I have received gratis, a set of gut strings from CE to try out and assess. I've never played on gut before so how do I stop the damn things squeaking when I play?..Other than that they make a good sound....Steve.

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I dunno, Steve. I've been playing CE guts for years, never a squeak...that I could hear. Hearing loss and tinnitus may eliminate that frequency from my hearing?

Of course, you could always use the Earl Scruggs method. Rub your fingertips along the side of your nose. A little skin oil can slick things up!

The CE gut squeak is not from sliding the left hand fingers along the fretboard.. The squeak happens where the right hand fingers pluck the strings. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. And then it stops entirely for weeks at a time only to return.

The squeak is not because the strings are gut —other gut strings are squeakless— I think the waterproofing coating may be the culprit.

Trapdoor2 said:

I dunno, Steve. I've been playing CE guts for years, never a squeak...that I could hear. Hearing loss and tinnitus may eliminate that frequency from my hearing?

Of course, you could always use the Earl Scruggs method. Rub your fingertips along the side of your nose. A little skin oil can slick things up!

Earl used the method for his fingerpicks. I think it would work for either hand.

It may be that since I tend to use the 'composite stroke', fingertip and nail, my squeekosity level is low. If you are attracting mice to your playing room, they may think you are squeekalicious!

Thanks for that, things may improve once they've been played for a while. They do produce good sound, much crisper and with less sustain than on the nylon strings that I'm used to....Steve.

Now that I have played the strings in, they have settled down and no more squeaks. They are a new design of gut string by CE intended to replicate the traditional gut sound and I was sent them gratis to try out and assess. I've fitted them to my Windsor Popular No.1 and have been using them exclusively since. It took a while to get used to the feel of them but the sound they make is very pleasing, crisp and staccato with less sustain than on nylon strings and they give plenty of volume. Time will tell how long they will last compared with nylon but I'd certainly recommend them....Steve.

Did they go with a period correct thickness or have they continued the trend of ever-thickening strings?

Steve Harrison said:

Now that I have played the strings in, they have settled down and no more squeaks. They are a new design of gut string by CE intended to replicate the traditional gut sound and I was sent them gratis to try out and assess. I've fitted them to my Windsor Popular No.1 and have been using them exclusively since. It took a while to get used to the feel of them but the sound they make is very pleasing, crisp and staccato with less sustain than on nylon strings and they give plenty of volume. Time will tell how long they will last compared with nylon but I'd certainly recommend them....Steve.

Hi Joel, they are about the same thickness as a medium gauge nylon. I had nylgut on my Windsor previously and they are more or less the same...Steve.
Joel Hooks said:

Did they go with a period correct thickness or have they continued the trend of ever-thickening strings?

Steve Harrison said:

Now that I have played the strings in, they have settled down and no more squeaks. They are a new design of gut string by CE intended to replicate the traditional gut sound and I was sent them gratis to try out and assess. I've fitted them to my Windsor Popular No.1 and have been using them exclusively since. It took a while to get used to the feel of them but the sound they make is very pleasing, crisp and staccato with less sustain than on nylon strings and they give plenty of volume. Time will tell how long they will last compared with nylon but I'd certainly recommend them....Steve.

Thanks Steve-- too thick for me!  I'm one of those "period correct" size string users.  I think there are just a few of us.  Most have gone to the thicker, almost guitar size strings.

Hi Joel, interesting, from where could I obtain a set, I'd like to give them a try?...Steve.

Joel Hooks said:

Thanks Steve-- too thick for me!  I'm one of those "period correct" size string users.  I think there are just a few of us.  Most have gone to the thicker, almost guitar size strings.

A lot the strings on offer these days are way too thick and some of the fourth strings pose a threat to the structural integrity of old banjos not fitted with a truss rod. They also sound 'dead' and 'slides' are impossible to perform on these hawsers.

Joel Hooks said:

Thanks Steve-- too thick for me!  I'm one of those "period correct" size string users.  I think there are just a few of us.  Most have gone to the thicker, almost guitar size strings.

I get singles from Labella.  They offer them as “early instrument strings” in any size you want.

.017, .019, .023, .024 wound, .017 are the ones I have settled on. That is in inches.

Oh, I should be clear.  Those are nylon strings.  I would only use gut if I could get them on those sizes and they were the same price.  I am perfectly satisfied with using nylon.

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