Pava-- Your string choice??

[jshane]

Hi Folks-

I've had my Pava for about 6 months, and have been trying out various strings to find a favorite. J74's are great, as always, but I was wondering if anyone had picked particular strings that they thought sounded especially good on the Pava. Anyone care to chime in??

[sgrexa]

I don't have a Pava, but I love EXP74s on my Nugget A5. Especially in the summer. They last a long time.

Sean

[Mark Wilson]

I'm still playing the set that came on mine in April. :redface: TBH they still sound great and stay in tune so I've not thought of strings since I got it. If I do get around to trying other strings I'll post back.

Let us know what you find!

[Tobin]

I stick with GHS A270s on mine. I don't particularly care for the feel of the wound strings on that brand, but my wife primarily plays it, and it doesn't bother her. They sound good to me, and the gauge of A strings works better. I was talking to Tom Ellis yesterday at his shop about this subject, and the A string gauge seems to be his main motivator in preferring GHS A270s for his mandolins.

But no, I haven't really experimented with lots of other brands on the Pava.

[Capt. E]

Call Tom Ellis and ask what they put on...

[desertnight]

Hi Folks-

I've had my Pava for about 6 months, and have been trying out various strings to find a favorite. J74's are great, as always, but I was wondering if anyone had picked particular strings that they thought sounded especially good on the Pava. Anyone care to chime in??

For the Pava mandolins I prefer GHS A-270'S. Great tone life.

[pheffernan]

I have also stayed with the GHS A270's on my Pava. I figure that Tom Ellis knows his instruments better than I do!

[Kroland]

I've tried J74s, Elixirs, EXPs, and GHS A270s and PF 270s. Liked both of the GHS types the most and the EXPs the least on my Pava (however, on my Kentucky I liked EXPs the most! Go figure)

[yankees1]

I have an Ellis A5 and I have finally settled on DR md11's on it after trying many other brands. Great sound to my ear and they last a long time !

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

I've been using J74s with a pair of .16s for the A strings on mine and like it. I wanted to stick with GHS as they were my strings of choice previously, but I've had too many sets with lightly rusted wound strings that I am a bit reluctant to buy them any more. YMMV of course.

[Sid Simpson]

I have stayed with the GHS A-270'S per Tom's recommendation. I like the slightly heavier A string than the J-74s have, even though I play mostly EXP-74s on other mandolins. I have been happy enough with these that I haven't tried anything else on this mando. I figure don't mess with it if if ain't broken.

[Peter Coronado]

I've tried the A270s, J74s and EXP74s. Slight preference for the J74s. The EXPs were fine but my least favorite. Been thinking about trying some MD11s. Curious about the Siminoff Straight Ups.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Having found the DR MD11s & 12s suit both my other mandolins better than any other strings i've tried,i put MD11's straight onto my 'new to me' Ellis "A" style & it sounds amazing. I understand that Tom Ellis does recommend GHS strings,but i wish he'd try a set of DRs on his mandolins,i'd be very interested in his comments,
Ivan

[Arejay]

I also have continued to use the A270s on my eight month old Pava, on my third set now and find that they have very even tone colour across the range. They also stay in tune well for a reasonable while- that being the main indicator as to when to replace them as well as a general fall off in brightness. As said before here - Tom and Pava get things right with their mando's, this I believe also includes the string choice.
Arejay

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Arejay - "...this I believe also includes the string choice.". I do tend to agree with you,however,Tom Ellis won't have tried every make gauge of mandolin string on the market & he's chosen a string which he thinks sounds good & brings out the best in his Mandolins (include Pava's in there as well). I thought i had the perfect choice on my Weber in using J74's,it did sound very good,but a change to DR MD11's brought about a huge difference,far more power without any loss of tone.There really is no harm in trying different brands of string.You may very well find as i did that your current choice is the right one. I tried Black Diamond strings EXP's & D'Addario nickel plated ones & went back to J74's. The DR strings were a whole new experience altogether,
Ivan;)

[pheffernan]

Tom Ellis won't have tried every make gauge of mandolin string on the market & he's chosen a string which he thinks sounds good & brings out the best in his Mandolins (include Pava's in there as well).

