate for the period style of music we play.

their address, should anyone want to investigate their site, is: http://www.aquilacorde.com/home1.htm.

it grieves me to say this but i think chaos reigns with them. i don't know how many string sets i've bought from them over the years but recently i noticed that they had charged me twice for their value added tax (once with the vat included in the sale price and twice when they shipped it.) they deducted the excess payment from my next order without any fuss what-so-ever but then went and charged me double again on that order. they're not into petty larceny, i think, but they are a caution. i'd go elsewhere but i really like their product.

sincerely - bill

[Eugene]

I have used their product. I order it from Aquila USA (http://www.aquilausa.com/). I favor gut's sound, but Nylgut is an acceptable alternative and is certainly more durable under the quill.

[vkioulaphides]

... and what exactly kind of instrument do you use these strings on, Eugene?

[Ah, how surreptitiously temptation can enter...] http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Eugene]

19th-c. guitars, reproduction vihuela de mano, they will likely go on my pending commissioned reproductions, and--perhaps most relevant--they often serve as e" on my 19th-c. French-made Neapolitan-type mandolin.

[RSW]

Experiment with fishing line, I've used this for practice purposes on the milanese mandolin (1st course).

[Eugene]

I use that on e" too (at a ca. 0.5-mm diam.). It's as durable as Nylgut, but I think it sounds a little less good. It is certainly cheap per unit length. I still have a good stash of it, given the quantities in which it's sold, probably around 200 m!