• Straight Up Strings Giveaway - Free Strings for a Year!

    Straight Up StringsAtascadero, Calif. — Straight Up Strings and the Mandolin Cafe are teaming up to give away a year's worth of strings to five lucky winners.

    Registration for the giveaway will commence August 27 from a link on the Mandolin Cafe.

    Five random winners will be selected at 9:30 a.m. September 2. Winning entries may choose between mandolin, guitar or banjo strings.

    Each winning entry will receive one set of strings per month sent to their door for the instrument they choose, a value of over $120!

    No purchase is necessary to enter and registration will be open to all site visitors regardless of location.

    Only business associates of Straight Up Strings and the Mandolin Cafe are ineligible to enter.

    About Straight Up Strings

    Most musicians assume that strings are just strings, and that everything possible has been done to improve them. And for years, mandolin players have been correct in this assumption.

    At the same time, they’ll concede that there is an imbalance in tone, sustain and clarity between the outer pairs of strings (over the posts) and the inner pairs of strings (over the more flexible center of the saddle).

    This is a result of near-universal acceptance of the 2-piece moveable bridge, and has been assumed to be an unsolved flaw in bridge design.

    Straight Up Strings by Siminoff are designed to combat this challenge through compensated downpressures on the strings, a brand new development for moveable bridge instruments.

    Throughout two years of testing, Roger Siminoff of Siminoff Banjo and Mandolin Parts, measured and calculated the optimal downpressures for each pair of strings, along with unique plain-to-wrapped ratios to compensate for the ability of the outer strings (E and G) to more effectively interact with the soundboard, and the inherent dampening effect of the floating inner strings (A and D) which have no posts through which to drive the sound.

    The result is improved string-to-string balance in tone, clarity and sustain.

    Additional Information

    Comments 4 Comments
    1. Mark Gunter's Avatar
      Mark Gunter -
      Interesting white paper by Siminoff there. I know I'm late in the game on this stuff, but that's the first time I've read it, and now I understand a bit more why Roger is into doing the straight up strings thing. Need to do a search to see what folk have been saying about these strings now.

      Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!
    1. Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
      Mandolin Cafe -
      Quote Originally Posted by Mark Gunter View Post
      Interesting white paper by Siminoff there. I know I'm late in the game on this stuff, but that's the first time I've read it, and now I understand a bit more why Roger is into doing the straight up strings thing. Need to do a search to see what folk have been saying about these strings now.

      Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!
      Plenty more in our feature article Roger authored in June, 2014 on the subject with additional questions and comments added from forum members and Roger here:

      https://www.mandolincafe.com/news/pu...s_001640.shtml
    1. Macabre's Avatar
      Macabre -
      I wonder if they have any plans to introduce a flatwound string.
    1. Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
      Mandolin Cafe -
      Registration for the Straight Up Strings strings giveaway has ended. Congratulations to our winners Adam K., Cheryl S., Ken W., Jason K. and Buddy M.!