I agree that there is no harm in trying different brands of strings, and your evangelizing for the MD11's makes me curious about trying them on one of my mandolins; however, it won't be the Pava first. I seem to recall reading recently that Tom Ellis prefers the A270's in no small part due to the .16 A string, a feature that both the DR and J74 sets lack. Now the Collings comes with J74's, and the DR's are the exact same gauges...

[Ivan Kelsall]

The whole point with the DR MD11's is that they don't need a thicker "A" string to sound more powerful than J74's,if that's the reason Tom Ellis puts A270's onto his mandolins. The .015" MD11 "A" string is plenty strong enough - that was the huge surprise that i got when i tried MD11's the first time,i simply couldn't believe the 'punch' that they have for the same gauges as J74's. Three fellow Cafe members in the UK tried them on their mandolins - = 2 Summits & 1 Heiden "A" style,& they're sticking with them,
Ivan;)

[yankees1]

I just installed GHS A270 strings yesterday but after playing for several hours yesterday and today, these strings are coming off ! The DR MD11's strings go back on !

[LongBlackVeil]

I never follow a builders recommendations for strings simply because they have a different ear, a different playing technique, and might play a different style of music than I do.Not too mention she/he was most likely playing an entirely different mandolin than the one you owned when they decided on what strings to recommend. So I don't really think you should take any build recommendation as written in stone.

Try other strings until you find the ones that YOU like.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From pheffernan - "..and your evangelizing for the MD11's ...". I plead guilty to that charge & not without reason. I've tried 3 different makes/types of strings on my Weber & Lebeda & went right back to J74's - the J74's are certainly very fine strings indeed. But - when i tried the DR's on my Weber i simply couldn't believe the change in volume & sheer punch i got without any loss of tone.I tried MD11's on my Lebeda but they didn't do much for it,but as it's a larger instrument than the Weber,i tried the heavier MD12's & they were also terrific.They maybe didn't transform the Lebeda as much as the MD11's did my Weber,but they were certainly 'better' to my ears. I had no doubt at all that the MD11's would sound good on the Ellis when i got it,& indeed they do. As i've said before,the DR's work on my mandolins,but they won't work on every make/model of mandolin any more than any other make of string - why should they ?. If you try them & they do work,then you'll be delighted with them. If they don't work,try other brands/gauges until you find the string that works on your mandolins - they're out there for sure !,;)
Ivan:mandosmiley:

[Tobin]

I agree that there is no harm in trying different brands of strings, and your evangelizing for the MD11's makes me curious about trying them on one of my mandolins; however, it won't be the Pava first. I seem to recall reading recently that Tom Ellis prefers the A270's in no small part due to the .16 A string, a feature that both the DR and J74 sets lack. Now the Collings comes with J74's, and the DR's are the exact same gauges...
I don't want to speak for Tom, but what he told me last week was that he has tried a lot of different string combinations, including mixtures of brands. He even tried using two different brands of strings in the same course, to see what kind of difference it made. For example, he used two 0.040 G-strings from different brands, which had different inner core diameters and different winding gauges but still had an overall 0.040 outer diameter. Plus a bunch of other combinations. The difference to him wasn't as noticeable as he had expected.

He also mentioned that he has tried other brands that typically come with .015 A-strings, but usually ends up replacing the A-strings with .016 diameter. He ends up with a lot of unused 0.015 A-strings laying around. I didn't ask him whether his preference for .016 was for tone/punch, or just feel under the fingers. I suspect it may be more of a playability thing, in that 0.016 will feel less rubbery/bendy than 0.015, but that's just a guess on my part. All I do know is that he personally prefers 0.016 A-strings. But I don't think he necessarily claims them to be right for everybody. When he asked me what strings I had on mine (as he was noodling around on it), I told him I was running EXP74s, and he didn't tell me not to, LOL.

One thing that came as a revelation to me, though, was how critical minor details in the setup can be. While I was in his shop, I had him shave a gnat's hair (that's an official measurement, I think) from the nut slots of the G and D strings on my wife's Pava. And it gave a completely new sound to those strings (GHS A270s). I didn't even change the strings - simply having him adjust the nut slot made a huge difference in the tone of those strings. Much more than changing string types could do. I was amazed.

