Recently restrung with as set of Straight Up Strings. The quick review is that I absolutely love the way they sound on my mandolin. (Old Wave C#, maple and spruce with ironwood fingerboard) It is the tone that I have tried to get for several years with different strings and attempt to get whenever I EQ the mando through a PA. The best part was no break in "brassy" tone. I am not qualified to comment on the "compensated downloads" that is spoken about in the package propaganda but really don't care. I liked the way they sounded from the get go. Now for the other side of the story.
Unfortunately, from the first set, on the first gig, these buggers just would not stay in tune. Anytime I hit them hard they headed south, especially the A stings. Even normal play offtuned them. Yes, I know that "mandolin" is from an Italian word meaning "out of tune" but this was far worse than usual and far worse than 74's. I usually front the band and it hard to tune an talk at the same time. At this point I am ready to go back to something else I don't like as much and not have to fight it.
Has anyone else had experience with these strings? If so, what did you think? I am hoping that maybe it is just this pack but am aware that hoping is not a great tonal strategy. Just to avid getting off topic, they were strung correctly and I am one of those folks that thinks changing strings is only a slightly better experience than having a colonoscopy with no anesthesia.
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