Strings

[CollingsPicker]

What are the best kind of strings to use?

[Philip Halcomb]

I'm hearing the hinges on pandora's box starting to creak open. Just buy a bunch of them and try them. Most people seem to like the D'Addario J74's myself included. But I also think the Gibson Sam Bush's, the D'Addario J75's, the D'Addario JS74's, the D'Addarios EXP74's, and the Elixir medium set are all good too. Some like GHS strings as well and a whole slew of others. I'd suggest investing in a few different sets and try them all and see if you like them. The best way I found to test what strings are like for a mandolin requires a little sacrifice and I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me but I don't care. What I mean by sacrifice is this experiment can cost around $50.

So here's what I would do. Buy a bunch of sets of what you think will be good strings put them on and switch them out after a couple of days. Not after they are played in for awhile. "But why so soon Philip?, they haven't even settled in yet." This is because I don't think anyone will remember exactly what they sounded like new after a month or two. At least I can't. So then you swap them after a couple days and you have a fair comparison in sound and feel. Then with the same sets install them and leave them on for a while and see how they settle in. Some feel better and sound better after a while. Some feel good and sound worse after awhile. Some look terrible but sound good after awhile. Some look and feel terrible and sound terrible after awhile.

The bottom line is this is a very personal and subjective choice. Don't go with a set just because Dawg uses em', Ronnie McCoury uses em' or Sam Bush uses em' and you'll find a million opinions here on what strings people like best. It's true a majority like certain sets such as the J74's but you might find you like the Gibson Bill Monroe set a lot better if you just tried them. Good luck...

[Milan Christi]

I would tend to agree with that advice. I've done that with every instrument I own. I find I prefer Brand X on my D-28 and Brand Z on my J-45. My old Gibson A-1 seems to sound better with Brand A and my Arches F5 sounds better with Brand B. I've tried almost all of the big names and most recommended strings - they all have solid points. My preference is just that - my preference. For me the experimenting is lots of fun and I'll still go out on a limb and try Brand R just for the heck of it.

Good luck and enjoy the ride!

[mythicfish]

Kinda like shoes - gotta try 'em on.
J74s are a popular "baseline" . (Not bass line)

[Gutbucket]

You might go thru a couple brands and types till your mandolin sounds the best. Your mandolin will speak to you when its happy.

[mandolirius]

I agree. It's interesting to hear what others think about different strings but you are going to have to check them out on your instrument. I got a new one four months ago and am still in the middle of my experiment phase. It came with GHS mediums. I put a set of j74's on next, then John Pearse 80/20's. The Pearse were the strings I used on my old mando, didn't like them on this one. Tried Elixers next and liked them. Couldn't find a set locally, so I have D'Addario FlatTops on now, and I like them too. I have some FireWires and D'Addario EXP's that I ordered online. After that, I think I'm going to stop experimenting and make a decision.

[CollingsPicker]

Thanks Every body I wanted to see what other mandolin players out there use. I use Dadarrio J-74 but wondered what all of you thought. Seeya David

[homeslice]

I'd say that j74's are a good home base to begin your dabble with other strings. At least you know you have something good to come "home" to. Good luck!

[duuuude]

What, nobody's gonna ask "What kinda music do ya play?"

[fatt-dad]

Just for something different (not by too much that is), try the EXP-74s. I like them!

f-d

[Cheryl Watson]

For a drier tone and longevity, I love the D'Addario JS74s.

Also try D'Aquisto PBs. They are inexpensive, sound great, are very reliable and last more than twice as long as J74s (PBS).

Both of these are at FQMS.com Great folks, great prices.

I agree, every mandolin seems to sound best with a certain type of strings. Mine do.

Cheryl

[Alex Fields]

Okay I haven't read any of the other responses so I apologize if anything of this is repetitive.

There is not just one type of string that is best for anyone in all circumstances. It depends to a large extent on what type of music you play and on what your playing style is like. I personally think that Thomastik-Infeld strings have by a fair margin the best tone of any mandolin strings, and also are the easiest and most comfortable to play. They're also really light, really really not loud, and not wonderful for chopping, and don't make those cool scratchy sounds when you slide a pick along the side of them like Chris Thile does sometimes. So if you're playing anything without a mic and want to be heard, TIs are not for you, and they're probably not for you if you're playing straight bluegrass. If you're playing classical (or for that matter jazz or celtic or a lot of other genres) they're perfect. Oh, they also last three or four times longer than regular strings, cost a whole lot more, and in my experience at least they stay in tune better. And since they're really light and most mandolins are not voiced for light gauge strings, they're not a perfect sonic match for most mandolins and are most effective on mandolins voiced for light strings (which is not to say they're ineffective on other mandolins, just that the loss of volume is even more acute). So there's a lot to consider.