[sgrexa]

I never follow a builders recommendations for strings simply because they have a different ear, a different playing technique, and might play a different style of music than I do.Not too mention she/he was most likely playing an entirely different mandolin than the one you owned when they decided on what strings to recommend. So I don't really think you should take any build recommendation as written in stone.

Try other strings until you find the ones that YOU like.

I think that is a little irresponsible. Builders might have a very good reason for recommending certain strings other than the tone. Tension being likely top of the list. Most builders are very familiar with the way their instruments respond to a fairly large variety of string brands and have informed opinions as to which work and don't work. No offense, but I would listen to my builder before listening to anonymous posters on an internet forum!

Sean

[LongBlackVeil]

I think that is a little irresponsible. Builders might have a very good reason for recommending certain strings other than the tone. Tension being likely top of the list. Most builders are very familiar with the way their instruments respond to a fairly large variety of string brands and have informed opinions as to which work and don't work. No offense, but I would listen to my builder before listening to anonymous posters on an internet forum!

Sean

So, say you got a wild hair and decided to try a different set than your builder recommends, and it sounds better (not uncommon). Are you not going to use those strings because the builder didn't reccomend them? They're called "recommended strings" for a reason. They're not "required strings"

The tension difference between any medium set of strings is not goin to be a big enough difference to cause any damage or anything so I don't know what your saying here. Any set of strings is going to "work" on a mandolin, unless they're too heavy or too light, but again I'm simply talking about medium standard gauge strings here.


My point is, I don't think there's any mandolin builders that would tell you not to experiment with different strings. They will tell you their favorite but it's not going to hurt the instrument trying something different.

[Mike Bunting]

I never follow a builders recommendations for strings simply because they have a different ear, a different playing technique, and might play a different style of music than I do.Not too mention she/he was most likely playing an entirely different mandolin than the one you owned when they decided on what strings to recommend. So I don't really think you should take any build recommendation as written in stone.

Try other strings until you find the ones that YOU like.
I basically agree with this, though I do pay attention to the builders recommendations, after all, they are fairly intimate with the instruments they build. This is not to say that I blindly follow their notions but I do take them into consideration. During the build and the months after I have had many long convos with Paul Duff concerning this and many other topics and I value his knowledge. His mandos come with J74's, his preferred choice, but I put the Sam Bush monels that I like on my Stanley, on the Duff and quite like them. He gave me his thoughts on them and we discussed strings a bit. He has reasons to prefer the J74's but I will continue to explore different strings and may well come back to the 74's but I will continue to make my my own choices.

[Ivan Kelsall]

One of our fellow members,Willie,likes GHS J-250's (i think) on his mandolins & has spoken very highly of them. If Tom Ellis is advocating GHS strings for his mandolins,then obviously he's doing it for a good reason. As it happens,i haven't been able to source GHS J250/270's in the UK or i might have tried them out by now & if i can find them over here,i might even do so in the future.Even with my great liking of the DR strings,i'm not so blinded that i'm un-willing to try any other strings,just for the experience,
Ivan;)

[LongBlackVeil]

One of our fellow members,Willie,likes GHS J-250's (i think) on his mandolins & has spoken very highly of them. If Tom Ellis is advocating GHS strings for his mandolins,then obviously he's doing it for a good reason. As it happens,i haven't been able to source GHS J250/270's in the UK or i might have tried them out by now & if i can find them over here,i might even do so in the future.Even with my great liking of the DR strings,i'm not so blinded that i'm un-willing to try any other strings,just for the experience,

Ivan;)

Yeah you should definitley make a point to try them. I personally love them, they are the perfect bluegrass mandolin strings really. They produce the best chop to my ears, even better than the j74

[Kroland]

Wow, I'm glad I found this thread. Put DRs on last night and they really do sound fantastic!

[dcoventry]

My Phoenix Jazz was specifically designed for TI Starks. There is even a label on the inside specifying string gauges. In this case, the barcing and the overall build are matched to a certain amount of tension, so I chose to use the recommended strings. There are a few other choices that fit the bill, however, and I may give them a try after talking to Rolfe.

