Daddario EFW74 Reviews

Excellent tone and response.

Usually flatwound strings deaden the sound of instruments but I actually like the sweetness of the sound these produce on Mandolins.

I also enjoy the increased play-ability and smoothness to them.

I don't feel at all like I'm compromising compared to normal strings.

The one caveat is they're quite pricey.

Gentle touch, well-balanced, a little tense

Actually I'm just a part-time, rhythm-mandolin player.

Actually I only wanted to try these because, to me, bronze or silver feels and sounds too abrasive and brash. Besides, I'm familiar with flats on jazz guitar, bass, etc.

With these strings I get a mellow, even tone between the wound and plain strings and they are smooth to the touch.

I would argue that these strings are an upgrade for any mandolin or mandolin player. They even really reawakened my interest in the instrument and in becoming a better player. But that's just me - actually not a full-time mandolin player.

The only negative thing is that the tension seems high for the gauge. I had to do some adjustments to the bridge position and height. But now, even the intonation seems to be better.

In the end, it's probably a question of taste. Nonetheless, definitely worth trying.

Daddario EFW74

I like these strings a lot. They have a distinctive sound quality - punchy, not twangy, mellow rather than bright. In guitar terms, a bit more like the sound of an arcthop jazz guitar rather than a flat picked dreadnought. For this very reason I suspect that they will not be for every mandolin player.

They come up to tune very quickly and don't need time to play in - ie. to lose that hollow sound that so many new strings have. I think this is connected to their distinctive sound quality - their sound emphasises the mids rather than the trebles and basses.

Perhaps surprisingly, they are very responsive - hammer-ons, pull offs, grace notes and especially slides all come out much more easily than with roundwound strings.

There is one downside - the strings are far heavier than I expected and are pretty hard on the fingers - this somewhat counterbalances the ease of play (slinkiness is the usual word) that one would expect from flat wound strings. I'll see how I feel about this in a few weeks time and if I haven't got used to it might look into lowering the action a bit.

Highly recommended.