DR Mandolin String Issues

[HoGo]

Isn't there a chance the bad sets are fake? I recall, some time ago D'addario had problem with cheap fake strings on the market...

[rfd]

i've also had both tuning and intonation issues with DR wound mando and acoustic guitar strings. i just dunno what the core problem is (or maybe that's a pun intended). i was really hoping they'd work out as DR is located a hop skip and jump away. i'll stick with good ol' d'addarios.

[Ivan Kelsall]

rfd - If DR are so close,the next time you get a faulty DR string,take it to them on the instrument & demo. the fault. Telling them is one thing,being able to show them up front is a whole new ball game !. No company wants to get a bad name for faulty ''anythings' & DR will be no exception,
Ivan

[Charles E.]

Isn't there a chance the bad sets are fake? I recall, some time ago D'addario had problem with cheap fake strings on the market...

I bought mine directly from the owner of DR Strings at last years IBMA. I will not be able to attend this year but If I could I would let them know about my experience with the wound strings not playing in tune with each other. I had a very nice chat with them last year, it is a small family run business, I hope they get the issue resolved.

[rfd]

rfd - If DR are so close,the next time you get a faulty DR string,take it to them on the instrument & demo. the fault. Telling them is one thing,being able to show them up front is a whole new ball game !. No company wants to get a bad name for faulty ''anythings' & DR will be no exception,
Ivan

a very good thing to do, but not worth my time.

[Atlanta Mando Mike]

I personally believe the DR folks have to know something is going on. It's been going on too long. Its not just talked about here on the cafe but there are also comments all over the net about similar issues going back years. In this day and age, it's hard for me to believe they haven't heard. For some reason they just aren't doing anything about it. This is just my opinion obviously. I have no inside info.

[rfd]

I personally believe the DR folks have to know something is going on. It's been going on too long. Its not just talked about here on the cafe but there are also comments all over the net about similar issues going back years. In this day and age, it's hard for me to believe they haven't heard. For some reason they just aren't doing anything about it. This is just my opinion obviously. I have no inside info.

exactly. they already know there are issues. and i have inside info.

[Atlanta Mando Mike]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PXfeHtOUwkg

Here is a video that mimics my experience. Guitar and only one string, but still wound. This is a few years old.

[COLOR="silver"]- - - Updated - - -[/COLOR

[FLATROCK HILL]

...I'm using DR Rare medium gauge mandolin strings and I've been having a lot of issues with the wound strings lately. I change strings a lot. Partially because of how much I gig but also, I've got acidic hands that tend to eat through strings. I'm having a significant amount of the wound strings have the issue where they won't tune up, at all. It seems like its been about a string per set lately. What I mean by that is one string out of the 4 wound strings in a pack seems to be bunk. Sometimes D strings and sometimes G strings...

I started a thread about this very issue. The first set of DR I had was fine, sounded really good indeed. But the second set had a bogus D string that was all over the place, weird and irregular intonation and impossible to tune.

I use them for my carved top mandolins and recently have had one D string that went wonky after a bit of use...

I've been using DR MD11s on most of my mandolins for quite some time now. Always been very fond of their punchiness and tone. And they've always lasted a long time before I had even the slightest need to replace them.

Since A.M.Mike posted this thread, I've put three sets of DRs on different mandolins, all three sets from the same batch I bought from Just Strings. I had no problems at all with the first two sets. They sound great as usual. Just put the third set on a week or so ago. One of the D strings is not tunable. I can't describe it any better than Mike did in this post.

I think I wasn't being clear in describing the issue. I can get the string up to tension but the tuning is wrong down the fretboard. Farther down you go, the worse it is. In general, the string sounds wrong and the tuning is never exactly right, even open. When I run into one of these problem strings I'm unable to get the 2 strings perfectly in tune open, then it goes wonky the farther down you go.

The intonation is off; progressively worse as you go up the neck. Even open, the string never settles onto a steady consistent pitch. Don't know what the reason for the problem is, but it's definitely a problem.

[Willie Poole]

Have any of you mic`ed the strings to see if they are both the same gauge? If they are I can`t figure what the problem could be, I tried some DR-11`s and took them off after a few days, just didn`t like the shrillness that I was getting, I didn`t give them a long enough time to settle in from what others say must be done with those strings but when I have a gig to play I don`t need strings that will need a few weeks to settle in on my #1 mandolin.....I am sure they make a good product but as we all know every brand of strings do not fit every brand of mandolins or guitars...It may take some time to find the brand of strings and picks that best suits you mandolin(s)...

Willie

[FLATROCK HILL]

I don't have any answers for you Willie as far as the actual measurement of the string gauge. And like you, I don't care for the sound of the DRs when they're first strung. It takes them a while (longer than most in my opinion) to settle in.
All I know is that I just replaced the problem D string with a new spare D'Addario D (.26) string. Problem solved.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From FLATROCK HILL - " The intonation is off; progressively worse as you go up the neck. ...". I had exactly the same problem a few years back with a D'Addarion G string. The inner string of the pair sounded ok 'open',but fret it & it went #. As you progressed up the neck,the worse it went. I swapped inner to outer (with some trouble) & it was still the same. I removed it,put a new one on & all was well = a 'rogue' string !.

