nickel strings

[lenf12]

I used to use the JS74s. To my ears, they are very fundamental but they have far less tonal complexity and depth. They do last a very long time and feel good on the fingers. Volume is strong too. I guess they work for some mandolins, not so much for others.

Hi Cheryl,

From reading your description above, I would have to say the same thing about D'Addario FW-74s as well. I have a set of FW-74s on my 1916 F-4 oval hole. These are flat wound with what appears to be some sort of nickel/steel ribbon on the G and D strings. I have typically used FT-74 FlatTops on this mandolin to get a nice but jangly sound. Switching to the FW-74 got rid of the jangly upper frequencies and produces a really nice fundamental note that's great on an oval hole mandolin. These strings are also very easy on the fingers. Does anybody know if these FW-74s will work on an electric mandolin with a magnetic pickup?

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Gelsenbury]

Any thoughts given to the fact that nickel might wear out the frets a lot quicker than Bronze?

Is this true? I'm confused by the combination of "fact" and "might".

[Tom Wright]

...Does anybody know if these FW-74s will work on an electric mandolin with a magnetic pickup?...

Yes, they will work fine with magnetic pickups.

[Tom Wright]

Is this true? I'm confused by the combination of "fact" and "might".

Wound strings are not what cause the most wear, at least in my experience. The skinny plain steel strings cut deep notches, while the wound strings leave very shallow marks after the same duration of use. All sets use the same plain strings, so wear will be pretty much identical regardless of which style of string you like.

I used stainless-steel wound strings for years on my Ryder and it was only the plain steel strings that left noticeable wear.

BTW, switch to EVO frets and they basically will never wear out.

[sblock]

Tom Wright is absolutely correct: fret wear is tightly correlated with the diameter of the strings, not with whatever they're covered with. The smaller diameter, steel strings tend to wear notches into the frets much more quickly than the larger, wound strings. There is therefore no need to be concerned about the material of the windings where the frets are concerned: you will need to replace your frets for other reasons, long before the any small differences due to these become an issue!

[mandroid]

+ the steel is harder than the Fret wire .. bronze softer, Monel a bit harder , Ferrous Nickel* a bit harder Yet .

*(It has to have Some iron in it for magnetic pickups)

[Tom Wright]

...Ferrous Nickel*...*(It has to have Some iron in it for magnetic pickups)

To be accurate, nickel is magnetic as is. Wikipedia: "Nickel is one of four elements that are ferromagnetic around room temperature." It has the kind of magnetic characteristics associated with iron so is called ferromagnetic. It resists corrosion so is used as plating for steel or brass parts.

All "steel" strings have steel cores, and even the bronze-wound have some magnetic response from their core wire, so magnetic pickups can work fine with bronze strings if the pickup compensates for different response.

[mandroid]

but steel core in a bronze wound string may not offer a strong enough signal to be universally satisfactory.

[Tom Wright]

but steel core in a bronze wound string may not offer a strong enough signal to be universally satisfactory.

The better pickups compensate well, and mine is excellent. I have a strong E, a strong C G and D, and a well balanced A, using D'Addario phosphor bronze. BTW, they have much more sparkle and interesting overtones through the magnetic pickup than nickel or steel wound. I have the same pickups on my solidbody 10-string as my Buchanan, and the sound is superb with bronze-wound through a Ryder stacked single-coil.

[pops1]

Some pickups work well with bronze wound strings, if they are wound for it. Others sound very thin and don't work well. I like The GHS White bronze strings for a magnetic pickup. The white bronze winding is magnetic and they are great acoustic strings a well. Not so bright as bronze when first put on and seem to not fade like bronze for much much longer. A lot more consistent in sound thru the life of the string than bronze.

[mandroid]

so You unwound some and tested it with a Magnet, separate from the steel core wire ?

[pops1]

so You unwound some and tested it with a Magnet, separate from the steel core wire ?

It says in the GHS string catalog that the strings are magnetic and work with a magnetic pickup.