GUEST,Chris; mandotim is exactly right, we need to know about your particular instrument in order to make any useful recommendation. If yours is an antique—bowl-back or flat teardrop—most commercial strings will be too heavy. These instruments are fragile and have no truss rod in the neck. If your mandolin is a modern one, is it solid wood or formed laminate? If it's solid wood, does it have a truss rod (is there a small plastic cover near the nut)? Is it flat or arched? Is the bridge adjustable (thumbscrews) or solid?

I work in a guitar shop where we sell and service lots of mandolins as well as high-end guitars, banjos, etc. I've studied which strings sound best on the mandolins in the shop and, since buying my own mandolin (an Eastman MD815 F5 copy), I've tried a number of different strings on my own instrument. The best strings I've used on my own mandolin are the D'Addario J75 set. These are not too spendy and provide wonderful tone and volume. I keep them fairly high for added volume and smooth playing. If the strings are too low, the action will actually seem worse because you'll be trying to overcome the poor tone and slight rattle of low strings.

We use coated strings on instruments in the shop only because many people play the instruments to try them out. The coating helps resist the corrosive oils from some customers' hands. But if you've never had a problem with your own hands causing rapid string corrosion, there's really no need to stand the extra expense.

But give us more information and we can give you more help.

      - Mark