Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 75

Thread: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    East Northport, NY
    Posts
    15

    Default

    There have been some confusion as of late regarding which strings to use for Mandola/Alto Mandolin tuned to ADGC.

    It turns out that the strings desginated by Thomastik-Infeld for Mandola, or "Alt Mandoline", are actually for European tuning. #This translates to the American-tuned Octave Mandolin. #Confused yet? #We were, so please refer to this chart:

    If you play this... # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## Then you want this...
    Mandolin (EADG) # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Set 154
    Alto Manolin/Mandola (ADGC) # # # # # # # # # # # # # #Set 164
    Tenor Mandola/Octave Mandolin #(EADG) # # # # # Set 174
    Mandocello (ADGC) # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## ##Set 184
    Lute (EADGC) # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## # # Set 185

    Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
    Michael Hershkowitz
    Thomastik-Infeld Representative

  2. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to ThomastikMike For This Useful Post:


  3. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Bethlehem, PA
    Posts
    109

    Default

    So, If I buy, let's say a Weber Octave Mandolin, I would order set 154?
    I play badly enough not to be terribly good, and good enough not to be terribly bad.

  4. #3
    Guest

    Default

    It seems that you'd clear things up by clearly labling columns for American tuning, European tuning and set. My interpretation was that the part before "/" was european, the part after was american but that doesn't appear to be stefeb's interpretation.

    In another thread, there was discussions about variations in scale length in some of these instruments (i.e. Freshwater has instruments 545 and 610 mm that are listed as EADG). Is there a source for the length of these strings. I'd hate to buy set 174 and find it doesn't fit my 610mm octave mandolin.

  5. #4
    Modulator ;) PhilGE's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Northern IN
    Posts
    1,263
    Blog Entries
    7

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by
    So, If I buy, let's say a Weber Octave Mandolin, I would order #set 154?
    Actually, I think you want set 174. Set 154 won't have the string length to fit the scale of a Weber OM.

    Mike, thanks for your excellent service in the past. My question for you is this: I now own a 17" scale Spira flat-top mandola with a fixed pin-bridge. I currently have .045, .032, .021, and .013 strings on it. #I'm wondering, what TI ball-end strings you might recommend for it? This is a loud, bright instrument with lots of sustain. Not sure if I'll take the plunge on what might be a very expensive set, but I'm thinkng of it.

    -Phil




  6. #5
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Bethlehem, PA
    Posts
    109

    Default

    Phil:

    Thanks. My mistake.



    I play badly enough not to be terribly good, and good enough not to be terribly bad.

  7. #6
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Oakland, California
    Posts
    1,251

    Default

    Useless observation: it seems that as the sets move down a fifth, the set's part number increases by ten.
    Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre?

  8. #7
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    East Northport, NY
    Posts
    15

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by (mad dawg @ Mar. 19 2004, 18:29)
    Useless observation: it seems that as the sets move down a fifth, the set's part number increases by ten.
    Definitely not a useless observation. #I'm just embarrassed that it wasn't painfully obvious to us!

    # #
    Michael Hershkowitz
    Thomastik-Infeld Representative

  9. #8
    Guest

    Default

    Set 164 to set 174 is more than a fifth so don't use that 10 rule too strictly.

  10. #9
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Berkeley
    Posts
    6

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by
    Set 164 to set 174 is more than a fifth so don't use that 10 rule too strictly.
    Those are a fourth apart, which is less than a fifth, but the part about strictness is appropriate #




  11. #10
    Registered User mikeyes's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Fond du Lac, WI
    Posts
    954

    Default

    Mike,

    Who has a set of 174's for sale? I have a 22" scale octave mandolin I'd like to try them on. I use the Mandolin strings on all of my mandolins and tenor banjos and love them.

    Mike Keyes

  12. #11
    the little guy DerTiefster's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    S.E. Virginia
    Posts
    910

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    Yes, this is an old thread, but I'm looking now so it becomes current...

    The 174 pitches/tensions SEEM TO ME to be given by Thomastik as GDAE octave mandolin pitches for a 45 cm scale length. That scale is 17.7" and is a good fit for the American style 17" scale CGDA mandola if you wanted to use it as an octave mandolin. This would have been very interesting to me last year, and may be again. I'm having trouble finding the scale length for which the 164 set is specified. I can't even find the 164 set mentioned on Thomastik-Infeld.com and that confuses me. Of course, that's not unusual.