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

I've been following this thread with great interest, and seeing that there is a free shipping special on Strings and Beyond (NFI), I decided to grab a couple of DR mediums to try them out. I'll post some thoughts once they arrive.

[Ivan Kelsall]

My friend & fellow UK Cafe member,Paul Cowham,he of the Heiden "A" style,is coming down for a visit tomorrow.He's eager to try the Ellis "A" style out, & i'm just as eager to try his Heiden out especially since he's put DR MD11's on it. I can remember how it sounded with J74's on it ,& i'm hoping that the DR's have worked their magic on it as they have done on mine.
From LBV - "They produce the best chop to my ears, even better than the j74 "
Compared to how they sound now,when i used J74's,my Weber & Lebeda never 'had' any chop.The difference has been so dramatic,
Ivan;)

[LongBlackVeil]

My Phoenix Jazz was specifically designed for TI Starks. There is even a label on the inside specifying string gauges. In this case, the barcing and the overall build are matched to a certain amount of tension, so I chose to use the recommended strings. There are a few other choices that fit the bill, however, and I may give them a try after talking to Rolfe.

I think that's probably a good idea because the to'a are pretty low tension, so that's kind of a special case.

[Tobin]

Having found the DR MD11s & 12s suit both my other mandolins better than any other strings i've tried,i put MD11's straight onto my 'new to me' Ellis "A" style & it sounds amazing. I understand that Tom Ellis does recommend GHS strings,but i wish he'd try a set of DRs on his mandolins,i'd be very interested in his comments,
Ivan
OK, with all your praise of DR MD11s, I finally put a set on my Ellis F5 last week. I wanted to give it a few days of playing before commenting. I do like the tone of them very much. They have a nice full sound, with "something" that I can't quite describe which is lacking in other sets I usually play. The tone just has more body to it. They don't start off as bright-sounding as some others, and didn't take as long to settle in to their tuning. So on that count, I really do like them.

But on the down side, I find the wound strings a little 'grabby' for my taste. Not as bad as the GHS strings, but it still makes slides difficult for me. The wound strings start to turn my fingertips green, and the plain strings start to turn black after 15 minutes (which, to be fair, is the case with any brand of string I play if it isn't a coated set). So I'm not sure how long they're going to last for me.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Tobin - It seems that you have quite acidic skin,as do many other people. One thing to try is wipe the strings over with a piece of kitchen roll moistened with 3-In-One oil & then wipe it straight off again.That will leave a thin film of oil only molecules thick on the strings. I find new 'wound' strings 'grabby',i think that happens because of the winding process,but it soon goes away. If during hot weather,my hands get damp & tacky,the '3-In-One wipe' works wonders for me. 3-In-One oil has an anti-oxidant in it which helps prevent further corrosion.
I agree with what you say about the tone having more 'body' to it.The DR's really do pack a punch & i reckon they'll cut through any instrumentation line up,
Ivan

[yankees1]

Tobin - It seems that you have quite acidic skin,as do many other people. One thing to try is wipe the strings over with a piece of kitchen roll moistened with 3-In-One oil & then wipe it straight off again.That will leave a thin film of oil only molecules thick on the strings. I find new 'wound' strings 'grabby',i think that happens because of the winding process,but it soon goes away. If during hot weather,my hands get damp & tacky,the '3-In-One wipe' works wonders for me. 3-In-One oil has an anti-oxidant in it which helps prevent further corrosion.
I agree with what you say about the tone having more 'body' to it.The DR's really do pack a punch & i reckon they'll cut through any instrumentation line up,
Ivan Really ? 3 in one oil ? Anyone else use this ?

