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View Full Version : Who else besides T-I makes flatwounds?



Kid Charlemagne
Jan-10-2005, 4:52am
I have had a set of nice T-I mittle flatwounds on my Old Wave for a while now, and one of the E strings just snapped a couple nights ago. Now, while I love how the T-Is sound, $30/set is a bit steep for me, and I'd love to be able to get the same feel for a little less money.

Problem is, I don't think anyone else makes mandolin flatwound strings. Is that actually the case, and will I just have to take the plunge again, or is there any reason to think I can avoid the enormous expense and still get decent strings?

mandolooter
Jan-10-2005, 4:55am
D Adarrio FT 74
pyramid

John Flynn
Jan-10-2005, 7:50am
T-Is do have a reputation for string breakage. You might have better luck with the heavies (Stark). You can get them for closer to $20 and change from jazzmando.com.

The FT74s are not technically flatwounds. They are roundwounds that have been machined down to almost flat. They have a much different feel and sound than T-Is. They have a rough feel when they are new, they are louder and brighter, especially when they are new, and they don't last nearly as long. I have had breaking problems with the wound A strings on two different mandos with them.

glauber
Jan-10-2005, 10:54am
If you're used to the TIs, the FT74s will feel a lot heavier. They're not thicker, but have noticeably higher tension.

Tim
Jan-10-2005, 11:04am
T-Is do have a reputation for string breakage.
Really? #I don't recall seeing that many comments about TI strings breaking. #Of course when they do break there is a lot of anguish due to the cost of a set.

John Flynn
Jan-10-2005, 11:16am
I don't recall seeing that many comments about TI strings breaking
To be fair, that reputation seems to come more from the guitar world than the mando world. However, I have had one of them break on a mando that had never had a string break on with any other brand. I have also seen an odd comment or two about T-Is breaking on this site. You're right about one thing: For what T-Is cost, they should have a one year guarantee against breakage. Also, a single replacement string costs about $9.00, which is absurd. I can buy a whole set of most other brands for that!

acousticphd
Jan-10-2005, 2:57pm
In any case, the E string in either set is a plain steel string worth a few cents by comparison.

I've never used TIs, I once ordered a couple 10-packs each of the D'Addario semiflat G, D, and A strings (FT74s, I guess), which are more economical in bulk, from the D'Addario website. I think you can still order product direct from them. I did this mainly to have more selection of guages. Then I added plain E strings bought elsewhere for a few dollars per dozen. I think it came out to around $9-$10/set, which I still felt was higher than it was worth to me. I never broke one, but I would think the A-string would be most prone. You would probably want to try a set of the semiflats first and see how you like them. After this experiment though I went back to regular wound and plain steel strings, and just change them often.

Martin Jonas
Jan-11-2005, 3:48am
Lenzner (http://people.freenet.de/lenzner/mandolin.html) also make both flatwounds (like the TIs) and polished bronze roundwounds (like FTs). I love their bronze strings on bowlbacks; haven't tried their flatwounds. However, outside Germany they are much harder to get hold of than TIs and aren't any cheaper, so they may not help you with your search.

Martin

Kid Charlemagne
Jan-11-2005, 6:48am
Thing is that I really like the tension on T-Is. I played on various roundwounds (which all seem to have higher tensions) for a long time, and when I finally got a set of the T-I mittles, I was amazed at the difference, both feel- and sound-wise. But I can't justify a set of strings that seems to have a decent likelihood of snapping and costs more than 4 sets of most other types.

I have halfwounds on several of my guitars, and they're great. If the FT74s are like that, are the tension(s) aren't significantly higher, that might be the way to go.

John Flynn
Jan-11-2005, 7:01am
If the FT74s are like that, are the tension(s) aren't significantly higher
The tension on FT74s is higher than J74s. Total tension is almost as high as J75s. So they have way more tension than T-Is and it is apparent playing them. If you like a lower tension string that has a sweet sound, you might try GHS Silk and Steels.

acousticphd
Jan-11-2005, 12:24pm
The tension on FT74s is higher than J74s. Total tension is almost as high as J75s. So they have way more tension than T-Is and it is apparent playing them. If you like a lower tension string that has a sweet sound, you might try GHS Silk and Steels.

Right; I remember comparing the string tension of the FT74 to the regular J74s. To reduce the tension, I bought packs of D'Addario's light guage mandola singles (G, D, and A strings), which I forgot to mention above. The guages were something like .034, .022, 0.16. Then I used a plain steel .10 on top. The total tension was then about the same or a little less than a regular wound J74 set. That might feel a little better to you. (Aren't the TIs really narrow gauges?)

LSJ
Jan-11-2005, 4:04pm
Kid Charlemagne,

I have been using the T-I (stark) heavy gauge strings since '02. #I have used the round wound and I just dont care for them. #Saying that, I have never had a string to break. #However, I dont pound on it like Bush either. They are expensive I must admit, but I feel I get more wear out of them then I would the round wounds. I know this doesn't answer your question, but you already like the strings, IMO, you should step up to the heavier gauge.

Scott in NC

mandolooter
Jan-11-2005, 4:09pm
[/QUOTE]ya might try GHS silk and steels[QUOTE]
I wish these came in a heavier guage cuz I love the tone on them. Man do they wear out fast tho, and when they "die" they DIE...no tone at all!

mandolooter
Jan-11-2005, 4:10pm
quick question
how does the quote thing work?

Lee
Jan-11-2005, 5:37pm
another not as quick question
How do GHS silk & steels compare with silk and brass?
Question to Kid C.: What flavor Old Wave is it?

Kid Charlemagne
Jan-11-2005, 6:58pm
Lee, it's a C# I had Bill make for me back in 2003. #311. I took a break from playing it for a while, but I feel so bad when it's such a great instrument.

It really started developing a sweet sound, and then I was out of town for a couple months and couldn't take it with me. Now I'm back and fortunately, it's agreed to take me back...

mandroid
Jan-11-2005, 7:02pm
Silk and steel are wound with a silver plated, soft [mostly,if not all], copper alloy, similar to classical guitar strings , but wound on a steel core,instead of nylon;
silk and bronze,wound on silk over the core wire,too , but bronze has more tin and perhaps phosphor and is harder wears longer across the frets, like regular bronze wound.
Brass has a little Zinc in it, as the defining difference.
stone > bronze >Iron > silicon ?

Christopher Howard-Williams
Jan-12-2005, 2:29am
I put my first TIs on in the summer and they still sound and play fine. I love the feel and tone, but they lack volume (I play Bluegrass). I am in a bit of a quandry when the time comes to change again.
I might go back to wounds for a while just to compare and then make a decision. Isn't choice a drag? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

delsbrother
Jan-12-2005, 3:23am
quick question
how does the quote thing work?

If you're asking why your quote didn't look different than plain text, it's because you switched the [/quote] and [quote] tags around. If you're manually formatting the text, you need to put the slash-quote at the end of the quote, not the beginning. Same goes for Bold, Italic, and Underline.

Or just hit the "Quote" icon and the program will do the tagging for you! (that's what I did)