String observation

[billkilpatrick]

just changed the dogal RW92 "calace" carbon steel strings on my mid-missouri m-4 for a set of strings from galli:

http://www.gallistrings.com/scheda_....pro=136

... and was surprised to find that the warm, full-bodied sounds of the former were exchanged for a "tinny," truncated ... i'm reluctant to say ... bowlback sound of the later.

what a difference a string makes!

the price tag for "tomastik" has always loomed ominous over the selection of quality strings but ... is there anything to be gained in spending, roughly twice the price for a set of these strings?

- bill

[Eugene]

Funny in that I favor the Dogals on bowlbacks...and, while they can be bright, I like to imagine mine aren't too "tinny."

Thomastik is famous for flat-wound strings. I'm not a big fan of the tone on mandolins. They have a thick-ish "thump" to them where I prefer a bit of "sparkle."

[Alex Fields]

Wasn't he refering to the Dogals as warm and the Gallis as tinny?

Eugene, have you tried the Dogals on an f-hole mandolin? As much as I'd like a bowlback I don't have one yet, but I'm interested in trying some of these strings on my F5, which is voiced for classical music and for light gauge strings.

EDIT: I love Thomastiks though. My favorite strings so far for f-hole mandolins, and I've tried all the brands commonly used on them.

[billkilpatrick]

mike dulak - the "mid-mo'" man himself - recommends ghs pf 250 (11-16-24-38) - a medium light guage. i must have played them when i got the instrument two years ago but can't say they impressed me.

i suspect the two, as yet un-opened sets of d'addario j74 strings i got from santa last year (11-15-26-40) will turn my sweety-pie into a harsh and rasping, bluegrass "chopper."

[Eugene]

Wasn't he refering to the Dogals as warm and the Gallis as tinny?

I believe so; however, it was the equating of "tinny" to a bowlback tone that I found odd.

Regarding an f-holed mandolin with Dogals, I don't own one! My only archtops are a 1907 A (oval holed) and a 1935 L-4 (f-holed guitar). I do prefer flat-wound or semi-flat-wound strings on the latter.

[angelouself]

I have used Thomastik since I was 11 years old, and those are my favorite strings. Although they cost a lot more than the others, I like the warm tone, it's great for concerts, but unfortunately their good sound only last about 4-5 playing days, then they become pretty "normal"(On my video of Chaconne I'm using Thomastik). I use them mostly for musics that have a lot of tremolo, from classic to romantic period.

I tried Galli, but didn't like the "sparkle" sound you refer to, besides the D and G being a bit noisy for my taste. (However it also might depend on your mandolin, I play a Calace Classico A and I don't like the sound of Galli on it, but Galli go pretty well on Embergher type for example).

Now I use Dogal Medium "Calace", they kinda sound like Thomastik, not as good tho, but they last longer , are cheaper and the sound is still warm-ish.

If you want to try some other good and cheaper strings than Thomastik, and quality wise similar to Dogal, you should try Optima or Pyramid, I'd suggest the latter.

[David Catalfamo]

Fabio, I like your video and your music . Where was that chaconne recorded?

[angelouself]

It was recorded in February 2004 at Municipal Theatre Baltazar Dias in Funchal, Madeira Island, Portugal. But this is off-topic

[Eugene]

It was actually the Dogal strings on a bowlback that I referred to as "sparkle", which is to be favored over the "tinny" of Galli.

[angelouself]

Misunderstood that I guess. But at least we agree that Dogal > Galli