Pirastro
Oliv Gut (Flatwound in Chromesteel) Upright Bass Strings
- FREE SHIPPING:
- To all 50 US States
- PRODUCT OPTIONS:
- Set & Single Strings Available

Description
We've been fielding requests to add Oliv strings for quite a while, and they're finally here! The Oliv is a natural gut string wound in chrome steel (as opposed to the Eudoxa, which are wound in sterling silver). They have a strong, thick pizzicato tone with a quick decay and short sustain. Because of this, Jazz players after "the gut sound" might prefer the Eudoxas, which have a more jazz-friendly sustain character.
The Olivs are certainly bowable, but require a bit more bow pressure than other strings. They produce a dark, warm sound under the bow.
It's quite common to mix the Oliv G (and sometimes D) with other strings. We do sell the strings individually, as well as in sets - see the graphic, above!
Pirastro says:
- dark and strong sound
- big tonal volume
- high pressure on the bow
They offer them in ¾/full size and at one gauge only, Medium. All strings have white with green spiral thread at the tailpiece, and the following colors at the headstock: High C=violet, G=brown, D=red, A=black, E=green, Low B=yellow.
String Gauges (subject to minor variation):
G: .070
D: .090
A: .105
E: .135
HIGH C: .064