Strings

[mandomaybe]

I have an almost 2 year old Eastman 604, which I happily bought used at the Cafe. For some reason the tone seems to have gotten more shrill recently. Why now? Who knows? I don't play a lot, take pretty good care of it; maybe my ear has gotten better, but I relly think the sound has changed for the worse. At this point it doesn't matter why. I took it in to a very respected repairman who checked it out, said it was fine struturally, and that it just has a shrill sound. He raised the action slightly, but that has made no difference. The repairman thinks it's not a very good sounding instrument, period. I hear the tone on open strings, fretted strings, more on the treble than lower strings.
Question: has anyone found that certain brands of strings produce a softer tone that may help this instrument? I have new J74's on it now, having replaced older J74's. (That type is all I can find locally, but I'll be happy order some other type if there are recommendations). Changing to new J74's did nothing.

[JHo]

I like EXPs on my 615, I think they sound a bit mellower than the standard Js which I don't really like. Also, my Eastman seems to respond well to the 75s, which are a bit heavier than the 74s.

[mandroid]

Try silk and bronze or silk and steel (which is copper with a silver plate [classical guitars use that, wound around nylon core] . (mandolin is steel core wire) . GHS made .

or a lighter string set of P bronze 10-38 vs 11-40

[JEStanek]

My Eastman 814 really sounded nice with the Jazzmando JM-11 strings made by Labella. Another benefit the the extended play life 4x-6x of J74s in my experience, and the flatwound comfort factor.

NFI for me, just really liked those strings. Nice mellow, complex tone. If you try those and like them you could "upgrade" Thomastik strings.

Jamie

[Austin Koerner]

Oh yeah, I bet those JazzMando strings with solve the problem.

[pmadison]

You could try a set of flat wound Thomastik-Infield Medium. #They are a little pricy, but they have toned down and added a quality to a couple of my mandolins.

[Andrew Lewis]

I have found FT74s to have a softer, mellower sound than J74s. They have a nice tone, just softer. Feel nice, too. If I wasn't wanting a punchier, BG sound, I'd stick with the ones I've got on it now.

[miked500]

Ditto the silk and steel. In my experience, you may loose a little volume, but you gain some warmth and may loose some of that harshness you are talking about.

[MadisonBRG]

I like the TI flatwounds an dthe Nickel Wounds for rounder off shrilly tone.

Keep in mind that if you don't play your instrumnet, it goes to "sleep" and tightens up, leaving only the shrilly treble.

Put some new non-phosphor bronze strings on it, play it an hour a day for week and see what you've got.

[Pete Martin]

Try the Gibson monel (Sam Bush) strings as well.

[guitharsis]

Another vote for TI's. I have them on my Eastman 604 and have tried them on other A styles.
John Bernunzio www.bernunzio.com likes and carries the Calace strings for a softer classical sound.

[red7flag]

I had a mando that came off just a bit harsh. I got some GHS silk and bronze and problem was solved.
Tony

[Mr. Loar]

I agree with the Thomastik-Infeld flats choice.

[mandomaybe]

thanks for all the advice. I ordered some recommended strings from jazzmando, also some PropPlec picks (not related to the problem, just wanted to try some with a better edge than what I've had). I'll let you know what the new strings do.
Of course, nothing will make me sound as good as lots of practice will!