flat wound strings

[meyers]

what do yall think? im interested inthe thomastick strings?

[8_Strang_Twang]

different mandos = different results!
They last a looooong time tho and are real easy on the fingers.
Are great on my oval holed mando but not on my F-holer
YMMV

[phynie]

TI's are great! I could go on and on but when it comes down to it, I would only be saying that they are great in different words.

[Brian Ray]

Well, I'll go against the grain...

I don't care for thomasticks... They're really spungey and don't cut very well. I'm sure in the right situation, they'd be nice and of course, to each their own. I have found the D'addario Flat tops#to be quite nice and seem to miss them whenever I try something else. I'd recommend trying them.

[mandorado]

Man, the only way to find out whats going to work best for you, and your mando, is to plop down some cash on a few different string sets and try them.
I can usually tell within a week or so if they are good, or not, for the instrument and me.
Personally, I have tried Flat Tops on a couple of different mandos, and they sound ok. I didn't like the feel myself. I have also used Thomastiks on several mandos, and have finally settled on using them only on one, my Flatiron A5. It's not a loud mando, but has excellent tone, and the Thomastics really bring that out.
If you don't have a lot of cash ... just don't cut the strings when you put them on to test, if you don't like'em you can pull them off and move to another mando later. They won't dry up or go stale if not in use for awhile.

[Doug Edwards]

Just like picks, keep trying till you find the right one. FT and TI's are great with the wound A. Each to their own on feel and tone. I just put on the TI Stark(heavy), so far I really like them. It's almost like getting an new mando. A month from now I may go back with FT's or GHS. TI's are supposed to last long. I hope so, they are not cheap.

[jiffyfeet]

I use the D'Addario flat tops, and I really like them. I LOVE the wound A, it sounds so much better on my instrument than several other strings I've tried. I've never tried the Thomastiks, too much money for strings IMO.

[ronlane3]

I love the T-I stark strings. Second are D'Addario flat tops.

[Bobbie Dier]

I don't like them for bluegrass. I took them off in about 2-3 days and saved them. I put them on and they are too quiet. They stay in tune real well though. I'm going to try them on my Flatiron Cadet A style. They will probably sound good on it. They just don't do it for bluegrass and an F style mando. They're too stretchy and don't have enough volume.

[ira]

been using the flattops and it took a while to get used to the feels, especially coming from elixirs. i have solved that by rubbing my fingers along the length of the strings to put a little natural oil on them to increase slickness. as for sound, they are clear- no squeaks, no buzzing, clean and sweet.

[MandoCowboy]

I use a product called String Life to reduce the friction on the FT's while sliding up and down the fret board. This product also decreases the affects of contaminating the strings from my fingers and increases string life before going dead. Works for me and I really like the tone my Collings mando's give off with these strings.

[ira]

wheere do you get it?

[MandoCowboy]

Eldery, FQMS, Janet Davis, all carry the String Life Product

[Brad Weiss]

I've been using T-I for a year now. I love the tone and playability (maybe not for bg, but cool for jazz). BUt I have found a glitch that's bugging me. #The coated ending in the tuning post wears out, and then you have only a thin, thin bit of wire with which to tune. #I just had a D string pop there- not so much break as just wear out to the point that it won't hold any tension no matter how long you wind it. #I wish I could find a single string to replace it (they're only .21!!) w/o paying 15 bucks for ONE whole string... #Any suggestions...