Are EJ-75s too heavy?

[Mike Arakelian]

A few months ago I ordered three or four sets of strings on-line. I normally use EJ-74s on my Flatiron Performer, but when I started to change strings today, I noticed a package of 75s. I don't know if the error is mine or if the 75s were shipped accidentally. Anyway, I'm curious to try them, but don't know if they would be too heavy for the Flatiron. Any suggestions? Thanks....Mike.

[sblock]

No, they are not too heavy for a Flatiron. So try them and see if you like them, I say!

[Strad]

Let us know what you think of them, the 75s will give you more volume, but tougher on the fingers.

[UsuallyPickin]

They are a slight bit stiffer than the 74's but give better bark. I have used then on Bozeman made Gibson mandolins for years. R/

[MediumMando5722]

I usually use 75s, but next string change, I'm going down to 74s in an attempt to train my left hand to lighten up. I love the 75s, though. The mando in my avatar had super quiet E strings when I started playing it. I put on 75s, and it balanced the volume across all 4 courses very well.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I've tried J75's a couple of times & i thought that the G & D strings didn't sound as good as J74's G & D strings. They're heavier & need more picking power to get them moving & i thought that some sustain was lacking.

For anybody needing a bit more 'punch' with their mandolin,try DR MD11 strings. They're the same gauges as EJ74's,but are a stronger toned string entirely. They'll respond to both a light touch as a young guy i know who plays Classical mandolin demo'd on my DR strung Ellis "A" style,& to hard,Bluegrass style picking. If you want quiet - you'll get quiet,on the other hand....... !.

I used them on my Weber "Fern" & my Lebeda mandolins. I use Tom Ellis's favourite strings on my Ellis these days,GHS A270's,
Ivan

[mandroid]

Put the Sforzando in, the out put is more.. like to pick less hard then thinner 74 or 73 may suit your needs better..

[Willie Poole]

I had J-75`s on one mandolin for about 6 months and just today I swapped them out for a set of A-270 GHS strings, it lost just a wee bit of loudness but sure gained some good tone which it had been missing for some time, when I first installed the J-75`s I thought they would be my regular gauge strings but now I will go back to the GHS`s which I have used for well over 15 years and never had a problem with them...Now not all mandolins are equal, so you just have to try as many brand of strings that you can and leave them on long enough to settle in and give you an honest opinion as to whether you like them or not,,,Yes, it takes some time to do it but what a nice journey it is....While you are at it try some different picks also, they do make a difference...

Willie

[fscotte]

Depends on the mando. If you like the heavier trebs but not the heavy G, you can try Straight Up Strings.

[Ivan Kelsall]

It was Willie who mentioned the GHS A270's to me a long while back,but until i got the Ellis "A" style,i was fine with the DR's. I did put DR's on the Ellis when i first got it,but as i discovered,Tom Ellis knows his mandolins & what's best for them. The DR's were powerful & punchy,but the A270's are sweet sounding & on the Ellis,they're as powerful as i'll ever need. The .016" gauge "A" strings do not sound good on my Weber,they cut like broken glass. A bit too powerful in that tone range i think. Although the DR's ''sound'' more powerful,they're obviously not doing something = no one string brand/gauge will suit all - don't we know it !.

One of the things i never fully understood until i came to mandolin,was just what a huge difference picks of one shape /material / thickness can make,
Ivan

[BrianWilliam]

I use the 74s on my G and D courses and the 75s on my A and E

[Willie Poole]

Brian, I have a friend that orders all of his strings loose and makes up his own sets, it cost more that way but if it makes you happy then that is the way to go, I never did ask what brands or gauges he uses, seems like it would take a long time to figure out what is best for each mandolin, if you are buying all of yours as complete sets you must have a lot of loose strings laying around from the sets that you aren`t using them all...

Willie

[MediumMando5722]

Just so everybody knows, EJ74 and 75 sets use a .026" for the D courses.

[Phil Goodson]

I use the 74s on my G and D courses and the 75s on my A and E

As you probably know, if you don't mind coated strings, the D'Addario EXP74CM set has those gauges.

Oh, I just noticed that Curt Mangan makes a similar set called "Irv Pearman Signature Set 11.5-40" that looks not coated.

[BrianWilliam]

I've tried the EXP74CMs. They are nice but the 74s+75s are cheaper and just as good IMO.

I've used the Irv Pearman set too which I also liked. But, the last time I ordered a couple boxes of strings, the Irv Pearman string were not available.

[mandroid]

D'Add website lists mandolin string tensions, at pitch, to compare them..

http://www.daddario.com/DADProductsM...6-0e0d4f96b184

[Mike Arakelian]

Thanks all...

GHS-A270s are my strings of choice for my Jacobson. I like them a lot and will eventually try them on my Flatiron. For now and since I already have them, I'm going to give the 75s a try and see how I like them. Since my Flatiron has an integrated fret board, a little extra volume would be a welcome thing.

[Drew Egerton]

You can also buy single strings if you want to try the EXP74CM set gauges with plain strings.

I alternate between using Plain 74 sets, sometimes switching the A and E's out for plain 75 strings, or using the EXP74CMs.

[fidlplr1979]

I was worried about this same thing myself just recently when I had a new bridge put on my Eastman 615. My old bridge leaned and sagged from string tension so i thought it might be an issue if I went to a higher string gauge, but I'm so glad i did it now because my volume and tone have increased substantially. I use the J75 EXP's and at first I wasn't that fond of the "stickiness" that the wound stings seem to have but as they got broken in they began to loosen up a bit. Now I'm able to keep my action fairly low and still retain most of the extra volume these strings provide. They take some getting used to and I would not suggest putting heavy strings on an instrument that is not expertly set up as it will most certainly make playing it harder than it would be with medium or light gauge strings.
I'm sure that using heavy strings is probably unnecessary on a finer instrument like a Gilchrist or Loar as they already have plenty of volume and I would think the tone might actually suffer from a heavier gauge string but for an import or mid-priced domestic that is lacking in volume and/or tone, J75's are sometimes the "missing piece" that the instrument was needing.
Give them a try-

[Mike Arakelian]

I've had the 75s on for about a week now, and am changing back to the EJ-74s tomorrow. The 75s were a bit louder, and did some good things for the bark, but to my ears, the 74s produce a warmer sound that I definitely like better. The next string change (after tomorrow) I'll give the GHS-A270s a try out. I have tried the DR MD-11s on the Flatiron and didn't like them all that much. It's all fun though.

[pheffernan]

Depends on the mando.

I agree that it depends on the instrument. Ken Ratcliff builds and sets up his mandolins for EJ75's, and I never found them too heavy on a Silverangel A5. They played as comfortably as GHS A270's on a Pava or EJ74's on a Collings MT.