I have used Bow brand quite a bit on various lutes and guitars. There used to be a harp store here in LA where I could walk in and buy them. (The one thing I really miss from my pre-lute days was when I could pickup a set of ghs boomers on the way to sound check to a gig in Hollywood) They are highly polished and super clear. I was talking to one of the sales-persons and she said that aesthetically pleasing strings was something of an issue. There is another line they make called "Burgundy" which are a less expensive, I think because they have some visual imperfections. I normally would use the Burgundy line. They all look more like nylon monofilament or carbon. They are worth a try but, they are made slightly different from what we normally use. I think because of the high polish or difference in maybe how they wind the strands, certain gauges tend to squeak a lot while plucking especially when playing without nails. They are definitely more stiff/rigid which is probably less preferable for us. In emergencies I have used them for frets but they are harder to use because of the stiffness. Also since they are so clear they look different tied on the neck. Certain gauges are colored red and black/blue (their c's and f's). Unfortunately, they are not a "cool" looking wine-red like you see in old paintings. They are more of an opaque fire-engine red. They are not dyed, but coated with a kind of plastic material, kind of like a frosted circus animal cookie. They however seem to sound fine. I helped a friend string up his 11-course with a complete set and it sounded nice even with the plain gut basses. I have had them on for the trebles of my romantic-guitar since the beginning of the fall semester and really like them because they don't deteriorate in the plucking area. I think the "signal to squeaking noise ratio" on the guitar is more tolerable. Somewhere I have a sheet I could scan for you, on which I was converting the harpstring gauges and densities of the various brands to the X.XXmm's we usually deal with. The store gave me a gauge sheet because they sell strings according to type of harp (folk or pedal I believe), pitch and octave. They don't deal with numerical measurements, but assign each pitch a numeral starting from "00." For example a #1 string is a first octave "E" and on the pedal gauge it is .55mm and for a folk gauge harp it is .46mm. I have to go back and check at some point with a scale and calipers to double check the densities. I am now wondering if they are slightly denser then average because they seem so rigid and hard to unravel. I think they would be fine for the top/middle range (but they only go as small as .50 or .46mm)and bass octaves but you may want to put that $20 for the lowest strings into the Larson or Mimmo specialized basses especially if you are playing a rider-type, although my friends 11-course worked well. They might be good if you were thinking of straight/plain gut in the bass, but if you are using them in that upper size range, the prices might not be that much different in which I would most often prefer any of the more common "lute" strings. I remember them, at least the Burgundy, being much less expensive. Jason
-----Original Message----- From: chriswi...@yahoo.com [mailto:chriswi...@yahoo.com] Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2008 6:49 AM To: BAROQUE-LUTE Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Harp Strings Hello Fonts of Wisdom, I'm wanting to do some experimenting with different bass strings for my bass rider 13-course. Does anyone have experience using harp strings? I've noticed that Bow Brand has gut strings for around $20 a piece. If this even works, its not terribly cheap, but acceptable for a trial run. I have no idea how you order them - they don't sell them by gauges, but rather by harp maker and octave. An tips? Chris To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
