Mandolin Morning
 

Gave some attention to my Flatiron A5 Performer this morning. Got it in May and hadn't changed strings yet, the ones on there were showing bright spots where I had been playing so looked like time to come off.

Being Loar carved and tone bar braced, this mandolin has the characteristic Gibson dark and throaty sound. Like it well enough but thought I might like a bit livelier sound. Decided to put GHS Pure Nickel wound (A270) on and see how I liked them.

On the 4th string to be changed, the second E string, pulled the string out and, no loop, the winding was there but no loop. Took one out of the other pack and used it. No problems with the remains strings.

Also changed the truss rod cover. Previous owner had put on an abalone cover that I thought was a bit gaudy, couldn't find an all black one like the originals, so I put on a black with white border. Looks better. Thought the one I pulled off was plastic abalone (abaloney) but the weight of it indicates its real shell. Never changed one out before so I did find they use two different screw lengths.

Initial play with the Pure Nickels is pretty encouraging. They did add some sparkle and the treble response seems enhanced quite a bit. I'll let them settle a bit and see how it goes but they seem to be headed in the right tonal direction.