![]() ![]() My preference is to start off light (perhaps. If it's difficult to get the instrument all the way up to pitch, don't force it!Īnd it can't be said too often: quality mandolins were built more lightly 100 years ago than most are today, so they need lighter strings by today's standards. You can get a feel for how the instrument is performing, without fully stressing the top and neck. Starting with lower tension by tuning down a half-step or a step is a pretty good idea, imho. Believe me, I've learned this one the hard way - you want to make sure your mandolin has been in a well-humidified (~45%) environment for a few weeks, before stressing the top. Sometimes you'll see old instruments that are in fine shape, until you start stressing them with string pressure. Maybe it will take 20 or 80 years, but sooner or later there's a breaking point where old wood will split if there's not enough moisture to maintain its flexibility under stress. Up here in the USA, old mandolins often sit around, unhumidified and drying out a little more each winter. If that "CR" in your location means Costa Rica, I'm going to guess you're in a warm, humid climate, so probably there's no concern there. Hoping for better solutions, but so far I'm piecing together sets from single strings.Īlso wondering what I can do to ensure the mandolin being "well-humidified" means, and if tuning to a lower octave for a few days or weeks before trying with the correct tension might help?[ I know one bowlback player who makes his own strings. So what to use? I've talked to several string makers about this dilemma, so far without success. There's also the problem that since the Dogal Calace strings they have a smaller diameter, they cause fret wear quickly - especially on those tiny frets typical of the old Italian mandolins. Dogal Calace are high-tension strings by nature, designed for the modern Calace mandolin-thus the "soft tension" version may still be too much for antique instruments, which were generally designed for lower tension. Some will recommend the Dogal Calace RW92B, soft tension, but although I like these and have used these often on my modern concert mandolin, they're probably still too much tension for some old mandolins, especially an Italian like yours (which are often even more fragile than the American bowlbacks). Optima Lenzner Consort strings are made for this purpose (antique mandolins), so that's one option. For me, I'd much prefer a nickel-wound string for this kind of instrument. ![]() The GHS extra-light A240 strings (09, 13, 20, 32) are OK, but to me, not ideal - the material is phosphor bronze, which didn't exist when this mandolin was made, and probably sounds different and carries a bit more string tension than what they had back then. ![]() But string gauge is not the only factor, since material and construction also play a role. The strings you mention (.09, 13, 22, 34) sound just a little heavy on the bass side, I generally wouldn't go higher than (09, 13, 21, 32). There aren't many choices for appropriate strings, at least not yet. I also wouldn't play it until my technician has looked it over thoroughly, for structural problems. So please make sure it's been well-humidified before putting any string tension. That may just be the stuff of science fiction, but scroll on to find out if any of these mind-blowing Mandela effect examples got you too.When old mandolins start being played again is when they're most vulnerable to cracks. Needless to say, no one is exempt from being stumped by the strange occurrences, and some even go so far as believe them as some sort of proof of alternate realities. Other people related to her in remembering things not exactly in the way that they happened, from spellings of your favorite snack brands all the way to important events that happened the year they were born. And it was named by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome, who wrongly recalled that late South African president, Nelson Mandela, had died in the 1980s after his imprisonment, when in fact, he passed in 2013.Īpparently, misremembering events and facts isn’t just exclusive to Broome. This eerie phenomenon where people collectively misremember events, historical facts and other famous pop culture moments is called the Mandela Effect. And as shocking as this discovery may feel in this very moment, you are actually not alone. If you remember Dorothy’s famous line in The Wizard of Oz as, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore,” you would, in fact, be wrong. ![]()
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