Thomastik 174 M+W

[fredhicks]

There's a $12 difference between the two with JustStrings. The more expensive ones have less tension. Is that the only difference?

[Denman John]

I prefer the Starks (154S) on my mandolin.

What scale length instrument will you be putting these on? I would love to try Thomastik's on my OM, but can't seem to find/figure out which ones to use on my 22 inch scale length.

[fredhicks]

20" octave which I've only had for a month. I liked the TI's on my mandolin so thought I might fork up the money for them. The more expensive set of 174 have a couple pounds less tension.

[bratsche]

They cost the same at Elderly. (But they are less than what you see when you actually put them in your cart, and go down even more when you put in 2 sets.)

Also, at Just Strings, the ones with more tension (S) cost more, too. Maybe the Mediums are in more ready supply than the W and S tensions, and are cheaper for that reason? (Just a guess.)

bratsche

[fredhicks]

Any recommendations (174 medium or light) bratsche? I'm still planning on playing mostly classical with some Jigs/Reels thrown in. Guess I would lean towards the medium if there is no big difference. I think I have mediums (153) on my mandolin which I am fine with. If they are anything like the ones on my mandolin, they last quite a while, stay in tune better and I have less finger squeak.

[bratsche]

Not really. I've only used them on a 17" scale mandola tuned GDAE. I'm not even sure what gauge they are. Seem to be mixed. As I recall, I got them from somebody on the forum who tried them and then took them off. I don't have any packaging from them, and it's been many years. E, A and D have yellow silk winding at the top, G has green. Not sure what's what.

bratsche

[Jim Nollman]

My starks are .020, .030, .046, .066. These strings have let me very quickly convert a 16 inch scale length mandola into an octave mandolin.

It was Bratsche who informed me that, although these are labeled as mandola strings, they are actually European mandola strings, which are tuned GDAE. They have green windings.

[fredhicks]

Dang....those are some big strings. I took my octave in last Wed for a setup....still waiting for it to get done. I could definitely see getting something slightly smaller in the future if I actually get to practicing a decent amount. I would be looking more at 19" though I think...maybe 18" although I don't know if I have seen much of anything in the 18" size.

[swrobbins]

I've tried the Thomastik Mandola 174 light (weich) set on an Eastman mandola, which has a 17 in scale length. I had wanted to tune them to CGDA, typical for an American "tenor" mandola, but to achieve a warmer, less twangy and metallic sound than is available with most of the typical phosphor bronze mandola strings available in the US. I also wanted to have a lower string tension. However, when tuned CGDA at this scale length the string tension seems rather high, not much different than with the common phosphor bronze strings. So, I tuned them down to GDAE, which is what they are intended for, as they are labeled for octave mandolin or "European mandola", but I find the tone is rather deep overall with this tuning, and not what I want for a tenor mandola tuning or sound quality. However, when tuned GDAE the string tensions are indeed lower and easier to play, which is one of the reasons I was willing to spring for the $60 set of strings. With either tuning, the flatwound aspect is nice, very smooth.
Thomastik makes a 164 series, designated for "alt mandoline or mandola", but often shown in the mandola section by web vendors, which is designed to be tuned CGDA, but they are too short for most American mandolas, which typically have a 17 inch or 41 cm scale (though I am told they do fit on some). It seems to depend on the length of the tailpiece, and where the strings hook in relative to the bridge. If you have a tailpiece that is long enough, you can get the wire/non-silked part of the string to fit between bridge and nut, and make it to the tuners.
The Elderly.com websit offers the most useful information about these two string sets, in terms of details about lengths.