[Ivan Kelsall]

Yankees - 3-In-One oil is pretty unobtrusive if used as i mentioned,straight on & then straight off. I think the 'grabbiness' mentioned by Tobin is because the windings are new & their surface is still rough from the 'wire drawing process' required to make it.As he says,other strings are similar when new. I've used 3-In-One oil to keep the strings on my banjo in good condition for close to 50 years with only one mishap when i forgot to wipe it off. I was visiting the main Folk club in Manchester UK & always took my banjo to play a couple of tunes. I got up to play & realised the strings were a bit 'slick',anyway i carried on. I played ''Foggy Mt.Breakdown'' & everything was going ok until i went up to the top "G" chord position at the 17th fret, when my fingers slid between the strings. The resultant 'rattling' noise nearly choked the audience with laughter. I couldn't help but join in & i nearly dissolved laughing. Even the worst louse-ups can be funny,:))
Ivan;)

[Tobin]

I do use Fast Fret on my strings (which is just mineral oil, and does much the same as a 3-in-1 oil). Unfortunately, it doesn't do much in the way of protection from rapid corrosion. When you have sweaty hands, with salts oozing out of your pores, and you're grinding that moisture and salt into the strings as you play, there isn't an oil in the world that's going to stand fast as a barrier. A permanent coating is really the only thing I've found that helps. But they apparently don't coat the plain strings - only the wound strings.

But I have noticed over the years that coated wound strings do offer longer life to the plain strings. Someone had postulated a while back that it may have to do with the transfer of metals or oxidation from the wound strings to the plain strings. The dissimilar metals in the winding, being transferred to the plain strings via the fingertips (and mixed in with salt and moisture) would surely seem to explain the quicker blackening effect that I get on plain strings. And the greenish tinge I get on my fingertips when playing uncoated strings would appear to be evidence that my fingertips are indeed transferring something across from the wound strings to the plain strings.

I seem to recall that someone had mentioned an aftermarket spray-on coating that the user could apply to strings (presumably before they go on the instrument). That would seem to be the best of both worlds, if I could use the strings that sound and play the best, but still be able to coat them myself before stringing them up. Any idea what product I'm talking about?

[Ivan Kelsall]

The 'greenish' tinge will be coming from the wound strings,as 'green' oxidisation is usually copper based. Whatever's 'transferring across' is most likely just your acidic moisture. If there was any chance of what's named ''Intermetallic corrosion'' going on ie. one metal adversely affecting another,then i don't think the wound strings with the bronze windings on a steel core would last very long. As it is,the chromium content of the steel used in the core & the un-wound strings helps prevent corrosion 'to an extent'.
If you really do have acidic skin,then all you can do is to slow down the corrosive apects by the constant application of a 'barrier' substance,or at the very least,a wipe over every time you've been playing,
Ivan

[jshane]

Thanks, everyone, for the great information. I just had the chance to look over all the responses (I am out of the US, and have limited internet access until I get back).

I am going to get a set of the DRs and the GHS and give 'em both a try when I get back. Interesting about the extra thickness on the A strings of the GHS strings, because I was really impressed with the tone of the A strings when I got the Pava. Not that I am not happy now (with the J74s) but that may be an important variable.

THanks again for all the info!

[Ivan Kelsall]

If your Pava responds to the DR strings in the same way that my Ellis "A" style has,then you're in for a real treat. As for the GHS strings,i can't source them in the UK,but it's something to think about. However,i can't help feel that the DR's would win out just because of the sheer punch they have,or,maybe it would be me having a GHS 'surprise' ?,
Ivan:disbelief:

[yankees1]

If your Pava responds to the DR strings in the same way that my Ellis "A" style has,then you're in for a real treat. As for the GHS strings,i can't source them in the UK,but it's something to think about. However,i can't help feel that the DR's would win out just because of the sheer punch they have,or,maybe it would be me having a GHS 'surprise' ?,
Ivan:disbelief: After trying many brands of strings on my Ellis I have settled for GHS A270 and Drmd11. Both are great and last a long time ! If I had to choose just one I would select the DR.

[Kroland]

...or,maybe it would be me having a GHS 'surprise' ?,
Ivan:disbelief:

To my ear, the DRs have a bright punchy sound, and the GHSs have a smoother, possibly more complex sound. Highly recommend trying both!

[jshane]

OK--- Back in the Sates for a few days and I got a set of Dr-11's to put on the Pava. VERY interesting. VERY different from the j-74s.

On first blush, I like these strings. They are very "bright", but not tinny or thin. On the Pava the crispness is also coupled with a bell-like sustain. I think I prefer them to the J74s, which in comparison are fine, but not as interesting.

I also ordered a set of GHS A270's, which will likely go on in the next 6 weeks or so, so it will be interesting (to me at least) to see if they also show a distinct personality, and which I might favor.

