Really liking them. On my second set. 1st set was great. Tried a set of the silk and bronze after and really didn't like them. Put the mapes back on and I think I'm sold. These are looking like my go to's.
Really liking them. On my second set. 1st set was great. Tried a set of the silk and bronze after and really didn't like them. Put the mapes back on and I think I'm sold. These are looking like my go to's.
I installed a set of medium Phosphor Bronze on my Eastman 305 last week and really like them. 'had been using EJ74's. As much as I love the 305, I found the E strings to be a little "twangy" if I hit them too hard when strumming. The Mapes, on the other hand, are very neutral and the sound is balanced across the fretboard. Ordering on line is easy, shipping was fast, and you can't argue with the prices.
Last edited by gspiess; Oct-23-2017 at 9:19am.
Being right is overrated. Doing right is what matters.
Northfield F5S Blacktop
Pono MND-20H
Just put a set of Mapes on my RW f5 and, so far, am quite pleased. Started off a bit clangy (don't sound coated to me), but settled in quickly and have a good solid sound across the spectrum.
JustaBill,
The Appalachian Moonshine coating is very thin and doesn't affect the tonality as far as I can tell. What it does do is keep the bronze or brass wrap from oxidizing. This keeps them smooth to the touch and helps keep their tone longer.
I've used the phosphor-bronze on one mandolin that has a darker tone and the brass 80/20 on a brighter sounding mandolin.
I'm a total fan!
Spread the word about Mapes, they don't advertise or sell to retail outlets.
It's purely 'from the manufacturer' if you want to buy them.
If you call they are as nice as can be and bend over backwards to furnish you with whatever you want in the way of a custom sized set.
Billy
Billy Packard
Gilchrist A3, 1993
Weber Fern, 2007
Stiver Fern, 1990
Gibson 1923 A2
Gibson 1921 H1 Mandola
Numerous wonderful guitars
Billy,
I also am a fan of the Mapes. I am on my second set and they sound great. They last me about 8-10 weeks, where the GHS A-270's were good for about 4 weeks. I am sold on them and just ordered three more sets.
Ha Ha! In association with the first sentence about the strings being cured with Appalachian moonshine, I read the second sentence as "...the current Smirnoff set?". Cured with vodka?
I looked at the Mapes site last night and it looks very interesting. I emailed them and asked if they make flatwound mandolin sets, and also about tenor banjo sets.
For wooden musical fun that doesn't involve strumming, check out:
www.busmanwhistles.com
Handcrafted pennywhistles in exotic hardwoods.
I just heard from Mapes. They don't make flatwound strings, but they're willing to make tenor banjo sets.
Their site shows Octacore strings with an octagonal core rather than hexagonal. Anyone tried these? Any difference?
For wooden musical fun that doesn't involve strumming, check out:
www.busmanwhistles.com
Handcrafted pennywhistles in exotic hardwoods.
Paul,
Yes. I tried them. (See post #41 above.) I still have them on my Heiden and they sound good. Honestly, I can't tell much, if any, difference from the regular Mapes strings. But they're still sounding good after 6 weeks, so I'm waiting to see if they last longer than usual.
Phil
“Sharps/Flats” ≠ “Accidentals”
I tried them as well (heard about them here) and I love the custom option! Nice strings at a great price.
Thought I would give them a try so just ordered 3 sets of mandolin strings to use with my octave mandolin.
Ordered 12 - 22 - 32 - 44 with a wound A string, was told by email that all of their mandolin strings are 36" long.
Looking forwards to trying them out.
Mapes said they do not offer a wound string in the gauges that would suffice as an A string...I posted this yesterday but for some reason it didn`t show up...I did PM you though Macbre...
Willie
I just discovered mapes and have my first custom set strung up. I went with 11.5 16 26 and 40 for my gauges. I won't really know the tone for a few more days I'm guessing. I find them slippery in a good way. I also found they stretched a bit as a tuned them up.
It is very cool that they let you custom order your sets without charging extra for it.
I want to go on record as praising Mapes. I like their strings. They are very good strings, but not magic.
My reason for praise is their customer support. On two separate occasions, I have placed an order in which I failed to fully specify the detail of what I wanted. (I just wasn't thinking of all the options.) On both occasions, Mapes sent me an extra string of the other option, just to be sure that I was getting what I wanted. (e.g. a wound string and an unwound string of the same gauge)
Few companies would have gone to the extra trouble and expense of giving me the great service that they did. And I appreciate it.
I plan to be a long time customer.
