Black diamond coated mandolin strings

[Gaelen]

Any thoughts on the Black Diamond coated strings for Mandolin http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif???

I have just tried some on one of my Guitars (Lowden LSE2) and Im very impressed.

I have been using the D'Addario EXP coated strings both on GTR and Mandolin (EXP75) and just fancied a change so I took advantage of the $2.00 = £1.00 and bought some from Elderly.

Incidently what kind of insanity is it that means that living in the original Washington in the UK I find it loads cheaper to buy strings from the USA even paying around $10.00 for postage still makes the Mandolin and guitar strings from Elderly Instruments a bargain.

Anyway, rant over; where can I either get some Black Diamond coated Mandolin Strings in the UK (for less than £10.00 a set) or where in the USA or will send them to me http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

Thank you.

Bellowhead rule !!!!!

[Ivan Kelsall]

I have in the past ordered strings from FQMS in Louisville & made a heck of a saving on 10 sets (£80 = $160) on D'Addario FT74's. I can only assume that the price from the makers to stores like FQMS is kept low on account of the quantities they sell (?).
This subject has been touched on before & Trevor at TAMCO in Brighton(UK)will tell you that retailers over here make next to nothing on a set of strings & the wholesalers certainly don't offer much (if any) discount to the trade,so there's nothing that the trade can pass on to us.
I really do wish that our music shops could get a good price from the wholesalers,similar to that in the USA on strings other than electric Guitar strings which can be very cheap over here - but still cheaper in the USA. I made a decision a while ago to support my main supplier of strings in the UK.I just buy a couple of sets at a time to keep my outlay down,
Saska

[Aran]

Hey folks,

I'm based in Dublin Ireland and you can't get heavy guage mandolin strings anywhere that I've seen. I spent a whole afternoon going from music shop to music shop in Dublin with no luck. Yes you could J74's but I wanted 75's or something similair.

So although I would like to support my local shop I have no choice but to order from the States and yes it is quite cheap at the moment http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Anyway I got a set of Black coated strings about 3 weeks ago, to be honest part of it was cause I thought they would look cool on my blonde F mandolin, yeah I know it's shallow but hey why not.

Anyway I haven't noticed that they sound any different from my usual J75's and the black coating has more or less worn off in first position on the fret board and in the picking area, so now it just looks odd.

So today I'm gonna order some more strings but I'm not sure which ones, maybe some of the Sam Bush ones cause I seem to remember having a set a couple of years ago that I thought at the time sounded great. I think I'll scan the cafe for inspiration.