[LongBlackVeil]

I just put the md11s on my ellis (should be a similar voice to the pava) yesterday and I also really like them, surprisingly because I hated them on my weber. They seem to have less tension than the j74s I had on at first. My weber has a much thinner voice than the ellis and I think the Drs exacerbated that.

They are very punchy, now I have to decide if I want the punchiness of the md11s or the more complex fuller sound of exp74s.

Thanks for preaching the word on the dr strings Ivan! I probably wouldn't have given them a second chance otherwise

[Ivan Kelsall]

LBV - I think it depends on whether you play with other musicians much. If you're a 'bedroom picker' like me,then maybe the more complex tones that you get are more important when playing 'solo'. If on the other hand,you jam a lot with others,then the cutting power of the DR's would be the thing to go for (maybe). I chose the DR's simply because they've given me more power on my own mandolins without any loss of tone,& all 3 of my mandolins still have their own sound despite similar strings,
Ivan

[Tobin]

OK--- Back in the Sates for a few days and I got a set of Dr-11's to put on the Pava. VERY interesting. VERY different from the j-74s.

On first blush, I like these strings. They are very "bright", but not tinny or thin. On the Pava the crispness is also coupled with a bell-like sustain. I think I prefer them to the J74s, which in comparison are fine, but not as interesting.
Give them a week or two of play-in. That brightness will settle out to a neat punchy tone. I've got the MD11s on my Ellis right now, and they're getting towards the end of their service life (intonation is starting to go sour), but man, they sure sound good. I'll probably keep them on longer than I normally would, just because I'm enjoying the tone so much now that they've mellowed out. I do believe I'm going to try them on the Pava next.

[Peter Coronado]

I put MD11s on my Pava about a month ago and have played them a lot. They were quite bright at first, then mellowed a bit after a few days. I really like the sound; probably my favorites. As Tobin experienced, mine seem to be drifting out of tune more now so I'm due to change them. I notice one of the Gs and one of the Ds is going flat. It seems to me they didn't last as long as the J74s. But I do like them!

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Tobin - "I'm enjoying the tone so much now that they've mellowed out." I got 8 months out of the last set of MD11's on my Weber & really did only change them because they'd started to look 'less than good' where my right hand touches them. The tone that Tobin mentions, & that TP above alludes to,is a beautifully balanced out tone left after the A & E strings have mellowed out a bit. It is for me, the finest mandolin tone i've pulled out of my instruments with any brand of string. Re.the G & D strings going flat as TP mentions,i literally had no problems with the strings going sharp/flat/ bad intonation or anything on either of my original 2 MD'd mandolins. If i had,i would have mentioned it on here. I do actually live in the real world & folk have a right to know if any brand of strings start going off sooner than they should,neither do i fool myself into thinking that bad sounding strings still sound good. One of the claims by DR strings,is that they last a lot longer than other brands,something i found to be true. I used to get around 3 months out of a set of J74's before they drifted off,& as i said,i got 8 months out of the last set of MD11's on my Weber. Anyway,if a person wishes to change strings earlier than i do,to get their mandolin back to sounding good,that's the way it should be & it's no business of mine,just keep enjoying the sound.
Just as an aside - after a long period of not playing it ( mando.addiction),i put new strings on my banjo yesterday & had a short picking session. Some folk on here talk about 'hand / finger stiffness'' - you don't know the half of it !. After 9 years of hardly even touching my banjo,my right hand felt like stone. It was a totally alien experience. A darned great heavy thing, with a neck that stretches into the distance - geeez !,:(
Ivan;)

[yankees1]

I put MD11s on my Pava about a month ago and have played them a lot. They were quite bright at first, then mellowed a bit after a few days. I really like the sound; probably my favorites. As Tobin experienced, mine seem to be drifting out of tune more now so I'm due to change them. I notice one of the Gs and one of the Ds is going flat. It seems to me they didn't last as long as the J74s. But I do like them! Strange as J74's only lasted about half the time as DRmd11's on my Ellis.

