Jazz Strings

[pheffernan]

I believe those that they have for sale are 174s though, unless the picture is wrong.

The picture is wrong. I trusted fatt-dad and hoped that the product designation was accurate while the image and description were recycled. I ordered the strings on Thursday, and they arrived as 154ST's today for only $37.79.

P.S. Which mandolin of mine would best wear the TI Starks? The Gibson has Gibson monels. The Collings currently wears FW74s. The Pava remains with GHS A270s. The National uses the recommended John Pearse 2150Ms. And the Hester came with J74s.

[LongBlackVeil]

The picture is wrong. I trusted fatt-dad and hoped that the product designation was accurate while the image and description were recycled. I ordered the strings on Thursday, and they arrived as 154ST's today for only $37.79.

P.S. Which mandolin of mine would best wear the TI Starks? The Gibson has Gibson monels. The Collings currently wears FW74s. The Pava remains with GHS A270s. The National uses the recommended John Pearse 2150Ms. And the Hester came with J74s.

Ah man, I chickened out and bought them somewhere else. Oh well, I lost a few bucks.

I plan to put mine on my newly acquired 24 a jr. So well see how it goes.

I've tried ti guitar strings and honestly hated them. I don't think that has much to do with whether I will like these or not though.

[pheffernan]

I've tried ti guitar strings and honestly hated them. I don't think that has much to do with whether I will like these or not though.

I have the ball end Mittels on my Gypsy, and they are so easy to fret. That instrument has become the one I pick up after my fingers are sore from playing the others. In fact, I was surprised to find the FW74s so different when I first installed them on the Collings, although I'm warming up to them. I'm curious to hear how the Starks would sound on the National, as I've read a number of good things on that pairing, yet I haven't been dissatisfied with the Pearse strings to date either. I'd just like to avoid a $40/12 month mistake if at all possible.

[mandobassman]

Um, spring for the extra few dozen dollars and go with T-I Heavy (a.k.a., Starke). They last and last and sound better than fw-74s. Same benefit of chording and such. Just a better string set.

Do I really have to add, IMHO?

f-d

I'm glad you added the IMHO part. I wouldn't say the TIs are "better", just different. I used The TI Starks for Over 12 years and loved them. however, the F74s add a bit of punch and life to my mandolin that the TIs just didn't have. To me, they're much better suited for Bluegrass and they last just as long, if not longer. I had my last set of FW74s on my mandolin for 16 months. It all depends on what tone you're looking for and what kind of music you're playing. TIs are great strings but you can get similar qualities with a different tonal palette using the FW74s.

[stevedenver]

I agree with mandobassman.


I use TI mittel (mediums). These are superb, easy to play, have tuning stability like nothing else. They comparatively soft in feel to any other equivalent gauge string. Makes pinky work, difficult stretches, twisty chords and high fret work a breeze, and, they are super 'slick', like playing my fretless wonder.

Nice tone, imho. If you are used to heavy PB, they wont drive the top the same way. They don't sparkle and have the same overtones, and far faster decay.

While I have used them for BG and did so for almost 3 years, this may not be an ideal application, especially if strictly acoustic, ie. un-mic'd. OTOH, im going back because they are so easy on the hands, and I need that right now.

For more power to the top, starks (heavy) but, imho, one loses a touch of ease of playing.

Don't dwell on the price difference, but do shop.

TIs last a long time. For me, nine months of heavy daily playing as well as gigs. After nine months I didn't 'need' to change, ie intonation problems, but did, as they had decent fret indentations on the underside.

Once you try these, you may become spoiled. They are a different, less bright tone, and, less ring, but make playing even more of a joy. The difference in tuning stability is mind blowing. I have played an hour or two with no tweaking. Leave it in tune and come back and its .....in tune. I don't think there is a better string for jazz, swing and gypsy.

[Michael Weaver]

I appreciate you guys taking the time to post. I know it's another string thread which gets annoying. Either way I'm going to give the TI's a run and see how they sound. If I don't like them I will go back to my 74's.

[LongBlackVeil]

I got a chance to put the ti Starks on my new a jr. Honestly I didn't like em. I was hoping for a nice dark rich sound but it honestly
Sounded kind of bright, I guess because they're a lighter gauge. Normally lighter strings will give you a brighter sound anyway but that's just not what I expected from these strings.

Oh well just wasn't the sound I was looking for I guess

[pheffernan]

I was hoping for a nice dark rich sound

You might consider the Gibson Sam Bush Monel strings, which lack the brightness of phosphor bronze. They are my favorite choice to date on my 1924 Gibson A snakehead.

[LongBlackVeil]

You might consider the Gibson Sam Bush Monel strings, which lack the brightness of phosphor bronze. They are my favorite choice to date on my 1924 Gibson A snakehead.

My thoughts exactly. Already got em on order

I liked them on my weber but I felt like they lacked some volume. I'm not worried about losing a little volume with my A jr

[Pete Martin]

For Jazz, I prefer to play my 24 A2, just like the oval sound better for this. The best strings I've found are the old Gibson monels (Sam Bush series).

For my electric Mann EM5, I like the Thomastic flatwounds.

[LongBlackVeil]

I'm also planning on trying the newtone round wound strings.

I've always found round wounds have a warmer sound than the modern hex core strings

[mandobassman]

I swear I thought I paid like $25. Did they go up that much in like 5 years?

Yes, they did. When I started using Thomastik in 1997 they were $17 per set. The last set I bought in 2011 were $38. That's more than double the price in 14 years. That's the same reason I stopped using Thomastik bass strings. The first set I bought around 2001 was $110. They now cost $237. That's a $127 increase in 13 years.

[Marty Jacobson]

That's about the difference between the Euro in 2001 (1EUR = $0.88 in 2001) to now (1EUR = $1.30 or so)...

[stevedenver]

Yes, they did. When I started using Thomastik in 1997 they were $17 per set. The last set I bought in 2011 were $38. That's more than double the price in 14 years. That's the same reason I stopped using Thomastik bass strings. The first set I bought around 2001 was $110. They now cost $237. That's a $127 increase in 13 years.

wow
sheesh
blue chip sticker shock LOL
I cant take it......

I just checked TIs and the price has gone up $10.00 per set since last year-they are now ...get this.....$90.00 retail and $48 discounted -i will think twice at this price-to replace a broken string is $12.00 for the replacement sets of paired strings, ie 2 E, 2 A, etc -and I have had this happen occasionally when stringing or otherwise

[Three-Dz]

A mandolin playing friend of mine recommended J-67 nickel wound 11-39. I'm really diggin'em so far, nice lows and plenty of treble. They seem to be holding up good too!