New sound from my OM

[clarksavage]

Been playing my Eric Darnton OM lately (giving my mandolin a rest.) I changed out a few strings (the ones that contributed more "jangle" at lower bridge height). I went to 22 wound for the "A" and went up to 45 wound for the "G." Phosphor bronze all around, other than the plain steel "E." I am able to lower the bridge just a bit, makes running up the neck more comfortable, and the volume and clarity seem to have increased. My teacher finally forced me to go to GDAD tuning (die hard mandolin habits) and it is a new world.

I do think the 45 may be a bit large for the string spacing, if I really hit it the two strings hit each other rather than the frets :-) I had 42's on it, I think. However, the sound is just wonderful now. And loud!

[steve V. johnson]

Hey Clark,

Congrats on your happiness with your new sounds!

What did you have on your As and Gs before?

That's pretty heavy... I'm at 042, 032, 020w and 014 (or 016 in the summer), but my scale length is about 25.4", longer than your Darnton. It's 22" right?

Is your teacher teaching you to play melodies and still use your high D course or are you doing other things now that you're in GDAD?

I have the feeling that GDAD is nice because it provokes me to do things that are distinctly -non-mandolin- kindsa things.

stv

[otterly2k]

Cool, Clark... I"m playing around with string gauges too on my Dean. It's kinda bassy, so I lightened the bass course in order to punch up the trebles... need to wait for the new strings to calm down before I can tell if it's worked.

re: tunings... I NEED to push myself to try GDAD. I've been stuck on ADAE and really like it as it allows me to do most melodic stuff on the higher courses and gives me good open drones on the bottom (especially in A or D). Having 2 OM's helps...I think I'll put one in each tuning and swap back and forth for a bit...

[Dolamon]

And that's how it starts Karen ... self justification "I can put each one in a different tuning and keep them that way". I've used that excuse for a long time and in my case, it really was a form of morbid self deception as I keep all my mandola's tuned CGDa and the Octave / bouzouki's, GDAe. The truth is - if you work anytuning for a long time and get fluid in it - it becomes nothing less than magical.

One question - has the string tension changes dramatically changed the playing balance across the strings?

[otterly2k]

for mine, not dramatically, but some.

for me, I think a part of it is feel and playing style...if I want to bring out a specific part and the strings are too light, it limits the dynamic range available to me. Too heavy and the tension is wrong. I think it affects what I can GET out of the instrument.

Does this make any sense??

[Dolamon]

Perfectly Karen. Playing style and - becoming a really aware member of an ensemble is paramount. For my Spira and other short scale mandola's I gravitated to Elixer Nano Web strings (with the exception of the Cohen). They have the same thickness as other like strings but 'seem' to require a lighter touch with both the left and right hand. Interesting feeling -

For my shorter scale O/M's @535mm or 21 1/8th inches - the same strings work remarkably well. For the longer scale instruments, I regularly use GHS or some compromise set and get pretty good results but - the long scale instruments are normally used in an entirely different context as Rhythm thumpers. The short scales are used more melodically with the rhythm being a subtext - unless that's what the tune calls for. While the Elixer's need to be pieced together to make a full set - it was worth the effort.

BTW - "The way you look tonight" is almost overwhelming on a mandola - it don't work worth beans (for me at least) on an octave.

[clarksavage]

Steve - I switched from 42 on the "G" and 18 on the "A" (plain steel there before). When I took the action down a bit there was a lot of jangle and clatter. I spoke to the builder (Eric) and he said I could go up a little in gauge but to watch for the effect on intonation. I moved to the 45 (maybe a bit much now) and 22 wound on the "A", will probably scale both back a bit and see how it goes. I am getting the "feel" of the instrument and my sense of the OM. My lessons have really just begun, my teacher took me to the GDAD tuning because my first goal is to play with the local Irish Jam session in Morro Bay on Wednesday night. We figured I should start by learning the songs and basic OM backup where I could get the basic feel for things. I've been so completely in love with the little Weber Aspen flattop that I had ignored the OM for a while, but I'm back.

My Darnton OM has a 22 inch scale. The new sound, so far, seems louder and brighter (normal for new strings?) and the "feel" is better to me. I can hit it a bit harder and get clean tones out of the front of it. My teacher (Stuart Mason of Molly's Revenge) is teaching me palm damping to keep me a bit quieter in his small studio :-)

Karen - Having two OM's, good work! You build one with Don Kawalek? I really want to get out East and do that at some point, but summer is about the only break I can get these days. I am going to do his workshop someday. I am working on a mandolin kit occasionally just to get a bit of a feel for wood. And, yes, the new strings are heavier and I seem to hear more low tones (but then, the OM has rosewood sides and back rather than maple). I'd love to hear a maple OM at some point next to this one. My little maple mandolin just captures my attention with its bell like clarity.

Then again, this GDAD tuning lets me use the high "D" string for a drone and it really emphasizes the top end. Its very, very new to me and interesting so far. I'm learing a hornpipe and a reel, just playing backup chords (and learning some of the melody on my mandolin, using tape to play along with myself - why don't you live closer to me???)

[otterly2k]

Clark-- yes, I built one with Don K. A terrific experience I'd recommend to anyone. I'd do it again, and hope to.

And it is a bummer that you're all the way over there on the left coast. A few of us in the Philly area are planning a CBOM tasting event for June.

re: string gauges:
I have 46-36-26-16 on my Otter OM... this works well for this instrument. 4's work pretty good too (44-34-24-14) but I guess I just prefer a meatier string set.

The B.Dean OM came to me with 52-34-20-14
I just changed the strings for the first time and went with 46-34-24-14. I was trying to beef up the treble, but didn't want to overload the top with too much tension, so figured I'd trade off some from the bass and add to the treble. It has accomplished this to some degree... still, I want a heavier feel on the e course and can probably back off the A a little. Probably will try next 46-34-22-16

(scale on both is 20.5")