[Tobin]

From Tobin - "I'm enjoying the tone so much now that they've mellowed out." I got 8 months out of the last set of MD11's on my Weber & really did only change them because they'd started to look 'less than good' where my right hand touches them. The tone that Tobin mentions, & that TP above alludes to,is a beautifully balanced out tone left after the A & E strings have mellowed out a bit. It is for me, the finest mandolin tone i've pulled out of my instruments with any brand of string. Re.the G & D strings going flat as TP mentions,i literally had no problems with the strings going sharp/flat/ bad intonation or anything on either of my original 2 MD'd mandolins.
I don't hear much mellowing out of the A/E strings. They pretty much always sound the same to me, until they start to go sour. It's the G/D (wound) strings that start off really bright and then mellow out to a nice groovy punchy sound.

And to clarify on longevity, my G/D strings still sound great. But the A/E strings are getting impossible to keep in unison, or to keep their intonation up the fretboard. So I'll likely change out the A/E strings this weekend but keep the G/D strings on as long as they still sound good and intonate well.

[jshane]

OK-

I had the DR MD11's on for about 4 weeks. I like the tone, and I think the tone quality was consistent for the month-long period. Basically I like them, and would use them over the J74's.

BUT, over the last couple days I have been having pesky intonation issues. Now, I have to say that I am very picky/sensitive to this. It is probably the reason I dont generally get more than a month out of a set of strings. Other people listening to me play-- or others I am playing with-- don't seem to hear the problems that I do, until I point it out, and then they will (cautiously) agree that it isnt quite right.

SO-- I pulled off the DR MD11's and put on a set of GHS A270's.

Wow. The intensity of sound was surprising. That has settled over the last 2 days, into a nice bright, full tone. I also have to say that, at least at first blush, I REALLY like the thicker A strings. For some reason, regardless of string brand, and regardless of the specific mandolin I am playing, I find keeping the A string in really pleasant tune is difficult. I THINK that problem is reduced with these strings--perhaps because of the gauge.

It is a bit early in the 270's life for me to judge fairly, but at this point I would say that the 270's are my favorite, with the MD11's a close second.... If the 270's last more than a month without exhibiting squirrelly intonation, they will be the clear winners.

THANKS TO EVERYONE for a lot of info and a fun discussion.

[LongBlackVeil]

OK-

I had the DR MD11's on for about 4 weeks. I like the tone, and I think the tone quality was consistent for the month-long period. Basically I like them, and would use them over the J74's.

BUT, over the last couple days I have been having pesky intonation issues. Now, I have to say that I am very picky/sensitive to this. It is probably the reason I dont generally get more than a month out of a set of strings. Other people listening to me play-- or others I am playing with-- don't seem to hear the problems that I do, until I point it out, and then they will (cautiously) agree that it isnt quite right.

SO-- I pulled off the DR MD11's and put on a set of GHS A270's.

Wow. The intensity of sound was surprising. That has settled over the last 2 days, into a nice bright, full tone. I also have to say that, at least at first blush, I REALLY like the thicker A strings. For some reason, regardless of string brand, and regardless of the specific mandolin I am playing, I find keeping the A string in really pleasant tune is difficult. I THINK that problem is reduced with these strings--perhaps because of the gauge.

It is a bit early in the 270's life for me to judge fairly, but at this point I would say that the 270's are my favorite, with the MD11's a close second.... If the 270's last more than a month without exhibiting squirrelly intonation, they will be the clear winners.

THANKS TO EVERYONE for a lot of info and a fun discussion.

actually ive had my md11s on for about a month now and i too am starting to have a bit of an intonation problem. For this reason im considering ordering some of the coated DR mandolin strings. Im hoping they are the same string but just with a coating, because for me, the DRs sound way better than GHS

[Rush Burkhardt]

I guess it's cause I'm old, and have been changing strings (sets and brands) for the better part of 60 years now, but this string preference discussion gives me a colossal headache! Not because I don't enjoy the topic and the opinions...and even the fireworks! I just realize that I am in a rut and too lazy to change. In the 60's, 70's, 80's - even early 90's - when I played "out", I changed strings as often as I changed underwear.

There weren't nearly so many choices. (When one went to a music store to buy strings, was hoping for them to have "Mandolin" strings, much less a choice...and the choice was, I believe Gibson or ________.