Best thing to do, though, is to play as many types of strings as you can, with the same pick on the same mandolin, and see what you like best. I know that can be expensive so probably the best thing to do is take the brands that are commonly recommended around here (or commonly used by professionals)--and there aren't too awfully many--and try those. Off the top of my head, you should try: D'Addario EXPs and/or JPs, D'Addario FTs, Thomastik-Infeld, JazzMando Labella, Elixir, Firewire, and maybe Gibson. The EXPs or JPs will be similar to Gibsons, JazzMando will be similar to Thomastiks, I haven't tried Firewire but they're flatwound like Thomastiks, the FTs are semiflatwound, sortof a middle ground between Thomastiks and EXPs, Elixirs are most similar to EXPs or Gibsons in that they are the same materials but they are coated and they feel and sound a bit different (and last longer). So if you can't afford too many different sets of strings all at once, you can try say EXPs and Thomastiks first, and if you clearly prefer one to the other you will know which strings to try next--so if you prefer EXPs it would be kinda pointless to try JazzMando strings since they will basically be like Thomastiks, and you'd be better off trying Gibson or Elixir or something.

My list of string types is probably not exhaustive of quality brands but those are the most commonly used. I apologize for the really disorganized post.

[John L]

I don't know if they still make them, but I bought a whole bunch of Gibson monel strings that I am still using, and I really like them. My 2c!

[mdlorenz]

not a huge fan of elixers, but do like the EXP 74s for their longevity & comparable tone to the regular 74s

[Soupy1957]

"Ditto" to everything said here..The only thing I'd repeat, (believing it MUST have been said, thus far), is that the "Flat Wound" strings DO feel a tad easier on the fingers.(JM-11's or Thomastik-Infelds).
-Soupy1957

[Alex Fields]

Yeah JM-11 is what I meant by JazzMando/La Bella strings. I use strictly Thomastiks myself.

[neangler]

One of the nicest things about mando strings is that they're so inexpensive and you can really experiment. Good violin strings, on the other hand, run $20 to $30 a pack, so it's hard to try them all. Not so with the mando.

By the way, I've read all the comments so far, and a couple of them are a little quaint. Bag the Gibson strings. Does anyone really think there's some guy in the Gibson basement making strings? You can rest assured, with 99.99 percent assurance, that these are made by someone else and "private labeled" for Gibson. That's the way manufacturing works these days. That's why some guys say the Gibson strings sound so similar to the D'Addario, which happens to be one of the largest actual string manufacturers in the world. Hum...do you think D'Addario is making the Gibson strings? Hey, Gibson wants to make $3500 Les Paul's and $10,000 mandolins, not five dollar packages of strings.

If you want to experiment, stick with D'Addario, Thomastik-Infeld, and D'Aquisto, and maybe GHS, and I really think you'll hit the majority of different strings without buying the same strings under some private label. That would be a waste of money and only lead to confusion.

[Alex Fields]

Good violin strings for 20-30 bucks? Where? Get me some!

Haha...I'm only half serious. You can reasonably good strings for that price maybe but not the best ones. I just payed 49 bucks or so for new fiddle strings (T-I Reds). You can get D'Addario Zyex for like 33...maybe Helicore for under thirty, and yeah some professionals play Helicore, so that's something, but your options in that range are limited. You can pay a whole lot more though. Even for non gut strings, Evah Pirazzi cost almost 100 bucks, gut strings can cost you in the 100s.

In any case those stats are misleading. Violin strings last way, way longer than mandolin strings. Most professional mandolin players have to change strings before every show, two shows at the most and that only if you play lightly like Thile. I talked to Edgar Meyer a couple of days ago and somehow we ended up talking about strings (turns out he hasn't changed his bass strings in seven or eight YEARS...what the heck??? he wasn't even sure what kind of strings were on it!) and he said that all the mandolin players he plays with change strings before every show, and that Sam Bush can't even use the strings at sound check because they'll go dead before end of show if he does. He said he hears Sam's strings going dead during the show. The ones he just put on before the show. Of course Sam plays harder than I can swing a baseball bat but still. Even Thile has to change strings every show or two...and he uses Elixirs!