    I'm currently wrestling with the string gauges and tensions needed to play a Vega 15" mandola at either (alto) mandola CGDA or possibly (with light strings) mandolin GDAE tuning, but what I may need again is a good set of strings for a 17" octave GDAE instrument.
    You live and you learn (if you're awake)
    ... but some folks get by just making stuff up.

    Michael T.

  13. #12
    Chief Moderator/Shepherd Ted Eschliman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Nebraska
    Posts
    4,382
    Blog Entries
    2

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    As an aside, PLEASE folks, tell D'Addario Strings you want them to make the new FW74 series for mandola and octave mandolin. The gauges on these are similar but other than the length, it's the silk wrapping that keeps these from being interchangeable. It took me three years to get them to make the FW74 for mandolin; plead my case they need to go the next step an make a mandola/OM set! We are so close...
    Ted Eschliman

    Author, Getting Into Jazz Mandolin

  14. #13
    Destroyer of Mandolins
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    5,017

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    Ted, when you say that the 'silk wrapping' is the problem, do you mean that both ends of the string are wrapped like a violin string or the T.I. mando set?
    Dedicated Ovation player
    Avid Bose user

  15. #14

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    Whats the best way to contact them about that, Ted?
    Gunga......Gunga.....Gu-Lunga

  16. #15
    MandolaViola bratsche's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    south florida
    Posts
    2,820

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    I have both the TI 164 and 174 string sets currently in use - the former on two 15.5" scale mandolas tuned CGDA, and the latter on a 17" mandola tuned GDAE.

    My observations are that, on the shorter scale instruments (MidMo and Big Muddy) the 164s are absolutely ideal for they kind of music I play, and I would never want to use any other strings on these instruments. (You can see/hear them on my YouTube link, though they were recorded with a digital camera so the sound recording isn't wonderful, but gives an idea.)

    It is indeed bothersome that the TI site itself doesn't even acknowledge these strings, but I have measured the set with my metric micrometer at .33, .50, .72 and 1.13mm; which converts to 0.012992, 0.019685, 0.028346 and 0.044488. I don't know about tensions, but they do not feel heavy. I think they were designated Medium. The winding is black. I got them from Ted E. a while back. He doesn't carry them any longer, but Elderly does, I believe.

    The MidMo has had the same strings on it for over four years. It may be due for a change soon.

    On my 17" mandola tuned GDAE, which is a Flatiron 1N, the 174s are good, but not perfect. The 4th course is flabbier than I'd like, even though they're the Starks (heavy). But the intonation is good and they are the best I could come up with. I wanted an octave mandolin, but can't quite play even a "short scaled" (20.5" or so) instrument comfortably, so, having a plethora of mandolas already, I decided to try octave tuning on one instrument, and chose the one that had the most strident voice when tuned normally at CGDA.

    Now, when it had been tuned to CGDA in the past, it was with different strings - D'Addario or GHS, round wound light mandola strings, and speaking personally, I can NOT even imagine tuning these current TI 174 strings UP to CGDA - they're just too heavy, especially for a flattop instrument. From my experience these strings are definitely for octave tuning, not CGDA!

    The 17.7 scale had me wondering, too. But I think they'd work for a couple inches longer than that. And I think in Europe that octave mandolas with scales of 18" or 19" are more typical than they are here in the US, at least from what I've seen on the auction sites. And I would guess, from my experience with the TI 174s on a 17" scale, that they would sound better on a slightly longer scale. But they may be too short to use with an American short scaled OM, because the wrappings might extend over the nut. I'm not sure, though.

    Well, that is my perspective. I hope it helps!

    bratsche
    "There are two refuges from the miseries of life: music and cats." - Albert Schweitzer

    GearGems - Gifts & apparel for musicians and more!
    MandolaViola's YouTube Channel

  17. #16

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    So for a Gibson H1 mandola - 16" scale length CGDA - I should be looking at TI 164? I got my TI 1804 Mandocello (Liuto) strings from mixedcompany.com but they don't show TI 164 in their list. They have three options - TI 174, TI 174ST, and TI 174W (Medium, Soft, and Hard tension). I guess I'm still confused.

