Thomastik 174s

[mikeyes]

Has anyone used the TI 174 (.049-.015) in any of it's forms? Juststrings.com has them for $33+ a set which is a lot for a set of strings. I use the TI 154s (mittel) for my mandolin and love them. I have a K-4 type of OM made by Dave Dart.

Any critique of these strings is appreciated.

Mike Keyes

[plunktone]

Hi. I love Thomastiks on mandolins, but I wasn't really happy with the octave mando set. They seem to be designed for very short-scale instruments; it says on the package that they are for 17", just like the regular mandola set. I put them on a relatively short 21"-scale octave, and the thread winding at the end just barely cleared the nut. And even with the longer-than-recommended length, they still felt a little to floppy at tension. Of course, ymmv. If you want to get a set, I'd suggest calling Norman at Plucked string (there's a link at the cafe). They may cost more there, but he said I could return them if they did not fit my instrument.
-jamie

[mikeyes]

I got a set of 174s and they did not fit my 22" scale. On top of that, the E string is very tight, in fact one broke as I was putting it on. The G and D strings have the fabric ends in the nut which is cutting down on the sound considerably. I will wait for a while as the TIs for my mandolin got better after a few days, but right now, I would not buy them again.

Mike Keyes