Back when I used EXP75s (long time ago) I found they went dead in a few days. I went to FT74s and they, too, would last only a couple of days. I play Thomastiks now and they last me a couple of weeks maybe, but I play really, really, really lightly usually (microphones are my friends). Fiddle strings last me a few months--granted I play fiddle less frequently, but I have a really really heavy bow hand on fiddle (funny how I play so hard on fiddle and so light on mandolin) so it probably evens out. So even though mandolin strings are considerably cheaper per set, I think they're more expensive per year.

Not that that any in way disproves your point that the cheapness of them makes it easier to try a lot of sets haha. So I guess all that was off topic and basically pointless.

[John Westcott]

It's been my experience with guitar strings that they all sound great when they are new. The trick is finding the right gauge for the instrument so it can produce the best sound and still be very playable. On my acoustic's I mostly use light strings except on a Larrivee parlor guitar where I use mediums. On my electric guitars I use 10s on everything. I prefer coated strings on the electrics and bronze on my acoustics.
There are only a couple of companies making strings which they sell under there own brand but these same companies are also making strings for everyone else.
So knowing this what I tend to do is when it comes to buying strings is to checkout the bargin bin when I'm shopping at my local music store. They always seem to have a deal on strings. I have picked up guitar strings for $3-5 A set that are coated (DR's)and have found many other quality brands on sale. #If I see there are some deals in the bin I'm buying 5-10 sets at a time.

The other thing to know about strings is to change them often. Once the strings start to lose their tone replace them. The biggest improvement to your instrument's sound can be made by just replacing your strings more often.

Since I'm new to this mando thing (I have Eastman 515 and $49 MF rogue)I'm taking the same approach to my string selection. If I see a bargin I'll buy a set or 2 or 10 and give them a try.

FYI for you bargin hunters out there checkout MF for the $2.99 deal on a set of Martin Mandolin phospher bronze light strings. Oh... They sound great to me!

John Westcott
www.bluethrill.com

[neangler]

You're absolutely right about violin strings lasting longer than mando strings.

AND, you're dead right about Sam Bush and the punishment he puts on strings. He even adresses this on his 2-DVD instructional set; He says he deadens a new set in about half an hour. But, then you see him play on those DVDs—up close—and you can see why. It never occured to me that a mando could take that sort of playing. Not punishment, but flat-out, superhard playing. Zooooommmmmm..........

Keep pickin'

[Alex Fields]

This is off topic I know but does anyone know what kind of pick Sam uses? Any of my picks would cease to exist very shortly with that kind of playing.

[John L]

Did I say I thought Gibson made the strings? The 'monel' alloy is probably the critical descriptor. They are definitely not bronze or phosphor bronze. I bought a box a few years ago, which I will run out of soon. I should also mention that they have a "dark" sound (they sound GREAT in minor keys), and would probably not suit a bluegrass player.

EDIT: More from "quaint guy"...

Monel is a nickel alloy - around two-thirds nickel and one-third copper - invented by the International Nickel Co. in 1904 and named for its president, Ambrose Monell.

The Sam Bush strings are monel. They are the only monel strings I can find on-line. Don't know who makes them, but I don't see any other monel strings other than the Gibsons.

[Eugene]

(Somewhat facetiously) What, no mention of Dogal's carbon steel!? Shame.

[cooper4205]

Bag the Gibson strings. Does anyone really think there's some guy in the Gibson basement making strings? You can rest assured, with 99.99 percent assurance, that these are made by someone else and "private labeled" for Gibson. That's the way manufacturing works these days. That's why some guys say the Gibson strings sound so similar to the D'Addario, which happens to be one of the largest actual string manufacturers in the world. Hum...do you think D'Addario is making the Gibson strings?

Gibson does make their own strings. They get wire and such from Mapes, but they have their own factory in Illinois cranking them out.


Gibson strings press release

[mandroid]

Monel,is THE stuff for Maritime use, more stainless than stainless steel,
and a different alloy than the Nickel used for tring-winding.

Try them all . get an assortment, hear on your instrument, for yourself.

"Best" doesn't really Apply, no Final Four Play-Off, in Music.