  18. #17
    Chief Moderator/Shepherd Ted Eschliman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Nebraska
    Posts
    4,382
    Blog Entries
    2

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    Eddie, it is definitely 164M. $75.99 Mfg suggested List Price. $39.99 MAP price. I use these on my Rigel Fandola (10-string converted mandola) with a TI E string pair.
    PM me if you can't find them anywhere else.
    Ted Eschliman

    Author, Getting Into Jazz Mandolin

  19. #18
    the little guy DerTiefster's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    S.E. Virginia
    Posts
    910

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    As I recall, elderly stocks these. I checked and it seems to be still true.
    You live and you learn (if you're awake)
    ... but some folks get by just making stuff up.

    Michael T.

  20. #19

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    The description of the 174W (Light) is 14, 19, 28, 45 with 25.75" of "metal". The 164 medium are 13, 19, 28, 45 with 2.5" of "metal". Surely the 174 is a better "fit"... The distance from the tailpiece loop to the nut is a tad over 21" on the H1...

  21. #20

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    Elderly also show TI-174 MEDIUM - but not the string gauges...

  22. #21

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    And this just in from Mixedcompany -

    "There is only one size for Mandola. The 1604 set is the standard. 164 is for Mandolin. They are available as light, medium, or heavy. But for Mandola/Alto Mandolin you need set 1604. They fit a 16-16.5 inch Mandolin or Mandola."

  23. #22
    Chief Moderator/Shepherd Ted Eschliman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Nebraska
    Posts
    4,382
    Blog Entries
    2

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    Pardon the shameless plug. 164M ggs are 12, 16, 25, 36.
    Ted Eschliman

    Author, Getting Into Jazz Mandolin

  24. #23

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    Then they are different gauges to the MEDIUM TI 164 on Elderly?
    THOMASTIK 164 MANDOLA SET
    Strings are chrome flatwound over a steel core, medium tension (only) 013w 019w 028w 045w, usually tuned ADGC, treble to bass. They are 30.5" long, 20" between silked ends. The head-end silk covers about 9" of wire, so the distance from the loop to the end of wound wire is about 21.5" . This can work for flat-topped Celtic style mandolas, but probably NOT CARVED TOP mandolas. Measure before you buy. Labelled Alt Mandoline by Thomastik.

  25. #24

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    and from an earlier post above:

    "but I have measured the set (TI-164) with my metric micrometer at .33, .50, .72 and 1.13mm; which converts to 0.012992, 0.019685, 0.028346 and 0.044488. I don't know about tensions, but they do not feel heavy. I think they were designated Medium. The winding is black." - Bratsche.

    Forgive me for flogging this to death, but at the price, I need to make sure of what I'm getting before I order...

  26. #25
    the little guy DerTiefster's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    S.E. Virginia
    Posts
    910

    Default Re: Thomastik-Infeld Alto Mandolin/Mandola Strings

    Eddie, The JM-13 set ought to cover your needs. I find that the John Pearse 2250 set fits my 17" scale mandola well, and the bronze strings sound very nice. Are you just wanting to try out the TI flatwounds on your new Gibson H? If so, then a phone call to Elderly ought to satisfy your need for information.
    You live and you learn (if you're awake)
    ... but some folks get by just making stuff up.

    Michael T.

Similar Threads

  1. Thomastik-infeld strings
    By acousticcowboy in forum General Mandolin Discussions
    Replies: 21
    Last: Sep-12-2008, 2:52pm
  2. Thomastik-infeld strings
    By fiddlingdan in forum General Mandolin Discussions
    Replies: 15
    Last: Nov-15-2007, 10:51pm
  3. Thomastik-Infeld Strings
    By StartedAt67 in forum Equipment
    Replies: 14
    Last: Jan-23-2006, 9:34am
  4. Thomastik-Infeld Mandolin Strings
    By zeek in forum General Mandolin Discussions
    Replies: 4
    Last: Oct-31-2005, 8:50am
  5. Thomastik-Infeld strings
    By Markelberry in forum Equipment
    Replies: 34
    Last: May-11-2005, 5:09am

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •