Best Strings for Gibson F9?

[stinsc]

I have been using D'Addario EXP74s and recently tried Gibson Sam Bush Signatures, both of which I like. #Any other suggestions? #I love the tone of my mandolin, and I want to experiment with other strings to see how it sounds.

As a note, I don't play professionally, but I practice consistently and play once or so a week with a friend on guitar at home. #We work on a variety of music, jigs, bluegrass, o'Carolyn tunes, etc.

[Steve Farling]

Try the Gibson Bill Monroe signature strings. I've had them on my Gibson F5-G since the first string change and think they are great! I've got a set of the Sam Bush's waiting for the next change, just to check them out. A lot of the guys like them pretty well as I found out on another thread I started a couple of weeks ago. You might check out their comments. It was titled, Monroe's or Bush's? Which do you prefer? Steve http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Big Joe]

Any of those strings are great. I have been using the Elixer nanowebs lately. They last forever and sound about the same as the D'Addario EXP74's. I love the sound of Bush strings and get pretty good life out of them. The Monroe string is a great string, but they don't last as long. They don't cost as much either, so there is a tradeoff. I just don't like to spend my time restringing http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif .

[mandoman4807]

Now you just won`t get a more honest statement than that. We are lucky to have the Gibson folks there on the Café to add to the enjoyment of our hobby http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif


Darrell

[Lane Pryce]

Scott I have tried J74's and Bush's on my F9. Currently I am playing FT74's. On my mandolin they are loud and very woody. They feel a little different under the finger tips but I got used to it very fast. The J74's have the most volume. Since I play by myself most of the time the FT's will work just fine. Lp

[duuuude]

I tried and liked the Bush's in the past but have recently gotten hooked on the tone produced by the FT74s, just a little more "thunk" where I like it.

[Philip Halcomb]

The JS74 are what I use. They last longer than the bronze J74s and I have noticed little or no change in volume and tone...

[ronlane3]

T-I Starks work good. They are the opposite of the Monroe's, they cost a lot more, but seem to last a lot longer.

[steve in tampa]

I use the Bushs on mine, but have EXP 74's on another instrument, and really like the tone. Not sure if their gold color would look right on ther F9.

[Professor PT]

J-74's sound good to me. I haven't tried anything else yet. I'm afraid of the TI's; if they cut down volume, I won't be able to live with that. I need all I can get for the folks I play with.

[markdavenport]

anyone use the tomastek (?) strings..
think they run $25-$30/set

[ronlane3]

Mark, I believe you are talking about Thomastik-Infeilds (TI for short). I play them exclusively on my F-9 and love them.

To each their own, however.

[racuda]

anyone use the tomastek (?) strings..
#think they run $25-$30/set
They are my favorite string. You can get them from mandohack for $24 including shipping:

http://members.aol.com/teesch/Thom.html