Dear Lutenists Knowing that some of you use KF Harp strings on your theorbos, some might also like to try gut harps stings. Indeed, yesterday, I was astonished to discover the existence of another small? gut string maker (well much in the way Columbus discovered the Americas, as the company has been in existence in Norfolk since 1905). The name of the company is Bow brands (did they perhaps originally make strings for bows and tennis rackets?); at present company director, Carolyn Clarke says they are now specializing in harp strings, and also that they are “probably the largest harp string maker in the world". % I am no "Royals watcher", but the article on web, also informs me that these were the strings used by the "Royal Harpist", Claire Jones, for a recent royal wedding. I did not know there was a royal harpist, but It seems that the "Bow brand strings are used by Salvi (which the article calls the Stradivarius of harp makers), who in 2006 made the Royal Harp to celebrate after Prince Charles reinstated the position of Royal Harpist" (perhaps as Charles is Prince of Wales, the harp being a symbol of Wales).
http://tinyurl.com/d6haflu (You can see a film of their string making next to the article, and also photos of string making here: http://tinyurl.com/cgaghfq In relation to the increasing difficulty for gut string makers to source good gut due to EU BSE regulations and "red-tape", Carolyn Clarke is quoted in a recent Telegraph article as saying, "It's a bit stupid. The gut is bleached and varnished in string making so it poses no risk to humans. And why would anyone chew on a harp string?" http://tinyurl.com/bm2sluu % I hope this company is not having too much difficulty sourcing gut (just severe headaches wading through the redtape), but those of you who might want to try them out on your theorbos, or indeed your harps, might want to do so fairly quickly. Regards Anthony To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