Phil
“Sharps/Flats” ≠ “Accidentals”
After trying mapes I feel like I still prefer my EXP's. They really cut back on finger noise a bit. Not as much as flatwounds but still a bit. They certainly were not a bad string. I would say if you like the feel of an uncoated string they would be absolutely worth a look.
After a month or 2 with the Mapes I’m not liking them, they go out of tune like crazy I’ve had same mando in same environment for a long time and never had strings need so much tuning. I also broke a D string which I’ve never had that happen & they didn’t sound any better than the John Pearse PB. The only thing I like about the Mapes was the coating. Maybe I got a bad pack or something but I’m going back to the JP.
Lou
Loubrava
I've had no issues with tuning or string breakage, beginning year 3 for me.
Jus sayin'
Billy
Billy Packard
Gilchrist A3, 1993
Weber Fern, 2007
Stiver Fern, 1990
Gibson 1923 A2
Gibson 1921 H1 Mandola
Numerous wonderful guitars
I like the Mapes but also prefer an A string that is .016 as opposed to the .015 so I had planned on buying some on a special order and get the heavier A string, then I got an e mail from Just Strings saying they will not charge any shipping cost and the Bobby Osborne GHS strings were on sale at about 1/2 price ($5.95) and they have the .016 A strings so I ordered five sets from them but I will get in touch with Mapes and see what custom strings I can order, I sure wish they had the wound A string in stock, maybe if enough of us asked for them they would start selling them...
Willie
I tried them several months ago and, like others said, they were less than desirable...initially. I took those off almost immediately. I decided to try they again and leave them on for a few days before doing that again. I was wrong the first time. They've been on for 3 weeks and I like them. I will order some more.
I did encounter one problem: because of the Appalachian moonshine curing process, I tend to lose control of the fingers on my left hand after an hour or so.
David Hopkins
2001 Gibson F-5L mandolin
Breedlove Legacy FF mandolin; Breedlove Quartz FF mandolin
Gibson F-4 mandolin (1916); Blevins f-style Octave mandolin, 2018
McCormick Oval Sound Hole "Reinhardt" Mandolin
McCormick Solid Body F-Style Electric Mandolin; Slingerland Songster Guitar (c. 1939)
The older I get, the less tolerant I am of political correctness, incompetence and stupidity.
It has been posted on here many times that all mandolins do not like the same strings.... When I first bought my Kentucky KM-956 I installed a set of GHS strings and it sounded great but about two weeks ago I changed them with the Mapes strings and at first I liked what I heard but the more I play it the less I like that sound and it doesn`t seem to stay in tune as well as it did so I have ordered five sets of GHS strings and will use them on the KM-956, I installed the Mapes on my Ratliff about a month ago and it still sounds great so I may have to keep separate stings for each mandolin, I know Ivan has said he has heard the same with some of the different brands that he has tried...All in all I always liked the GHS strings and have used them for well over 15 years but I do like to try different strings now and then when they go on sale or offer some free ones for us to try and report what we find, just like picks all of them do not fit every mandolin...
Playing music shouldn`t be this complicated, should it? The old saying that you get what you pay for might hold true here...
Willie
I just put a set of Mapes phosphor bronze 11-15-26-40 strings on my Breedlove Crossover.I like the sound-- not overly brassy like many new strings. They settled in pretty fast. My only complaint is that the E strings sound a bit weak,at least on this instrument.Might the sound be stronger if I swapped them out for a larger gauge? There's not much wiggle room between 11 and 15.
For wooden musical fun that doesn't involve strumming, check out:
www.busmanwhistles.com
Handcrafted pennywhistles in exotic hardwoods.
I'm now a Mapes customer, because they were willing to game their custom gauge system to yield 10-string sets, at about 1/2 the price I was paying for single strings. (!) They also provided my gauges with ball ends. I recommend trying the custom-gauge option for anyone, because any mandolin may prefer this or that course stronger or lighter. For my sets they had me order five custom-gauge sets, with each consisting of one gauge, as in four pairs of .011, four pairs of .015, etc. I end up with four 10-string sets. (5 x 8 divided by 10.)
I measured the core size and note that for my PB C course (.047) the core is substantially larger than for D'Addario, about .020 Mapes vs. 015 or so for D'Addario. Other cores seemed the same within the limits of my inexpensive calipers. The tone held up significantly longer on my C course, which is considered short by mandola players (14.25").
They seem to have the tone and feel of a slightly heavier-gauge set, and seemed slower to fatigue. The price is the real winner for me.
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