Elixir mandolin strings

[Frank Farley]

Just like to hear from ones who uses Elixir mandolin strings. I play them on guitar and love them but have never used their mandolin strings. Like to get some feedback on them before I try a set. I use J-74's now but would really like something a little more comfortable on the hands.

[Ron McMillan]

I live in a very humid climate where regular phosphor-bronze strings are dead inside a month. Elixir Nano Lights work well for three months or even longer, though to get that sort of life out of them you have to remember to wipe them down every day and use something like Fast Fret to keep them smooth and avoid them going 'gritty'. I'm perfectly happy with their sound and their brightness, though personal views on such things (as I am sure you'll discover here) are never ending in their variation.

[Bill S]

I use Elixirs on my Old Wave guitar bodied octave. The reason for this originally was that the strings supplied on it were prone to excessive, and I mean excessive squeaking. Perhaps it was a technique issue on my part, but my honest opinion was that was not the case. However, I really love the sound these strings give on the octave now. It is not quite as bright as 'normal' strings, but this is marginal and there is still plent of zing. In fact, I think they produce a lovely balanced sound across all the courses.

The other advantage is of course that they last absolutely ages! I buy a custom set, and that is about £20, but I would say they last four or five times as long.

Whether this all translates into a mandolin, I'm not sure.

[avaldes]

I liked them on my guitar and they seemed to sound bright and live for a long time. I just got a set for my Weber Gallatin A oval, for the next string change. I'm still in the string exploration stage.

[fentonjames]

d'addario exp's are the way to go.

[CES]

I like them better on guitar than mando, think I need to move up to mediums on one of my mandos. Have some exp 75s to try when my current set goes dead. Of course, they've been on since before Christmas and are no where close to done, but I don't have "string eating skin."

[SincereCorgi]

I like Elixers and I like EXPs, too.

[Barry Wilson]

I have elixers on my acoustic and electric guitars as well as the godin mandolin. I like how long they last. still using j74's on the acoustic mandolin but I still have 3 more sets laying around to use up. I have very acidic sweat and kill non coated strings so fast. played the acoustic mando yesterday and still laugh at the permanent green tone on my right palm lol

[Tobin]

I used Elixir Nanowebs for a few years on my (old) mandolin. They did indeed last longer than other brands, and the coating on the wound strings was nice and slick. Slides were easy, and only very minimal zippy noises.

The reason I drifted away from them was that the tone was just not what I was looking for. Too bright and thin sounding for me. They didn't have much in the way of punch, and their tonal complexity was lacking. The coating really does kind of kill the sound.

And on top of that, the coating starts to flake off where your pick makes contact. It'll start to look 'fuzzy' after a while and you'll get flakes of coating all over the top of your mandolin.

But that was just my personal experience on my mandolins. Only way to know for sure is to try them yourself. It's a fairly inexpensive experiment.

[jlsmando]

Great on AC guitar (I will always use coated nano's on guitar) .. pretty good on mando .. tho lately I've switched to EFW74 flats for now .. so far so good ... I am waiting to see how long they REALLY last (vs. the elixer nano's) .

[Homer Savard]

I use them on my guitars and mandolins. Last a long time and sound good. If I were looking for max tone and volume, it would be J-74's. It's mostly my laziness and the fact that I hate to change strings that keeps me with the Elixirs.
Try them and spend less time working, more time playing...
Just saying!

[Polecat]

I used them for quite a while on my Eastman 504, J-74s are definitely louder but I killed them in two weeks whereas the Elixirs would typically last a month or two. As regards tone, I think I preferred the Elixirs, I also tried D'Addarios EXP series and disliked how they sounded/felt. I now use Fisoma Supersolo flatwounds, I love the flatwound sound.

[Marcolin]

I prefer D'Addario EXP74's

[Bren]

I'm liking D'Addario EFW74 flatwound at the moment. Not coated , but easy to clean and they last well enough.

[roysboy]

"The reason I drifted away from them was that the tone was just not what I was looking for. Too bright and thin sounding for me. They didn't have much in the way of punch, and their tonal complexity was lacking. The coating really does kind of kill the sound."

These were exactly my observations using Elixirs on my acoustic guitars . I agree they have tons of life ,comparatively, but I went back to un-coated strings and don't regret it . They just seem to have a fuller sound with more punch than the Elixers . I do use Elixers on my electric guitars , however , where the signal is so heavily processed that any difference in strings would be undetectable and I get great life and intonation . I've used the EXPs on my mandolin and found similar issues to the Elixirs....slightly thinner sound and , surprisingly , not a significantly longer life in them for whatever reasons .

[metrognome]

Last string change I put on Elixirs for the first time as an experiment. I like them, and plan to re-string tomorrow, using Elixirs again. They have been going for nearly 3 months. Based on a perceived change in tone, I was ready for a change about two weeks ago, at about 8 weeks. However, they still hold tune quite well and remain serviceable for practicing. They are basically D'Addario-manufactured strings coated with Gore-Tex according to my friend at the music store. I previously used J-74s and changed them every 3 weeks. The J-74s sound is a bit better for the first couple of weeks, but then falls off quickly after that. Although slightly different sounding due to the coating, I'm satisfied with the sound of the Elixirs overall.

[OldSausage]

If you want something more comfortable on the hand than J74s, I would suggest J73s.