What weight string comes stock on the Eastman MD505?

[robw95]

Hi, I bought a new MD505 in November and have been playing it a lot so want to order some new strings. I see from the Eastman website that it comes from the factory with D'addorio J74 (I saw a post earlier when I searched that these are now called EJ74). On Amazon, the EJ74 come in light (10-38), medium (11-40), and medium/heavy (11.5-41), anybody have an idea which weight comes from the factory (the stock strings are fine for me, I'm a beginner). I'll also email Eastman but that generally takes a few days to get a response and I thought that someone here might know right off the bat.

Thanks. Rob

[mandroid]

10-38 will reach pitch with less tension , that's just physics.. as a beginner I suggest they're easier to play.

[robw95]

My bad, I read Amazon's site wrong. When one navigates to the EJ74 page there are three choices as I mentioned above (light, medium, medium/heavy) but if you add the lights to your cart you can then see that it is identified as EJ73. So, in answer to my question the J74 strings (medium) are what came from the Eastman factory so I'll order a set of those and and a set of lights to try out as well.

Rob

[Cobalt]

On Amazon, the EJ74 come in light (10-38), medium (11-40), and medium/heavy (11.5-41)

Those are different product numbers:

EJ73 10-38 Light

EJ74 11-40 Medium

EJ75 11.5-41 Medium/Heavy

That is, EJ74 only comes in one grade, Medium 11-40.

Oops - I see you already figured this out.

[Bill Cameron]

Mediums are the norm...lights are for particular situations like a vintage, lightly built, no-truss-rod instrument, or a player who needs extra comfort or has a very light touch. But if you’re ordering strings, get more than one set of any given gauge. You need identical replacements in case of breakage. Better discounts for bulk buying too.

[NeoGeo]

Hi, I bought a new MD505 in November and have been playing it a lot so want to order some new strings. I see from the Eastman website that it comes from the factory with D'addorio J74 (I saw a post earlier when I searched that these are now called EJ74). On Amazon, the EJ74 come in light (10-38), medium (11-40), and medium/heavy (11.5-41), anybody have an idea which weight comes from the factory (the stock strings are fine for me, I'm a beginner). I'll also email Eastman but that generally takes a few days to get a response and I thought that someone here might know right off the bat.

Thanks. Rob

I just had an Eastman MD505C delivered a few days ago, and their website says that the strings are D'Addario XT Phosphor Bronze 1140.
That was on Dec 8th 2022.

[JEStanek]

It also may depend on WHERE you get your Eastman. If a shop does a proper set up on the instrument, they may replace the strings. So if you got it from a store you might ask them if they were changed during set up. Chances are, they have the D'Addario EJ74s as those are kind of the standard string for carved top Gibson clone mandolins from larger production facilities.

Jamie

[Bill Cameron]

A wise purchase whatever strings are on it, congratulations!

As long as they are within the maker’s recommended specs, choice of strings is entirely determined by the player’s needs and preferences, so I wouldn’t put too much stock on what particular brand they came from the factory with.

For ease of playing, rather than switch to lights which may not bring out all the tonal possibilities in a good archtop) many players spend a few extra bucks on flat-wound or flat-topped strings, try them from D’Addario or Curt Mangan, you like them you may eventually want to spoil yourself (at much greater expense) and fork out for Thomastiks, which are true “artisanal” grade wire composite. (Mind you, their tonal properties are also very much a matter of endless debate.)