String recommendations for vintage Stradolin

[robroy]

Greetings from a newbie, to this forum and mandolins in general....

I just picked up a sweet old Stradolin (I'll post some photos soon), vintage late '40s or so, I'd say. The strings on her are very old so I wanted to get some new ones, but wondered whether I could put J74s on without worry, or needed to go with a lighter gauge.

It has a solid spruce top with maybe just the slightest dip in the top....

thanks for your input!

best, Robert

[MANDOLINMYSTER]

Welcome aboard! Those ole strads are tough, I use J74's on mine and they sound great with'em

[Givson]

I have had best results with my Strads using a set with a .010 E string, such as D'Addario J-62. Strads are built pretty lightly and do not have a truss rod.

[grassrootphilosopher]

Strad-O-Lins like any other vintage mandolin can surely take J-74s or any other medium type string without problems. Just make sure that there are no cracks, open seams or glue issues. My mandolin sounds like a million bucks with J-74s and I even had J-75s on them for a period of time. I just went back to J-74s because I found them easier to play.

[MikeEdgerton]

I use J-74's on mine. Posts some pictures in the Strad-O-Lin Social Group when you can.

[Pete Martin]

I use the Sam Bush Gibson Monel Steels on mine. Love it, thanks Spruce!

[robroy]

Thanks to all for the input.... I ordered a set of each, j-74s and j-62s today to try out.

I can't believe how much I'm enjoying this mandolin.... it's just awesome.

And I will post some photos in the Stradolin forum soon... I've been visiting there already!

[bmac]

I second Mike's suggestion that you show photos on the Stradolin forum. a number of us lucky Stradolin owners look forward to seeing it and comparing it with ours. Also your observations on what can be seen inside (serial number(?), tonebar and/or bracing pattern if you can tell. A detail of headstock showing headstock logo and art work would also be interestng.

Congratulations!

[Randi Gormley]

fwiw, I started with light weight strings on mine, switched to J-74's and now have some Thomastik's on (medium weight, I think) and it's responded well to all three types. Of course, I've had to have a neck re-set, too, but I don't think it was because of the strings, rather because the animal glue gave up the ghost.

[DerTiefster]

Randi,
Have you had any intonation issues differing with the various string sets? I'm experiencing some with a straight (uncompensated) saddle and have a suspicion (only) that the strings I have on it may be stiffer than some others like the Thomastiks. I have a set of 154Ms in hand but didn't think I wanted to use them up on the Strad. I wanted to try some PhosphorBronze sets on first.

The old strings it came with were light gauge. I don't have a caliper...oh, wait...I -do- have a micrometer I can use to measure that with a bit of fussing with holding things. Gee, y'all are a smart crowd. I'll get back to you later.

[bratsche]

Michael, the bridge on mine is compensated (and it's an el cheapo model), so I assumed they all were compensated. Are you sure it's the original bridge? Perhaps I should ask if anyone else has an uncompensated bridge on theirs?

I use Thomastiks (what else is new, right?) Though the bridge has to be slanted noticeably with the bass end closer to the tailpiece, it plays very well in tune all the way up the neck (which was a very pleasant surprise indeed).

bratsche

[DerTiefster]

Thomastiks seem to me to be notably flexible. You hold one, point it at the other side of the room, and you don't get much "point" at anything but the floor. The variable stiffness of the various strings is what I understand the compensation to be compensating. Thomastiks are one string set I'd expect to go well on an uncompensated (straight) bridge. Look at the saddles on the group photos and you'll see a bunch of (perhaps only?) straight bridge saddles. It was written somewhere that the Curt Mangan mandola string set was notably stiffer than other string sets. That might indicate that it is more needful of compensation, but I haven't tested and don't know.

Bratsche: you said your bridge is "compensated" as in -not- straight, but that it was a "low-end" instrument? I'd expect uncompensated and "low-end" to go together, so I'm asking for confirmation that you said what you intended to say and didn't just leave off the "un" on the bridge. I apologize for not being trusting.

[bratsche]

Yes, I meant to say it is compensated, as in not straight. (Very obvious in this picture.) For that matter, all my instruments' bridges are. I only ever had one mando family instrument that came with a straight bridge, and it played so badly out of tune that I had to make it a compensated bridge, which improved it immensely, though not perfectly (I don't have that one anymore, so I can't refer to it specifically).

bratsche

Edited to add: Oops, I forgot about my bowlback - it has a straight bridge. Forgot about that one!

[Tom Wright]

Thomastiks do pretty well on an uncompensated bridge for my orchestra mandolin, not perfect but good enough.

[DerTiefster]

My bridge saddle looks like Doc Simons' in this picture:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/gr...chmentid=64921
And the next one, from mrichmond. And in pictures from Randi Gormly, PJPowers, Loki, and in a whole bunch more. Hmmmm. I think I'm seeing a pattern here. But Catmando's beautiful picture here:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/at...chmentid=55779
shows another compensated bridge. I'm thinking I ought to temporarily re-position the compensated bridge from another mandolin to this Stradolin to see what the effect is. I can't find reference to a replacement saddle anywhere. But the spacing of the support wheels seems to be 2-5/8", which seems not to be the standard width and so I'd have to make my own. I may do just that.

Hmmmm. After reading catmando's comments, it looks like he bought it with that bridge (as did bratsche, I take) and maybe I ought just to fit another bridge assembly. Shouldn't be that bad. Of course, I'll keep the straight one with the mandolin.

