A century of craft: Bow Brand brings back bowed-instrument gut strings

Bow Brand has been making strings in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, since 1915, and more than a century later that work continues on the same site, with many of the same principles still intact. Known to many harpists as a long-established maker of natural gut strings, the company is now reintroducing strings for bowed instruments, returning to a part of its history that reaches back to its earliest years.

The relaunched range includes plain natural gut strings as well as gut-core silver wound strings, made by hand in England using traditional methods that place material quality and skilled workmanship at the centre of the process. In an age shaped by speed, automation, and synthetic uniformity, Bow Brand’s work remains rooted in a slower and more deliberate understanding of string making – one that recognises that the character of a string begins long before it reaches the instrument.

Gut has been used for centuries for good reason. For many players, it offers a tonal complexity, warmth, and sensitivity under the fingers that other materials do not reproduce in quite the same way. Its sound has depth and nuance, but also clarity and immediacy. That combination continues to make gut attractive not only to historical performers, but also to modern musicians interested in colour, articulation, and a more varied tonal palette.

At Bow Brand, the making of a string is still regarded as a craft rather than a formula. Each string is individually worked by hand, and every stage of production demands close attention – from the selection and preparation of the raw material through to the finishing process.

This is not simply a matter of preserving tradition for its own sake, but of understanding that the behaviour of natural materials requires experience, judgement, and care. No two batches are ever entirely identical, and it is precisely this relationship between maker and material that lies at the heart of the craft.

That same respect for material extends beyond performance alone. As a natural product, gut is biodegradable, and Bow Brand has been equally conscious of the need for packaging and presentation to reflect that logic as closely as possible. The company has been working to reduce its environmental impact, including the move towards more responsibly considered packaging and a broader commitment to traditional manufacture with less waste.

The return to bowed‑instrument strings is therefore not being approached as a novelty, but as a continuation – and in some ways a recovery – of an older tradition of English making. In reintroducing gut and gut-core silver wound strings, Bow Brand is offering players access not only to a particular sound, but to a particular lineage of craftsmanship: one shaped by time, by hand, and by a deep familiarity with the material itself. For musicians seeking strings with character, responsiveness, and a clear sense of origin, natural gut continues to hold a distinctive place.

Learn more at bowbrand.com