The Thomastik Mandolin strings are wonderful! I only string my mandolins with a single course of strings, so these expensive strings are more affordable for me, being two sets in one. I made the mistake of buying a set of heavy strings, which especially in single courses, can be rough on the finger tips, even though they too are extremely smooth to the touch, but the mediums are beautifully flexible and easy to play, having a round, full sound. I don't like round wound mandolin strings, which are the standard in America. I have tried the Pyramid Gold strings. They are a little rougher, but not bad. I will stick with Thomastik. I changed strings on my electric mandolin today, and was reminded of the quality of these great strings, with the old set lasting many hundreds of playing hours.

If you're familiar with Thomastik Infeld Precision Violin Strings, this is actually their Mandolin version. Thomastik Infeld is well known for their Bowed Stringed instrument strings and they've designed their plucked stringed instrument strings like that too.

I agree with your assessment Tom. I have had Thomastic Mediums on 2 bespoke instruments; an American made flat top "panake style" and on my current Scottish built Arch top. I LOVE the feel, the smoothness of moving up and down the fingerboard and crossing strings. The tone is very warm which I prefer. They do lack some volume but the trade off is the beautiful tone they produce. The other thing to note is, because of their lower tension they will outlast most other strings so the price, although steep, is offset by not needing to replace them as often. I put about 20 + hours a week on my instrument and would probably need to replace the strings every 2-3 months if they weren't Thomastics. They usually last around 9 months before needing to be replaced.

I have these very same Strings on my Epiphone MM-20/AS Mandolin and the Flatwound design will save the frets from scratches. They also allowed me to get a much more mellow Jazzy sound.

As a bass guitarist who really enjoys the sound and feel of flatwound strings, including Thomastiks, it was fun to hear Thomastik flats on mandolin. Thomastik flats on bass are narrower and much lower in tension as compared to other brands including D'Addario. One quality I like about flats is that they eliminate the dreaded string squeak when shifting.

These Strings also have half as much tension of an average Round Wound Mandolin String set so they're also designed to make playing the Mandolin easier especially for beginners.

Wonderful demo. I'd maybe try these one day, but I'm fairly happy with the D'Addario EFW74 flats for much less mezumen, though the 2nd string isn't wound in that set.

Fantastic insight about the lack of top end. It was the very first thing I noticed. The bottom end offers that fat, woody, wonderful tone but the top end is not so much "lacking" as it is you have to dig deep to get the tone and volume. Perhaps if the E and A pairs were a gauge heavier? Thomastik customizes their sets, I just haven't had the $$ to try it yet.

Thomastik Infeld Precision Mandolin Strings which are Flatwound Strings designed like Violin Strings. You can identify precision Strings by their Black silk wound near the Loop End.

Unlike the D'Addario Flatwound Strings the Thomastik Infeld Precision Mandolin Strings have Silk Wound around the ends to protect them which is interesting.

Can you do a video tutorial on the Cotton pick and the Travis pick on Tenor Guitar, as well as any other pick styles you do?

Thanks Tom. Sound fantastic. Although I get the sense you might not be wholly swayed by them? Do you think they feel appreciably/significantly looser/less tension than other strings? I've never owned a set, but tried them on someone else's mando. I didn't feel a huge difference, but that's maybe/probably me.

With the lower tension of this set did you have to adjust the truss rod at all after putting them on? Sounds great btw, love your videos!

@tomkimbermusic

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Tyler. No adjustment needed for these so you’d probably be good to go. I did start to get a bit of fret buzz eventually when playing hard but that was after months of them being on. They’d already lasted longer than a standard set of strings by that point.

Hi Tom. Useful these reviews… Will you be able to provide an up date in the future re the longevity of these strings (I’m assuming you are leaving them on the mando…?) ?

@RockStarOscarStern634

2 жыл бұрын

These strings also last for a super long time

@OriginalClaw

Жыл бұрын

@@RockStarOscarStern634 Fact check: True Keep your hands clean and they last a very long time.

@RockStarOscarStern634

Жыл бұрын

@@OriginalClaw They're designed like Violin Strings and have a slightly lower tension to make playing the Mandolin easier

Add a Magnetic Pickup and plug it into an amp, you've got yourself a cute little Jazz Box Mandolin.

can you tell me what song that is please ?

@HermanSays

Жыл бұрын

The song is Dark Hollow.

@tomkimbermusic

7 ай бұрын

Herman's got it

👀👉Elas são de aço e tem som de panela… 🤮