Strings for fender FM53S?

[JenWantstaJam]

Hello all,
This is my first original post, and I hope its a decent one. I am heading to the city for the weekend and plan on making a trip to the music store. Besides looking at new BETTER mandolins to eventually trade my fender in for, I want to get some new strings to tide me over. ( I haven't changed them in almost 2 years.) So, if you don't know, it's an A-style f-hole. I play mainly fiddle tunes, but hope to learn some bluegrass too, so something middle-of-the-road would be good. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
~Jen

[mandroid]

med light if you like easier action .010 -.036. other #option ,011 -.040 if you want volume.
get an assortment of winding alloys and see what sounds #best to YOU.
Phosphor BZ; bright Bz, monel; silk and bronze; silk and silvered copper are some of the options. check the #range out, ya gotta change em anyhow, learn what you like.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif
good politicians answer?

[bjc]

Greetings Jen and welcome,

I'm with mandroid. I'd try a variety. A lot of folks on the board really enjoy D'Addario so I would check those out. Honestly, I've been playing for about two years and am still experimenting...you can also check out juststrings.com or other web sites to see what brands are out there...But try a few different sets if you can afford it. That'd be my advice.

[JenWantstaJam]

Well, I ended up getting ghs light strings at the recommendation of the mando guy at the store. I didn't really want light but he said the slots in the nut are probably not wide enough to fit medium strings. Is this a job for a luthier? And if I were to alter the nut slots, and then medium strings sounded worse, can I put light strings back on in the now bigger slots?

[mandroid]

N.B.: The difference is really a few thousandths of an inch..

E= 0.010" to 0.011" G = 0.036" to 0.038",0.041" at most.

You should be able to lay the end of the string in the slot on the nut of the instrument, in the store, to check this out -before you buy . if it slips into the slot it's a go!

[Professor PT]

Try D'Addario J74's. I have the same mando( even though it seldom gets played anymore ), and these strings sound great. The bronze helps balance out the darker tone of the nato back and sides. The nut should be no problem; mine fits with the J74's just fine.

[JenWantstaJam]

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif That's what had intended to buy, but the guy didn't even hesitate when I asked what strings I should get. DARN! Oh well, next time...

[Professor PT]

Yeah, a lot of those store employees have their preferences. #Sometimes I think it might be because the mark-up on certain brands is more. #I don't really know for certain. #But, if they know anything about mandolin strings, that's quite an improvement over most music store employees I've dealt with.