Plain (pure) gut strings (unwound) are used on stringed instruments with Baroque set-ups (the E, A, and sometimes D strings on violins; the A and D and sometimes G of violas and cellos). Occasionally (but rarely), a player will use pure gut on the upper strings of an instrument with a modern set-up.

Do professional violinists use gut strings?

April 17, 2017 at 04:16 PM · Actually, the talk about guts having a shorter lifespan is not just from people selling strings, it's from professional violinists who use them all the time. I used them for a time, and they didn't last as long. But then there is Heifetz, who was changing them all the time.

When did violins stop using gut strings?

The pure gut A string was common until the advent of synthetic strings in 1970.