Exp77s

[John Flynn]

Of course, taste in strings is pretty subjective. It depends the instrument the strings go on, the style of music and of course, personal taste. I thought I would share that I just tried EXP77s for the first time on my Old Wave oval and I really like them for old-time and church music. I also think they would work well for bluegrass, blues and trad. I have tried J74s, GHS S&S and and EXP74s on this instrument and lots of other strings on various other instruments. I like the non-coated strings for tone and quick break in, but I don't like the short string life.

Adjectives to describe tone are problematic, I know, but I can only use the words that occur to me. I like the string life on the EXP74s, but I find them too "brassy," with too many overtones. The EXP77s, on the other hand, seem to have a "dry," "crisp" kind of tone, compared to the EXP74s and some others. By that I mean I don't hear a lot of overtones. I'm tempted to use the cliche' "bell-like." I didn't notice much break in at all, as with the EXP74s, but I'm assuming they will have similar string life to thier coated cousins. In summary, the EXP77s seem to be a "best of all tradeoffs" for me so far.

Just my two cents, and worth every penny!

[Kevin Briggs]

Are they noticeably heavier than EXP74s? The 75s are a little heavy for my wimpy hands.

Thanks for any info.

[mandomick]

The '77s are the same gauges as the '74s but wound with 80/20 bronze compared to phosphorous bronze. Info garnered from the juststrings web site.

[John Flynn]

Agreed. There is no difference in the string tension from the 74s, just tone.

[Kevin Briggs]

Oh, cool. Thanks.

[TonyP]

I also am loath to try the sound description thing, but would you say 77's are any mellower? Or would you say the 77's get the tone of the EXP74's when they get old? I absolutely hate the sound of the EXP74's for about a month or so. Like you said John, to much hi freq. stuff going on. But after they break in, they are wonderful for about 3 or 4 months for me.

It would really be great to find something that breaks in faster. I did get some of the EXP74's that the A and E courses were not that gold look to them, and they did break in fast, but were gone long before the D and G's. So that wasn't a good setup for me at all. The new one's I got have the gold tinge to them and I'm back wincing at the hi's again.

[Kevin Briggs]

I also am loath to try the sound description thing, but would you say 77's are any mellower? Or would you say the 77's get the tone of the EXP74's when they get old? I absolutely hate the sound of the EXP74's for about a month or so. Like you said John, to much hi freq. stuff going on. But after they break in, they are wonderful for about 3 or 4 months for me.

It would really be great to find something that breaks in faster. I did get some of the EXP74's that the A and E courses were not that gold look to them, and they did break in fast, but were gone long before the D and G's. So that wasn't a good setup for me at all. The new one's I got have the gold tinge to them and I'm back wincing at the hi's again.
Oh, see, I like the brightness fo the EXP74s, and I generally take them off after four to five weeks. I mean, I only have one mandolin and I play it all the time, so that may have something to do with it. To me, it takes them about a day or two to settle in, and then they start getting steadily darker and more complex for about two or three weeks. If I go to a few jams or play a gig or two, on top of practicing for about an hour a day or more, at around four or five weeks they are thuddy and are getting a little harder to play. Once they stop ringing with that great sound I like, I change them. I've never one to play a string longer than it shoudl be played. I hate the dea string sound.

[TonyP]

I hate the dead string sound too. Your description is how I used to be with regular J74's. EXP74's never do get as dead as J74's for me. J74's I changed every month, EXP's last 3-5mo. Just would like a quicker break in. I also have one main ax, but I now have a backup for the last 1yr(first time in 20+yrs of the mando) so strings last that much longer now that I think of it.

[Mike Buesseler]

I only have one mandolin....

This is a joke, right? Is it even possible to have just one?!? Huh? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Kevin Briggs]

I only have one mandolin....

This is a joke, right? #Is it even possible to have just one?!? #Huh? #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
On my salary? Anything is possible....

[John Flynn]

I also am loath to try the sound description thing, but would you say 77's are any mellower? Or would you say the 77's get the tone of the EXP74's when they get old? I absolutely hate the sound of the EXP74's for about a month or so. Like you said John, to much hi freq. stuff going on. But after they break in, they are wonderful for about 3 or 4 months for me.

It would really be great to find something that breaks in faster. I did get some of the EXP74's that the A and E courses were not that gold look to them, and they did break in fast, but were gone long before the D and G's. So that wasn't a good setup for me at all. The new one's I got have the gold tinge to them and I'm back wincing at the hi's again.
The EXP77s are gold colored, but they seem less shiny and a different shade of gold than the 74s. As for tone, when I think of "mellow" I think more of the sound of T-I's and they are not mellow in that sense. But since they are less "brassy" you could say they are mellow like that. But the tone definitely has a sharp "edge" to it. I think these strings would cut through very well in a jam. Again, the "bell-like" adjective comes to mind, because there is a strong attack and you are just hearing the note itself, and not a lot of other stuff.

As I mentioned, I'm not hearing any break in issues, although I should caveat that I had my luthier install the 77s in conjunction with a repair, so they had been on the instrument a couple of days before I first played them. But my experience with EXP74s has been that a couple of days does not make much difference. You need a week or so. Only time will tell how long they last. I will update this thread with my impressions on that. I hope others who try them will do the same.

I do think that for EXP74, J74 and equivalent string fans who have some issues with those models, the EXP77s are worth a try.

[TonyP]

Thanks John. There's just soooo many strings, and stuff. I found what worked years ago and stayed away from that stuff of constant discontent, only to come back to what I started with. I've always used and liked J74's, but with the cost, and they would get sticky feeling to me, I decided to try the EXP's. They were an improvement, especially in string life and just never get sticky. But that break in period, wow.
I get what you are talking about the tone and less harmonics. Around here I have to mail order almost everything, so I never even would have been aware of those strings. I've got a lot of EXP74's to go, so I'll be watching how your test progresses.

[Jonathan Peck]

The '77s are the same gauges as the '74s but wound with 80/20 bronze compared to phosphorous bronze. Info garnered from the juststrings web site.
For anyone who's interested, phosphorous bronze strings are typically around 92/8. Just to make it more cornfuswsing, there is no bronze in the wrapping of these strings that I'm aware of. I believe that the terms PB refers to 92% copper/8% tin, but I think it's more like 92/7/1 - 90% copper/7% tin/ 1% phosphor.

[Don Grieser]

I've been really happy with EXP77s on my oval hole mandolin. I just put them on an f hole mandolin last night and wasn't as happy. When I tried EXP74s on my f hole mandolin, I took them off after a couple hours--they were just too obnoxious. The EXP77s were less obnoxious brand new. I've got a couple gigs coming up so I'll see how they settle in. The EXP77s sound great on ovals right away though and last forever.