Gibson A Jr. Owners

[Marvino]

My question is for Gibson A Jr. owners or those who had one in the past.

My A jr has had Daddario J74 strings on it. J74's are what Ive used for years on most of my mandolins. For a change I thought I would try GHS A260 Bobby Osborne Strings. Its been 2+weeks and they are settling in a little bit, but I am not pleased with the sound.

I read some good things about the GHS Silk & Bronze strings, and thought about trying before going back to J74's.

I thought I would keep opinions to just A jr's because about the only difference between models is its either a paddle head or a snakehead and neither model has a trussrod and there is a narrower window of construction.

What is your exerience with strings? Hoping there might be some logic to this.

[Loretta Callahan]

Yes, I really like GHS. I put on the Lights, though. They are fine. I have a A JR 1923 Paddlehead

http://www.juststrings.com/ghs-a250.html

Good Luck!

[Jeff Hildreth]

I bought mine in 1983 from the original owner who bought it new in 1923.
And yes, mine was a snake head with a manufacturing date of Dec 1922.
I used Thomastiks.. I was not playing bluegrass or "chopping".
The instrument preferred them.

[Bruce Clausen]

I have an A Jr. and it's about the only mandolin I've ever used the J74 set on. I tried the J73s that I use on my Laughlin but they didn't work for me. I used to like silk and bronze on my Stradolin, but haven't tried them on the Gibson. On my banjo killer I have Flattops, on my bowlback Pyramids, etc. etc.

But really, mandolin strings are so cheap that you may as well keep trying them out until you find the sound and feel you like. (Just spent $129 on two sets of violin strings, that is, eight strings tuned G-D-A-E.)

[Martin Jonas]

String choices are very personal. On my Ajr, I'm using J73 on the top three courses combined with the G from J74. I tried J74 and thought the mandolin was overstrung and muted. Funnily enough, I was just about to try the GHS Bobby Osborne strings (I use them on my Mid-Mo) to see if they suit it.

Martin

[barney 59]

For years I used GHS bronze mediums ---somewhere I switched over to J74's, probably because that was what was in the store, and used them for quite a while and they seem very much like the GHS strings to me. I went to J73's at one point and hated them!

[Marvino]

String choices are very personal. On my Ajr, I'm using J73 on the top three courses combined with the G from J74. I tried J74 and thought the mandolin was overstrung and muted. Funnily enough, I was just about to try the GHS Bobby Osborne strings (I use them on my Mid-Mo) to see if they suit it.

Martin

I am going to give the GHS Osbornes one more week, then change out if they dont sound better. If you try them I would like to hear your thoughts on them on your Jr.

[Marvino]

String choices are very personal. On my Ajr, I'm using J73 on the top three courses combined with the G from J74. I tried J74 and thought the mandolin was overstrung and muted. Funnily enough, I was just about to try the GHS Bobby Osborne strings (I use them on my Mid-Mo) to see if they suit it.

Martin

Interesting combo, Can you buy the strings separately? Or do you have to break apart packs?

[Marvino]

I have an A Jr. and it's about the only mandolin I've ever used the J74 set on. I tried the J73s that I use on my Laughlin but they didn't work for me. I used to like silk and bronze on my Stradolin, but haven't tried them on the Gibson. On my banjo killer I have Flattops, on my bowlback Pyramids, etc. etc.

But really, mandolin strings are so cheap that you may as well keep trying them out until you find the sound and feel you like. (Just spent $129 on two sets of violin strings, that is, eight strings tuned G-D-A-E.)

I did not realize violin strings so expensive. Good point on how cheap mandolin strings are.

[pheffernan]

I would think that the GHS A270 strings would be more equivalent to the D'Addario J74 set.

[Loretta Callahan]

Since the topic of Gibson Jr's has been brought up, do you think a heavier gage string … say the GHS 270 vs GHS 250 (which I'm using) … would put an excessive amount of tension on the neck. The A Jr has no truss rod.

As always, thanks in advance!

[Jeff Hildreth]

Curious why you want a heavier gauge string.

Jethro Burns used medium to low tension strings and low action and swore by both. He got excellent tone and volume.
I have followed his advice for 40 plus years. The variance being .. I have gone almost exclusively to Thomastik strings.
I do not play Bluegrass.

[Loretta Callahan]

I actually don't want a heavier gage string, Jeff …. at least not now. Mainly just curious and trying to expand my instrument understanding.

Have heard some folks say that a heavier gauge gives them the tone they want.


Curious why you want a heavier gauge string.

Jethro Burns used medium to low tension strings and low action and swore by both. He got excellent tone and volume.
I have followed his advice for 40 plus years. The variance being .. I have gone almost exclusively to Thomastik strings.
I do not play Bluegrass.

[Martin Jonas]

I actually don't want a heavier gage string, Jeff …. at least not now. Mainly just curious and trying to expand my instrument understanding.

Have heard some folks say that a heavier gauge gives them the tone they want.

I think every instrument has a Goldilocks point when it comes to string gauge: not too heavy and not too light. Go lighter, and the tone becomes increasingly thin and reedy, go heavier and the tone becomes thuddy and dull. I'm not sure all Ajr have the same optimum gauge, and I'm certain not all players have (as this thread once again demonstrates). For me, on my Ajr, I found J74 too heavy and J73 too light, but only on the G course, which is how I ended up mixing the two sets.

Unfortunately, that mixed set is not sold in that form, so it would need a J73 plus two 0.040" singles. As I was changing from a fairly new J74 set to J73, I already had spare G strings so it wasn't a problem. However, the reason why I want to try the GHS 260 set is to see if this one gets me a decent response across all strings without having to mix-and-match.

Martin

[Jim Garber]

In my experimentation on my snakehead AJr the best string has been the Gibson Sam Bush strings. Not sure why, but even J-74s, while they do sounds pretty good, I wanted something else. Just another possibility. YMMV.

[Marvino]

In my experimentation on my snakehead AJr the best string has been the Gibson Sam Bush strings. Not sure why, but even J-74s, while they do sounds pretty good, I wanted something else. Just another possibility. YMMV.


Sounds silly, but I forgot Gibson made strings. I will check those out. Thank you.

[Dave Hicks]

I tried Pyramids and liked them, but after I broke a couple of pricey strings, I'm less enthusiastic.

D.H.

[mandroid]

My question is for Gibson A Jr. owners or those who had one in the past.

My A jr has had Daddario J74 strings on it. J74's are what Ive used for years on most of my mandolins. For a change I thought I would try GHS A260 Bobby Osborne Strings. Its been 2+weeks and they are settling in a little bit, but I am not pleased with the sound.

I read some good things about the GHS Silk & Bronze strings, and thought about trying before going back to J74's.

I thought I would keep opinions to just A jr's because about the only difference between models is its either a paddle head or a snakehead and neither model has a trussrod and there is a narrower window of construction.

What is your exerience with strings? Hoping there might be some logic to this.


What sound did you have in mind? Perhaps a Nickel wound set will be an un Bronze brighter ?.

[Marvino]

What sound did you have in mind? Perhaps a Nickel wound set will be an un Bronze brighter ?.

I have never been able to put sound of a mandolin in words, same with craft beer, have no idea how to describe taste, I either like it or I dont. I have never tried Nickel strings, might be worth a try too.