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Thread: Stupid string question

  1. #1

    Default Stupid string question

    I know new strings stretch and sometimes it takes a day or two to stay in tune, but is it common for strings to... idk how to say it but like stretch into their tone?

    I put these new strings on last Thursday and HATED them and IMMEDIATELY went online and ordered a new set.

    By Friday night I LOVED them.

    They were DEAD - you could not hear a thing - it sounded like I was inside a fort made of mattresses - DEAD - no charm - no volume - just total crap.

    By Friday they were my new favorites.

    Is this normal?

  2. #2
    Gibson F5L Gibson A5L
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    Default Re: Stupid string question

    Well .... I have hated a set of strings so much when I put them on I immediately removed them. Maybe I missed a good set by lacking patience. Who knows. Keep us posted. R/
    I love hanging out with mandolin nerds . . . . . Thanks peeps ...

  3. #3
    Distressed Model John Ritchhart's Avatar
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    Default Re: Stupid string question

    The G and D strings always sound "brassy" when I first put them on, but after six or seven hours of playing on them they mellow out to a good tone. Presently using D'Addario monels.
    We few, we happy few.

  4. #4
    Worlds ok-ist mando playr Zach Wilson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Stupid string question

    I played a really nice, well set up mandolin that had been strung with Stainless Steel D'Addarios. I didn't buy the mandolin (although I should have) but I did buy a set of the exact same strings. I went home re-strung my mandolin with the Stainless set and... it was soooo bad!!! I waited a day, like you. And, it was still really just the most awful thing. I wish I had the same experience as you

  5. #5
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Stupid string question

    I switched from many years of using PB strings (J74 D'Addarios) first to monels then to D'Addario Nickel Bronze and never get that brash sound when I restring. I now use them on all my guitars and carved top mandolins. Still, if you like the sound of PBs they sound better after a day or so of playing.
    Jim

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  6. #6
    Registered User DougC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Stupid string question

    Where do you buy your strings? Sometimes strings sit on a shelf for y e a r s, before they are sold. Phosphor Bronze seems to be most effected by oxidation.
    Decipit exemplar vitiis imitabile

  7. #7

    Default Re: Stupid string question

    I just restrung my oval hole with La Bella silvers yesterday, and I also hated them at first. I think they're starting to open up, so I can't really tell which way it's gonna go.

    In my experience, I don't really know how strings are going to sound until I've been playing them for a week or two.
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  8. #8
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Stupid string question

    Quote Originally Posted by standing.wav View Post
    In my experience, I don't really know how strings are going to sound until I've been playing them for a week or two.
    Yea, at least a week. Sometimes what you discover is that after a week they sound just like the day you put them on, but more likely not.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

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  9. #9
    Registered User grassrootphilosopher's Avatar
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    Default Re: Stupid string question

    I had the reverse experience (on my beautiful guitar). I put on new strings on the evening before a show. I played the guitar for about two songs on the show. I met up with people after the show in their home for a coffe and a little jam. I took out the guitar, wating to play it and found out that the strings were deader than a door nail. Talk about intensity. It took me two songs to kill a perfect set of strings. That makes me better than David Grisman right (whose strings last for one show and who puts new strings on his mandolin before the show).

    Other than that I am a person of limited tastes. I found out what I like in strings long years ago and I am not willing to try out anything new except out of necessity.
    Olaf

  10. #10

    Default Re: Stupid string question

    Yes, always true, at least with PB strings on acoustic instruments.

    I put them on, stretching them 3x as I replace each string, getting everything up to pitch and then put it away in the case until the next day. Always change strings at least a day ahead of when you need the instrument fro a performance.

  11. #11
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    Default Re: Stupid string question

    Curt Mangan strings sound great from the moment I put them on ! Stretch some first day but after that very little stretching !

  12. #12
    Registered User Aaron Bohnen's Avatar
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    Default Re: Stupid string question

    Quote Originally Posted by yankees1 View Post
    Curt Mangan strings sound great from the moment I put them on ! Stretch some first day but after that very little stretching !
    +1 on the Curt Mangan strings. I find them to have excellent quality and consistency, great sound (particularly the Monels which I really like) and they last a long time too. And they're not overpriced, AND a member on here (not me) has posted a nice discount code for the CM website at least a couple times. Hard to find anything wrong with that.

    Enjoy!
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  14. #13
    Registered Muser dang's Avatar
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    Default Re: Stupid string question

    Quote Originally Posted by Heady View Post
    I know new strings stretch and sometimes it takes a day or two to stay in tune, but is it common for strings to... idk how to say it but like stretch into their tone?

    I put these new strings on last Thursday and HATED them and IMMEDIATELY went online and ordered a new set.

    By Friday night I LOVED them.

    They were DEAD - you could not hear a thing - it sounded like I was inside a fort made of mattresses - DEAD - no charm - no volume - just total crap.

    By Friday they were my new favorites.

    Is this normal?
    Were they a different gauge or material? Sometimes I feel my mando needs time to acclimate to the different tensions of different sets of strings. Even when the same gauges are used different materials can have different string tensions (eg. PB vs Monel)
    I should be pickin' rather than postin'

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