These days i only use DRs on my Lebeda & they sound fine right from the off. I just tried some EJ74's on my Ellis for the first time & they didn't suit it - GHS A270's went back on yesterday. EJ74's sound fine on my Weber now that i'm using Dunlop Primetone picks. Before that,the G & D Strings sounded a bit dead,
Ivan

[yankees1]

From FLATROCK HILL - " The intonation is off; progressively worse as you go up the neck. ...". I had exactly the same problem a few years back with a D'Addarion G string. The inner string of the pair sounded ok 'open',but fret it & it went #. As you progressed up the neck,the worse it went. I swapped inner to outer (with some trouble) & it was still the same. I removed it,put a new one on & all was well = a 'rogue' string !.

These days i only use DRs on my Lebeda & they sound fine right from the off. I just tried some EJ74's on my Ellis for the first time & they didn't suit it - GHS A270's went back on yesterday. EJ74's sound fine on my Weber now that i'm using Dunlop Primetone picks. Before that,the G & D Strings sounded a bit dead,
Ivan

Ivan, I also have used GHS A270 strings on my Ellis A but after switching to Mapes PB 11.5, 16, 26 and 40 I won't be going back to A270 ! Try this custom set for $5.00 and see what you think ! I was highly impressed !

[Billy Packard]

Hey Willie,

The first defective set of D R I got was so frustrating! When I changed them I mic'd them all and found interesting variances. I reported here at the forum but I don't know how to find that information again, it was this year...

Billy

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Billy - That's interesting. I still have the micrometer i used to use at work,so the next time i change strings on my Lebeda (DR MD11's),i'll mic. 'em up.

Yankees1 - That's heck of a low cost for a set of strings !!. I might just e-mail Mapes & ask them about their shipping cost. If the cost of 2 sets of strings ( one set on + one spare set) + postage is more than my allowed import allowance (£15 UK = $20.US),then i'll have to pay duty + a UK Postal Handling fee = not worth it,
Ivan

[Hendrik Ahrend]

About two years ago, I bought a few DR round core singles, the .026 were thinner (qua feel and measure) than any other .026 strings I know - unusable, I decided.

[telecline]

I think I wasn't being clear in describing the issue. I can get the string up to tension but the tuning is wrong down the fretboard.

I've had this issue with DR electric guitar strings too - the wound D too actually. I noticed it on 2 sets in a case of strings I got at a music shop dealer's suggestion when they were out of my usual brand. I returned the strings. I've also experienced this issue on a couple sets of Ernie Ball electric guitar strings which I've since switched from.

[Mandoplumb]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but if the core on wound strings were different diameters wouldn't they be under different tensions resulting in the problem Mike described?

[FLATROCK HILL]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but if the core on wound strings were different diameters wouldn't they be under different tensions resulting in the problem Mike described?

I don't know about "different tensions". I'd certainly say that the areas of differing diameters would behave/vibrate differently. And yes, I think that condition would explain the the problem that Mike described.

[mandroid]

Long running thread, I have to go out of my way to even find DR strings , so I'm forewarned..

[Willie Poole]

After reading all of these posts it came to me that even though two strings were the same, .026, but one had a round core and the other had an octagon core they would most likely not intonate the same up the neck due to different tensions so just may DR got some strings mixed up, might have been a new employee and they just put two of the same gauge in the pack...

Might be worth mentioning to the DR bosses....

Willie

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Henry Eagle - "...I bought a few DR round core singles, the .026 were thinner than any other .026 strings I know..".That's the fault of the wire maker,not DR - however,DR should ensure that any 'bought in' wire is of the correct gauge.

Addressing Mandoplumb's query - 2 strings could be of differing core diameters,but you could still tune to the same note by applying different string tension ie. you can tune the G & D strings to the ''same notes'' & they're different gauges. If one say ''D'' string has a round core & one has a hex.core,you can still tune them to the exact same note - they are both ''D'' strings after all. I'd maybe expect them to sound a bit different,but would it be really noticeable ?. GHS A270's have .016" "A" strings,my DRs & EJ74's have .015" "A" strings = different tensions but the same note,although i'd say that the A270 "A" note sounds 'stronger',
Ivan

[FLATROCK HILL]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but if the core on wound strings were different diameters wouldn't they be under different tensions resulting in the problem Mike described?

I don't know about "different tensions". I'd certainly say that the areas of differing diameters would behave/vibrate differently. And yes, I think that condition would explain the the problem that Mike described.

Addressing Mandoplumb's query - 2 strings could be of differing core diameters,but you could still tune to the same note by applying different string tension ie. you can tune the G & D strings to the ''same notes'' & they're different gauges. If one say ''D'' string has a round core & one has a hex.core,you can still tune them to the exact same note - they are both ''D'' strings after all.
Ivan

I can't speak for Mandoplumb Ivan, but I was addressing the issue of varying gauges/diameters along the same string. I thought that's what he meant in his question.
In any case, I saved the 'problem string'. Maybe DR (or someone who can examine it better than I) will take a closer look at it. It is brand new and I'm sure the answer is there.

[Mandoplumb]

I have broken an A string several times and replaced it to finish the gig with a different gauge. They will twin open but get further out as you go up the neck. I always attributed that to different tension. Seems to me the core would determine the tension.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Mandoplumb - "... I always attributed that to different tension.". I think that's correct. The heavier string should also sound a tad 'stronger' as well, You could exaggerate that by pairing a really light string with a heavy one. Try using an "E" string for an "A" string sometime !.

Flatrock - I must admit to not having considered a single string having varying diameters along it's length. I'd think that if that happened,it would cause an imbalance of 'string tone' rather than ''inaccurate notes''. It would be weird for sure if the variations were significant !!. I hope i never have one,
Ivan