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'Nuther string experience

From RUSTYSTILL on 4/1/2012 7:57:27 AM

A while ago I posted about trying a set of John Hartford signature strings and finding they didn't do justice to the warm capabilities of my Calico with GHS PF 160s.  A couple months ago a luthier friend who sells Thomastik strings wanted me to try out a set of their banjo strings.  At $40+ a set I balked but he told me he would sell them to me at cost and if I didn't like them, not to cut the excess off and just bring them back.  I've had them staring at me on my desk for the past 6 weeks and yesterday finally decided to give them a try since I needed to change strings anyway.  I wasn't expecting much having been disappointed by Gibsons and other strings over the past 2 years but during the changing process I could tell right away as I tensioned up strs 1 and 2 their sound was clearly different.  So far surprisingly I am pleased with the sound of these strings.  Interesting is that the GHS 160s are a medium guage and these are just slightly heavier with the 4th string much more so, .040 compared to .026 on the GHS.  The 5th is lighter however at .009 compared to .010.  I've used Thomastik's on my guitars and they are very nice strings and usually take a couple of days to come alive compared to others that start at their best level.  If they hold their tone as well as the guitar strings these just might be my favorites for awhile and I think I will cut their ends off.  While some may balk at the price of these strings, there are those who will pay $1000 more for a guitar with Adirondack spruce over Sitka that doesn't sound significantly better, or for a banjo with more inlay on the neck, so what is about $35 more for the same or more difference in sound? 

2 Comments
Ciao says: 3/31/2012 11:19:36 PM Hi Jim, I note here juststrings.com/toi-5755-0.html the 4th string is a 'C'. Did you tune up to 'D' without any problems? If so, I'll buy a pack and try them out. Thanks, Chris.
	RUSTYSTILL says: 3/31/2012 11:42:03 PM Hi Chris, I never thought to look but it tuned up and plays great. I just pulled out the empty string jacket and the specs listed say for 5755,4: note-d, ins-.040, mm-.060, lbs 19.6, kp-8.9 Interesting that the second string is listed as note-h (is this a german label for b natural?) At .040 I suspect the string will sound more solid when tuned to c than thinner ones.
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