I could count on breaking a string at least once in a 4-set night, so I often bought singles, by gauge and rifled my case for anything that looked newish. (That's when I learned you could take a pair of wire cutters and, with great effort, remove the ball from ball end guitar strings, and use them. I also learned that, when the guitar player broke a string, I foraged for what was left and hoarded it. My mandolin sound OK with a Mape's guitar B in place of my A...scary cranking it up to pitch!)

Sometimes, by the end of a weekend, my mandolin had a real hodge-podge of strings. Not unusual to have 14's and 16's, 10's and 11's in the A and E courses. When you talk about distressed mandolins, mine was/is the poster child! (Imagine the changes in tension on the top and the bracing. No wonder I broke bridge saddles.)

At a point, I settled on GHS 270's, and, where possible, used them...or at least started each string change with them. They provided a consistent and desirable representation of the sound I wanted...loud enough to compete with the banjo player!

Somewhere in the dim past, D'Addario introduced their coated strings...the famous 74's. After much resistance to change (who'd want a mandolin string with goo on it?) I tried a set...maybe D'Addario sent them to me to try. Low-and-behold, they sounded pretty good to my ear, and, more than that, lasted longer without the previously noted fall-off!

They've been the only string I've used, till now! Noodling, as I do, I can nurse a set for a year, I'll bet. My mandolin still sounds pretty good...for noodling!

I don't enjoy changing strings...and why bother when sometimes all I do is sit and fondle my mandolin while my wife and I watch TV.

I am somewhat tempted by Roger's new "scared straights" (or whatever the real name is). Sounds as though the alternated tension might give my mandolin and bridge a break, in their old age.

In any event, I really enjoy hearing the string scramble and its nuances! Thanks for the entertainment!

And BTW, until I bought a BC KS40 a few years ago, I had used the same 2 TS picks since 1973. Getting kinda' small now!
:popcorn:

[jshane]

In the 60's, 70's, 80's - even early 90's - when I played "out", I changed strings as often as I changed underwear.



I remember the 60's (more or less... sometimes a lot less). But, even still, whichever way I work this statement, it is a bit disturbing!

[Ivan Kelsall]

LBV - What intonation problems are you having ?. Honestly,i've never had ANY intonation problems with ANY brand of string, & i play way over the 12th fret at times.One thing that i do when tuning,is to always check that the octave note at the 12th fret is still spot on. If there's a change (hardly ever, unless my right hand has pushed the bridge forwards),i'll correct it. I tune up using a tuner & then check each pair of strings against the others across the f/board & tune the D's to the G's / the A's to the D's & the E's to the A's. There's normally less that a 'cent' in it,but the strings are then in tune with one another.This seems to work well for my mandolins,
Ivan

[jshane]

LBV - What intonation problems are you having ?. Honestly,i've never had ANY intonation problems with ANY brand of string, & i play way over the 12th fret at times.


I realize this wasnt directed to me, but I was the one that raised the intonation issue in this context.

I wasnt referring to octave-intonation. I was referring to the fact that as strings age it is increasingly difficult to get them to sound a true pitch when fretted. For example, a perfectly tuned A string (open) will not produce a good D when fretted on the 5th fret, but if tuned to the fretted D will not be good when played open. This effect is exacerbated when comparing 2 fretted notes on different strings.

I realize that it is impossible to perfectly tune any fretted instrument, and am not trying to revisit the various "tempered tuning" discussions (which are very interesting). BUT, for me at least, aging strings intonate increasingly poorly, and it bothers me. It is generally why I wind up changing strings. The aging string issue-- that I hear -- isnt "cured" by tuning. I THINK it is caused by metal fatigue and string deformation resulting from contact with the frets-- both of these interfering with "perfect" vibration-over-distance ..... ie, pitch. The only cure that I have found is a string-change.

[mandobassman]

I've never looked at builders recommendations on any mandolin I've ever owned. I would think that most any mandolin from a modern builder should be able to handle the tension of todays strings. If you're talking about a vintage bowlback or a mandolin with possible structural issues, that's different. If you wanted to try a heavy gauge set it might not hurt to ask the builder if there is a reason not to use them, but otherwise just use what sounds best to you.