wound "A" string set

[SCIFIDELITY]

Hey folks. In my constant search for the end of the interwebs, I came upon a majestic beast called Thomastik. They apparently have a wound A strings, which is intriguing to me since I prefer the sound of my D strings above all. It's fuller, woodier, etc. Anyone have any experience with these? They are 3x as much as the J-74s I typically use and like. Thanks and have a happy Thanksgiving y'all.

[JeffD]

I use them on my L&H. They are flatwound strings. A different sound. Not (to my ear) as Gibson-bluegrassy a sound, more of a classical beautiful sound. Loud, but with a different tone quality. They last more than 3X as long as J-74s, so its a wash price wise.

[terzinator]

Yeah, in a bluegrass jam, you will be frustrated to no end.

On your own, or playing jazzy bits accompanied by a guitarist, they sound great.

[pheffernan]

If a wound "A" string is the only goal, the D'Addario EFT74 flattop strings offer that feature as well at a fraction of the cost; however, they are a very different string.

[Dave LaBoone]

Try out the FT74s, as mentioned above. I really like them, above all for that wound A you seek!

[Kowboy]

A question; Do you need to resize the nut with the wound E stings. I'd think you would.

[JeffD]

Yeah, in a bluegrass jam, you will be frustrated to no end.

On your own, or playing jazzy bits accompanied by a guitarist, they sound great.

I like them for classical especially, but great for old cowboy waltzes in an intimate setting, or doing early music with friends. Just about the only thing they would be a compromise for would be bluegrass. Smallish fiddle tune jams or traditional Irish. In a large jam the subtle difference in tone gets lost.

About the only thing the Thomastiks are not optimal for is bluegrass.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Kowboy - " Do you need to resize the nut with the wound E strings ?". D'Addario FT74's don't have a wound E string.Only the A strings are wound along with the usual wound G & D's.The FT74's are very good strings,& i used to use them. The cost of them was twice the J74 cost & with import duty & tax to pay in the UK,simply not worth the added cost for a wound A string,as they sound (to me), exactly the same as J74's. It's all academic now since i went over the the DR(K) side & now use DR MD11's & 12's,
Ivan

[mandobassman]

Yeah, in a bluegrass jam, you will be frustrated to no end.

On your own, or playing jazzy bits accompanied by a guitarist, they sound great.

That's not necessarily true. I used Thomastik flat wounds for over 10 years playing in a couple of high energy Bluegrass bands and they worked just fine. Your success in using Thomastik strings and playing Bluegrass, and of course, you haven't told us what style of music you do play, depends on the volume of your mandolin and your strength as a player. I know several players who use flatwound strings for Bluegrass very successfully. I always loved the sound from the wound A string.

[mandobassman]

A question; Do you need to resize the nut with the wound E stings. I'd think you would.

No. The Thomastik A string has a thinner core wire with a very thin flat steel wire wrap. The overall thickness is much the same as a standard non wound A string. Many say that it changes intonation. For me, it actually improved intonation greatly. Almost every mandolin I have owned has had some degree of intonation issues coming from a "standard" compensated bridge that was over compensated. When I started using Thomastik strings one of the first things I noticed was that the intonation was nearly perfect. But I never had to do anything to the nut on any of the mandolins that I used Thomastiks on.

[mandobassman]

Try out the FT74s, as mentioned above. I really like them, above all for that wound A you seek!

However, the Thomastik flatwound strings and the D,Addario FlatTOP strings are at polar opposite ends of the tonal spectrum. If it's the tonal warmth of flatwound strings you are after, you won't find it with the FT74s. I'm not saying they're bad strings, only much, much different from Thomastik.

[mandobassman]

Here's a very good example of Thomastik flatwound strings in action in Bluegrass. This is David Peters from his "Art in America" recording. He is playing a Nugget A5 with Thomastik heavy gauge strings. I had the opportunity to jam with Dave many times and I can tell you the Thomastik strings didn't hold back his volume. as I said before, the mandolin and the player have much to do with it.

http://www.mandolincafe.net/mp3/davepeters.mp3