I use three mandolins with three different guages, so I'll share what I do. On my F I use the J75s (or J74s, depending on what I can find when I need strings). On my '30s Kalamazoo A oval hole I use the GHS silk and Steels, which are "spongy" feeling, but coupled with the oval soundhole I think sounds good, even though it does feel odd to my fingers.
The third mando is a Michael Kelly A which is my on-stage backup. J75s and J74s are too much for it. It feels "right" becasue I'm used to those guages, but it doesn't sound right to my ears so I've played around. Currently there is a set of J67s. These are nickel wound 11-14-25-39. I like 'em okay, but what I liked better on it was a set of Dean Markley Lights, also nickel wound guage 11-14-24-37. This set is hard to find though 'cuz you gotta find someone who stocks Dean Markely strings. Ironically, in Duluth, MN, the closest music store to me, they're easy to find. On the road is another story. I used to use the J62s, but, again to my ears, the combination of light guage and bronze equals weak sound (probably because I have a beefier mandolin set up with heavy bronze strings). I have the MK for a backup because I needed a backup and the price was only $300. I used to disrespect it a lot (for about 18 months) but after changing the guage to the nickel and a little lighter, I was surprised at what a fun little instrument it is. Sometimes I play it for encores, just for fun and so people can see me use "that other mandolin you got up on stage, there..." Hope this helps, erik PS: back in high school, on the advice of Stevie Ray Vaughn via Guitar Player magazine, I used to by the heaviest guage electric guitar string I could find (jazz heavies) and throw away the high E. Then I buy a single bass guitar D string. Then I'd string the instrument 13-17-24-36-46-64 (I think--it's been a number of years now)...now that's a heavy set of strings! On Feb 10, 5:33 am, Linda <[email protected]> wrote: > Val, I found those silk and ?? bronze GHS strings spongy and took em > off before time. > I am using steel strings and its ok. > I miss the Thomastiks, but understand they just don't hold up under > pressure of regular playing. So,\still looking for the perfect > solution, so far the steel strings seems the closest to what I want. > Yes, it is annoying. > ljt -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en.