[bratsche]

Hmmm, indeed. You're right. I never even paid attention to the other bridges. Guess I got lucky. Perhaps someone compensated mine somewhere along the way, in order to improve the intonation.

If only these old instruments could talk. I bet they'd tell some stories!

bratsche

[tburcham]

My 1942 model is working very nicely with D'Addario EXP 74s.

[DerTiefster]

I'm just incapable of noticing small things. The bridge was never in the right place, at least for the Curt Mangan strings. I had to move the bass end of the bridge toward the tail piece by at least 3/16" and now life is much better. In the process of moving the bridge, though, the A strings lost a lot of volume.

Magic afoot? probably not, because in changing the angle of the bridge on the body, there is now much more airspace visible under the bridge feet. I suspect this bridge was never properly fitted. The bass foot has been marking the finish in two places, at its extremes. The middle of the foot is not touching the top. It's adjustment time.

[earnest]

Where is this strad-o-lin social group? I just got one myself. eck

[Bill Snyder]

DerTiefster, I can not view the first photo you linked to in post #15. You must be a member of the social group to view those photos.

[DerTiefster]

Earnest: this link should take you to the Social Group -- http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/group.php?groupid=53 I think you will be given the option of joining, and I think it only takes saying "yes" without any promise of handing over your first-born or anything like that. There is a link at the top of the forum pages and close to the search box which is labeled "Social Groups." It ought to be easy to find, at nearly the right side edge of the set of links beginning "Classifieds."

Bill: I hadn't remembered that "feature" of the social groups. It keeps the search engines out, I guess. I'll be posting pics of my mandolin, but until then I could point you toward this picture in a 2007 thead. I think this is even a "U-Strad-S" headstock logo instrument. Its bridge appears blacker than mine (which is a rich brown color):
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/at...chmentid=26803
I think this is viewable by everyone. Catmando's picture is a large, high-clarity picture of more than the 1200x1035 of the face of his mandolin with nearly transparent tortoise-shell colored celluloid pickguard and tailpiece cover shell, with a fully compensated and possibly full-contact bridge. Join up and look at it. I'd not choose to bypass the intent (I suspect there is one) of the Social Group restrictions by cross-posting someone else's photo here.

[bobbyburns]

I just noticed that several posts back, grassrootphilosopher said, "Strad-O-Lins like any other vintage mandolin can surely take J-74s or any other medium type string without problems. Just make sure that there are no cracks, open seams or glue issues." While I have used J-74s on every Strad-o-lin I've owned with no problems (and that was the original question), I have to respectfully disagree with the "like any other vintage mandolin" part of the comment. I have repaired lots of other vintage mandolins that were not designed to hold the string tension of anywhere close to a set of J-74s. That much tension will kill a lot of vintage mandolins. Most any vintage Gibson style mandolin with "F" holes will handle J-74s, but most any round-holed flat or bowl back made before the '30's will not.

[robroy]

Here's my update: I put on J-74's about the middle of last month and started noticing the other day that the neck angle was changing and the action was getting higher. I have now put on the 62's and I'm glad I did. The neck angle has settled back down and the sound is still real nice.... maybe a little mellower, but I don't feel like I'm sacrificing a thing and now, hopefully, the mandolin and I are both good for the long run. Thanks again for everybody's input.

Here is where some photos of this jewel are located:http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/group.php?groupid=53

[grassrootphilosopher]

I just noticed that several posts back, grassrootphilosopher said, "Strad-O-Lins like any other vintage mandolin can surely take J-74s or any other medium type string without problems. Just make sure that there are no cracks, open seams or glue issues." While I have used J-74s on every Strad-o-lin I've owned with no problems (and that was the original question), I have to respectfully disagree with the "like any other vintage mandolin" part of the comment. I have repaired lots of other vintage mandolins that were not designed to hold the string tension of anywhere close to a set of J-74s. That much tension will kill a lot of vintage mandolins. Most any vintage Gibson style mandolin with "F" holes will handle J-74s, but most any round-holed flat or bowl back made before the '30's will not.

You´re right and in my narrow focus I just had vintage oval-hole Gibson style mandolins of the late teens and later as well as their Strad-O-Lin, Kay etc. bretheren. Those though to my mind can take medium strings without problems if there are no structural issues.

robroy
Re: String recommendations for vintage Stradolin

Here's my update: I put on J-74's about the middle of last month and started noticing the other day that the neck angle was changing and the action was getting higher. I have now put on the 62's and I'm glad I did. The neck angle has settled back down and the sound is still real nice....

I suspect a structural issue here. If the action changes when you put strings on the mandolin there´s an issue with the top or the neck. I think this should be checked. Even when lighter strings may work for now, the continuous pull of the strings may cause a problem in the future under said conditions.

When I got my Strad-O-Lin I asked if the neck would need a reset in the future, wether it might develop problems etc. The answer was - with respect to the fact that the neck was straight as an arrow - that if it hadn´t shown a problem by now, after some 60 years of use chances are slight that a problem will show up. I asked about the string tension of medium strings and the likewise answer was that if the mandolin - that was without issues - had not been able to take medium strings, problems would have allready appeared. I still love my Strad-O-Lin. It still plays great and it still has medium strings. The only lasting disadvantage are the old tuners that stay in tune well ... once you´ve got the instrument in tune.

[Maxwellt]

I've had good luck with the J-62s on my Strad-O-Lins. If I can't get those, the Martin M-400s work, also...same gauges. I used the Martins for years before I found the J-62s.