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salvatone - Posted - 11/17/2009: 10:59:50
Does anyone know what this means? Were strings actually made out of the guts of cats? If so, what were they like?
Salvatone
coreyowen - Posted - 11/17/2009: 11:04:05
I too have been wondering about this question, and am looking forward to responses!
guitdawg - Posted - 11/17/2009: 11:10:42
I have always heard that this is a translational error. "Cat" and "Gut" are similar sounding words. Especially if you enter an accent into the listening equation.
After a quick search... http://www.ehow.com/how_4828903_cat...-violin.html
Sheep it is then!
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I would almost certainly like to thank Werner Heisenberg for making everything a little less certain, maybe.
~ guitdawg ~ Apple Latch Un = mountains ; Apple Layshun = drinks
Edited by - guitdawg on 11/17/2009 11:13:07
Mr. Logan - Posted - 11/17/2009: 12:15:40
From Wikipedia
"Catgut is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fiber in the walls of animal intestines. Usually sheep or goat intestines are used, but it is occasionally made from the intestines of a hog, horse, mule, pig or donkey. Although one could conceivably prepare catgut from cat intestines, the name neither implies nor derives from any association with cats."
Jim D - Posted - 11/17/2009: 12:24:01
An addendum to Mr. Logan's note: Tradition states that "Appalcahian Mountain Banjo" heads were made from either cat or groundhog hide. Stanley Hicks says in his Foxfire 3 interview that he used cat hides but "wouldn't take a man's last cat." My Stanley Hicks fretless 5 string banjo has a groundhog head.
The Nylgut strings are reportedly a close replacement for traditional gut in both feel and sound.
Jim
on the east bank of the Yadkin River
Linwood, N.C.
jkmacman - Posted - 11/17/2009: 12:36:27
thought they were talking about fiddle strings, my paramount a has a leather head, dunno, thought it was just raw hide. they got cat-gut tennis trings too, back in the day
Ronnie - Posted - 11/17/2009: 12:54:05
My Ashborn parlor guitar is strung with LaBella 411 gut strings. Are there genuine gut banjo strings on the market?
www.bobbythompsonbanjo.com
Bill Rogers - Posted - 11/17/2009: 12:54:23
Cat intestines are likely too small to make strings anyway. Doc Watson's first banjo, per his story, had a cat-hide head made from the family's recently deceased old cat. There are gut banjo strings available from several sources. I got mine from Bob Thornburg.
Bill
Edited by - Bill Rogers on 11/17/2009 12:55:12
Booger McGee - Posted - 11/17/2009: 14:57:50
I reminded my parents of the whole cat gut / banjo connection when their cat clawed at my embroidered Deering banjo gig bag.
RatLer - Posted - 11/17/2009: 17:27:20
When my Dad was young, 1920's-30's, his Dad would send him out to 'git a ground hog hide' and a cat to make strings for banjers he would build.
RatLer
fretlessinfortwayne - Posted - 11/17/2009: 18:17:35
It's true, gut strings do come from critters. I prefer Nylguts, which are derived from the intestines of naugas, a timid creature living in tropical rain forests in the Amazon Basin.
Dean
"Each one's got to have his own style. It's all creamed potatoes, just fixed a little different." -- Benton Flippen
Jim D - Posted - 11/17/2009: 18:57:15
If I can get this photo to post, it's the "spare" groundhog hide that I got from Stanley Hicks when I picked up my banjo. It was "harvested" within 30 miles from the area where Doc Watson was raised. 
Jim
on the east bank of the Yadkin River
Linwood, N.C.
barbbanjo - Posted - 11/18/2009: 04:33:36
Well, Stanley Hicks is a distant cousin of mine and our family has never been known to tell a tall tale. (That is a tall tale! Actually, tale telling is one of our family's most endearing traits. I've heard Stanley tell whoppers on a video and cousin Ray is a national treasure at the Smithsonian for his story telling skills.) However --- in this case, I believe Stanley is telling the truth. His story about his cat catching adventures in Foxfire is fun to read. I wish I had met him and Ray. I'd a hid my cat if I had, though.
barbbanjo - Posted - 11/18/2009: 04:37:39
quote:
Originally posted by Booger McGee
I reminded my parents of the whole cat gut / banjo connection when their cat clawed at my embroidered Deering banjo gig bag.
Noah, what did your folks say when you told them about the cat connection?? When my little Samara read about it in Foxfire she was abhored! At 10 you are such a dear little thing with a huge heart for animals. I tried to explain to her how cats can get out of control and breed diseases and she felt a little better. I don't know if that "disease" thing is accurate but I know when cats go wild it is a scary thing.
salvatone - Posted - 11/18/2009: 10:13:52
This thread is in as bad shape as the Mearsk Alabama.
Salvatone
cbcarlisle - Posted - 11/18/2009: 10:54:33
Y'all seem to be having too much fun to have someone throw cold water on this topic - but sometimes that's the only way to separate cats!
Commercial gut strings have traditionally always been made from sheep, probably because they were readily available around the Mediterranean. (Though there are literary references to lion - the better to roar with, my dear - and other exotic animals.) During the Renaissance, the bass strings were several ply, twisted to form a thicker string. These rope-like strings were referred to as "catlines" (pronounced, like all nautical terms, by swallowing some of the sounds [bos'un, foc'sl, etc] as "catlins." Catlines were bracing lines (similarly plied) used in sailing ships, up and down which sailors ran - supposedly like cats. Venice was the center of musical string making for centuries and Venetian catlines were famous for their quality. It's only a small step from catlin' gut strings to cat gut strings. I can't swear nobody has ever made strings out of a dead cat but that isn't where the name came from. (Though it might have inspired some one.)
salvatone - Posted - 11/18/2009: 11:28:24
Thanks cb.
Brian T - Posted - 11/18/2009: 12:09:55
If she claws the wallpaper above the couch one more time, I have a cat that we can start the experiment with.
timmo_1949 - Posted - 11/18/2009: 15:55:40
I have a fat gut. Does that help any?
rendesvous1840 - Posted - 11/22/2009: 17:56:07
The original term, going way back, was Kit-gut. It somehow got pidginized into cat gut, but cat intestines were never used. I forget what exact animal the kit was. I believe I read this on the Aquilla strings web site, posted by timmo1949 just above.
Paul
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