String sets

[Joe Parker]

This is a great place to hang out and sometimes rewarding. Our own Brian Aldridge asked a trivia question one evening in another thread and I happened to know the answer and being the first to reply I 'won' a set of LaBella 880H mandolin strings.Brian uses this set and he has some great mandolins from what I hear,so I figured they must be ok. I got them in the mail Saturday and that night I removed the EXP74's that I had on my Master Model and installed the LaBellas. They are a little heavier;012-017-026-040;with the D and G a phosphor bronze according to the package. So far I have been reeally impressed with the way they sound. The heavier E and A give more punch and clarity and maybe the heavier guage has alot to do with that. What really blows me away is the vast improvement of tone on the D and G! The guages are the same as the EXP set but the sound is much more alive yet not overly bright or in the least bit harsh. The EXP's in comparison are a little dull. I didn't know LaBella made strings like these and had always considered them to be on the lower end of the sound spectrum(nice way to say cheap!)All I can say is that my initial impression is that these are great strings and my hat's off to Brian for the recommendation. I have no affilliation with LaBella and as far as I know neither does Brian or Big Joe. It pays to try new things!

[Brian Aldridge]

JPP, I am happy that you like the LaBella 880H mandolin strings. It took me a coulpe hours of playing to get real comfortable with the heavier E and A strings, but now, I am hooked on them big time. For full disclosure, the band I play with, Dry Branch Fire Squad, has an endorsement deal with LaBella. But, your review of the strings was completely unbiased. I am just glad to get the word out to the mandolin community that LaBella has killer strings.

[straight-a]

"It pays to try new things! "

Very well said, sir!