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Thread: Loudest mandolin strings?

  1. #1
    A DEAD HEAD
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    Default Loudest mandolin strings?

    Whats the loudest string have you used?
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    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loudest mandolin strings?

    The one that pulls the firing pin on a Cannon.

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  3. #3
    A DEAD HEAD
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    Default Re: Loudest mandolin strings?

    What kind of cannon? Now let the rest of you guys,let me know?
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    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loudest mandolin strings?

    Strings themselves don't posess volume. They have the 'potential' to sound 'different' re.volume/tone,on any particular instrument.If you want your particular Mandolin to sound loud,then you'll have to experiment with different makes & gauges of string until you find a set that delivers what you want,
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  5. #5
    Ursus Mandolinus Fretbear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loudest mandolin strings?

    Heavier one's, but only if the mandolin can handle them, and also some mandolins just sound tight with heavier strings, while others love them, each one is different.
    I wouldn't go heavier than the D'Addario J75 set.
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    Café habitué Paul Hostetter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loudest mandolin strings?

    I find the heavier you go with string gauges, the duller the sound. The overall thud might make some needle jump a little higher, but the upper partials of the note are gone and the notes just don't cut.

    I think the key to volume is playing technique. I have encountered numerous players over the years who are just loud. They take any instrument that would would be deemed quiet in the hands of others, and when they play them, ouch. This includes Italians with extra-thin picks and mediocre instruments. Stentorian.
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    Mike Parks woodwizard's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loudest mandolin strings?

    I personally think bronze strings are louder than flatwound if you're going for loud.
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    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Loudest mandolin strings?

    One other thing that i've noticed many times,if the Mandolin is physically 'warm' ie.at a normal living room temp.,both my instruments respond much more & sound 'louder' that they do when i've just taken them out of their cases. I'm certainly NOT advocating holding the Mandolin in front of a fire or radiator to warm them up,just let them get up to room temp.,tune them up (they will go out of tune as they warm) & they should sound much better. I can only state my particular experience,for others it might be different,but a close friend who is also a Mandolin player has agreed with me on this in the past,as he too,finds his instrument responds better when 'warm',
    Saska
    Weber F-5 'Fern'.
    Lebeda F-5 "Special".
    Stelling Bellflower BANJO
    Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
    Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.

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