How to choose the best cello strings

Choosing the best strings for your cello can seem difficult. Not only are the many string manufacturers each offering several different brands of strings, but you also have to contend with a choice between metal / gut / synthetic core cello strings, variety of materials used, the different tensions of hard / medium / soft, the type of music you play, how you play, where you perform, and of course the particularities of your own cello! But as explained in the “your investment” section, getting the best strings for your cello represents the single most important choice you’ll make in terms of sound after purchasing your instrument. Read on to help make this choice a better informed one.

Gut Cello string

We won’t discuss the plain, pure gut string here as they are a specialized cello string used purely by baroque ensemble performers. The gut core cello string with metal winding is the more common gut variety used by all types of cellists. So what are the pluses? Well, the most obvious one is that historical link dating back thousands of years to the very earliest instrument string. The strings also produce a very particular “warm” sound which appeals to many wishing to find a sound which is compatible with the cello’s medium pitched notes. The strings also have a lower tension making them more pliable under a cellist’s fingers.

But its not all good. To start with gut strings are much thicker. Despite the lower tension, the fatter the string, the more tiring it is for the tips of your fingers whilst playing and also the more effort there is in order to generate your vibrato. The chunkier core hand-finished gut core also means more metal is used in the winding, and as these strings tend to use expensive materials such as silver you will find a significantly higher price for these types of cello strings.

Unfortunately there’s more bad news. Gut cello strings are also extremely prone to temperature and humidity changes. What this means in practice is that the strings need significant retuning depending on the conditions of where you are playing. To make matters worse, whilst playing even the moisture and temperature generated on the strings from your fingers and friction against the fingerboard result in the cello string losing it’s tuning even more.

Last off, and perhaps most importantly, gut strings lack power of volume and clarity. If you’re a soloist with a full symphony orchestra playing behind you in a large concert hall, your sound will simply be lost in the medley of other sounds and reverberations generated from the orchestra and hall. Gut cello strings simply don’t have the
volume and clarity in order to project its sound to the back of the auditorium. But what if you’re in the orchestra playing? Surely that “softer”, quieter sound is a plus? Well no. The lowered pitched notes of the cello coupled with a “warmer” sound as well as the fact there will be several of you playing in the cello section, mean the
resulting sound will lack any clarity for the audience to appreciate – it’ll be a mish-mash stew like sound lacking any distinction.

This all not to say that gut strings are a bad choice. They are possibly great strings to use depending on various circumstances, type of music played, and style of the performer. But for most of us, they don’t really fit our cello lifestyle that great.

Synthetic Cello strings

The synthetic core cello string is in many ways shares many of the properties of gut core cello strings. The key difference is price – they are much cheaper due to the manufacturing processes. On the violin, synthetic core strings work relatively well. However with the cello’s increased size, the greater length of the string on the instrument makes it more prone yet again to temperature and humidity, arguably even more so. They also produce even less volume in comparison to gut strings. But they’re a budget option at least.

Metal Cello strings

A cello string with a metal core is a completely different item in comparison to gut and synthetic core strings. Effectively it represented the single biggest change in string making from the last several thousand years. Metal core cello strings have better intonation stability, produce more volume, have a clearer sound and are better suited to the cellist’s repertoire and playing style of today. In relation to intonation problems typically effecting gut/synthetic strings, metal strings can still suffer from humidity and temperature changes however – for instance, we believe our strings are particularly stable in this respect.

Will different Cellos require different types or brands of strings?

To some extent, yes. Old instruments with the aged wood they have, tend to have a more muted sound – so getting brighter/harder sounding strings to compensate is advised. But then again, some old cellos like Goffrillers, Montagnas are deeper and bigger so a softer sounding string might be better suited as the instruments are already very powerful. Conversely new instruments tend sound brighter and clearer – so a more rounded sounding cello string to add some colour would be best.

Are some strings better suited to certain types of Cello music?

Again, to an extent, yes. But we have to be careful here. You can’t change your cello strings each time you play a different piece of music. For instance some cello strings might sound nice if you’re playing a gentle melody with long legato phrases. But if the next minute you need to play some agitated modern music for cello there’s a good chance the string might not be able to respond adequately. Ie the strings might have little variation, few nuances in tone. But exactly how does the style of music affect the choice of strings you opt for?

Baroque music – you’ll find you play higher up the fingerboard to create that “baroque sound”. The problem is that most cello strings respond poorly to changes in bow stroke at this part of the string and offer an uneven, unconvincing sound. Baroque music also requires you to use open strings a lot more compared to other styles and not all strings sound all that palatable when played “open” especially all metal cello strings.

Classical era – when playing Haydn or Mozart you tend not to use big, powerful legatos. Instead the music often demands light separate bows. Most strings struggle to respond positively when played in such a way so finding a cello string which can naturally sound when played gently in this manner is crucial.

Romantic – most strings sound ok with this type of music as the cellist might be giving his/her all whilst playing. However big, generous and warm sounds is ultimately what the cellist is after and finding a cello string which can give you more of this will always be a plus.

20th Century – in this type of music you’ll find you need a huge variation in tonal sounds. One moment you might require a loud penetrating sound, playing close to the bridge, while the next you might need a light, mysterious dream-like sound playing higher up the fingerboard. So your strings need to be hugely responsive giving you big variations in tonal sounds. They also need to be able to sound well at any volume played. Playing on Shostakovitch with handmade pure gut strings just won’t work for instance.