Have you any words of wisdom, on the merits of various brands of Mandolin Strings?
Incidentally, my Mandolin is an Oakwood, which sells today for £855 and as I've had 17 years of great service from her, a string treat is probably long overdue!
I've only had the pleasure of using Prazision strings on fiddle for the last decade and haven't found anything to match them. Didn't think Thomastik made mandolin strings though.
I use Newtone phosphor bronze wound strings on all my fretted instruments, and I'm happy with them.
But the Thomastik strings ('Apart from the plain mandolin E string, these strings are made of tin-plated silver steel, flat wound with chrome steel wire and finely polished.') will be very different, I expect.
The Thomastiks are a very different animal from the phos. bronze strings. They have a warmer, darker tone with a bit less volume. The good news is that they last months longer than bronze strings which offsets the cost differential a bit. They're a very good string and worth at least a try, but not for every mandolin or player.
I dön't know if this is relevant, but I tried a set of fairly pricey Lenzner silver wound strings once (I was in Latvia at the time and they were the only alternative to the stored-in-a-damp-warehouse-for-15-years Soviet strings). They had a lovely, crisp, sound, if quieter than what I was used to - but the windings started to give that same day. Hopefully Thomastik strings are more durable.
I'm happy with my D'Addario bronze-wounds, anyway.
I like the sound of D'Addario J74s but I get a lot of string breakages with the unwound ones (corrosive sweat I suppose). A while ago I started using Martin SP's which have a bronze coating on the unwound strings and they last much longer with good volume too. Not expensive either - I change them every few weeks.
You may or may not like the strings (although spending that kind of money does prejudice your likes and dislikes :grin depending on how your mandolin sounds.
While this may seem self-evident, the T-I strings will give a more mellow quieter sounds as mentioned above. With an oval hole instrument such as yours, they might sound very good.
I have tried several gages of the TI mandolin strings on a Gibson F-5 and a Weber Bighorn. While the strings did not sound bad, they did not bring out the full qualities of the F-5. In retrospect this is not unexpected as the F-5 is a carved top F hole instrument with a specific sound. Using flatwound strings on it is not the best idea.
On the other hand, they sounded good on the Oval hole Weber and played like butter. The instrument sounded good on a microphone and still had enough volume to be heard in a session. I found other similar strings (LaBella strings) that cost a lot less. If you go to Mandolincafe (http://www.mandolincafe.com) and check out the many threads there you can find more information.
I am hooked on the Thomastiks for my old Gibson A-4. They are not as loud as D'addarios, but they have a lovely sweet sound, and balanced volume, so the G strings are not boomy.
They last and last, even with hard playing at a session.
Thomastik Prazision Mandolin Strings?
Thomastik Prazision Mandolin Strings?
It's my birthday tomorrow, so I decided to splash out and order myself a set of new Strings for my Mandolin.
I plumped for a set of 'Thomastik Prazision Strings' and they set me back a cool ..... £26.90!
http://www.themusicroom-online.co.uk/product_info.php/cPath/30_33/products_id/3329
Has anyone here tried these babies?
At almost £27, I'll be expecting these new Strings to almost play themselves!
I must admit though, I usually just go for ye olde faithful D'Addarios, at a more modest £8.99.
http://www.themusicroom-online.co.uk/product_info.php/cPath/30_33/products_id/848
Have you any words of wisdom, on the merits of various brands of Mandolin Strings?
Incidentally, my Mandolin is an Oakwood, which sells today for £855 and as I've had 17 years of great service from her, a string treat is probably long overdue!
http://www.oakwoodinstruments.co.uk/four/mandolins/mand.htm#
Cheers
Dick
# Posted on September 20th 2009 by Ptarmigan
Re: Thomastik Prazision Mandolin Strings?
I've only had the pleasure of using Prazision strings on fiddle for the last decade and haven't found anything to match them. Didn't think Thomastik made mandolin strings though.
# Posted on September 20th 2009 by Fanning
Re: Thomastik Prazision Mandolin Strings?
I use Newtone phosphor bronze wound strings on all my fretted instruments, and I'm happy with them.
But the Thomastik strings ('Apart from the plain mandolin E string, these strings are made of tin-plated silver steel, flat wound with chrome steel wire and finely polished.') will be very different, I expect.
Please let us know how you get on with them.
# Posted on September 20th 2009 by DaveL35
Re: Thomastik Prazision Mandolin Strings?
The Thomastiks are a very different animal from the phos. bronze strings. They have a warmer, darker tone with a bit less volume. The good news is that they last months longer than bronze strings which offsets the cost differential a bit. They're a very good string and worth at least a try, but not for every mandolin or player.
# Posted on September 21st 2009 by Steve L
Re: Thomastik Prazision Mandolin Strings?
Thomastiks are flat wound (except for the E) and feel sort of slacker than normal strings (i.e D'Addario J74s)
You should get your money's worth and then some as they should last four or five times as long
Whether you prefer them or not will take time to decide
# Posted on September 21st 2009 by Bren
Re: Thomastik Prazision Mandolin Strings?
I dön't know if this is relevant, but I tried a set of fairly pricey Lenzner silver wound strings once (I was in Latvia at the time and they were the only alternative to the stored-in-a-damp-warehouse-for-15-years Soviet strings). They had a lovely, crisp, sound, if quieter than what I was used to - but the windings started to give that same day. Hopefully Thomastik strings are more durable.
I'm happy with my D'Addario bronze-wounds, anyway.
# Posted on September 21st 2009 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: Thomastik Prazision Mandolin Strings?
I like the sound of D'Addario J74s but I get a lot of string breakages with the unwound ones (corrosive sweat I suppose). A while ago I started using Martin SP's which have a bronze coating on the unwound strings and they last much longer with good volume too. Not expensive either - I change them every few weeks.
# Posted on September 21st 2009 by RichardB
Re: Thomastik Prazision Mandolin Strings?
You may or may not like the strings (although spending that kind of money does prejudice your likes and dislikes :grin
depending on how your mandolin sounds.
While this may seem self-evident, the T-I strings will give a more mellow quieter sounds as mentioned above. With an oval hole instrument such as yours, they might sound very good.
I have tried several gages of the TI mandolin strings on a Gibson F-5 and a Weber Bighorn. While the strings did not sound bad, they did not bring out the full qualities of the F-5. In retrospect this is not unexpected as the F-5 is a carved top F hole instrument with a specific sound. Using flatwound strings on it is not the best idea.
On the other hand, they sounded good on the Oval hole Weber and played like butter. The instrument sounded good on a microphone and still had enough volume to be heard in a session. I found other similar strings (LaBella strings) that cost a lot less. If you go to Mandolincafe (http://www.mandolincafe.com) and check out the many threads there you can find more information.
Mike Keyes
http://www.mikekeyes.com
# Posted on September 21st 2009 by mikeyes
Re: Thomastik Prazision Mandolin Strings?
I am hooked on the Thomastiks for my old Gibson A-4. They are not as loud as D'addarios, but they have a lovely sweet sound, and balanced volume, so the G strings are not boomy.
They last and last, even with hard playing at a session.
# Posted on September 22nd 2009 by primrose lass