Tsai Mandola String Gauge Question

[Steve L]

I hope the mandola mavens here can lend some help. I know a guy who just got an Antonio Tsai F style mandola (CGDA) and the factory strings it came with are useless. He got a set of La Bella 150s he wants to try which run 19-26-36-44. Now the scale length on this thing is over 17" and Tsai's stuff isn't talked about as being the sturdiest although the thing feels a lot more substantial than I expected.

I was concerned that those gauges are rather on the heavy side for that scale length and thought he should explore some lighter options from other makers. I'd really appreciate some informed opinions about this as the scale lengths on mandolas seem to vary quite a lot.

Thanks for your consideration!

[Eddie Sheehy]

I had a couple Tsai instruments. They are sturdy. What you have to watch for is wood that was not properly "dried". One of the instruments developed a crack in the back. The others are just fine - I've had them over a year now. D'Addario J72 or equivalent should be dandy: 14, 23,34,49.. That 19 in the La Bella's seems a tad heavy. OM strings are 12, 22, 32, 44 with Scale length of 20"+. I also found that replacing the bridge made it sound nicer...

[Steve L]

That's great Eddie, thank you.

[Ted Eschliman]

I am also fond of using the GHS PF285 Octave Mandolin strings on a mandola. You give up the wound A, but the lighter tension is much easier on the instrument and the player.

[Steve L]

And thanks to you Ted. That might be the best solution to this.

[Rvl]

I have some Ernie Ball mandolin strings on one of my mandola's and a set of Gibson mandolin strings on another mandola
The Ernie Ball's are really long, they will fit my octave mandolin too
The Gibson's are just long enough for a short mandola

I wish we could make a sticky as to which strings will fit CBOM
Specifically length of different string makers

I really prefer light strings on all of my instruments 40-12 or 11 is my favorite for mandola
Go to a string tension calculator and punch in some numbers
The 17" scale is quite long and you can go down to mandolin strings quite easily

Thanks

Robert VanLane

[Steve L]

And yet another thank you to Mr. VanLane

[Eddie Sheehy]

I have to add that I used Mandola strings on my OM for a bassier sound... And I use OM strings on a 15" scale Vega for a brighter sound - it's a 10-string so I add .009 for the E strings (.044, .032, .023, .014, .009... have fun.

[Joel Glassman]

Here's a site about Tsai's instruments.
Its worth reading if you are considering buying one.
http://www.chionline.com/Antoniotsai/index.html