I bought these for an octave mandolin as no-one seems to make coated mandolin strings. I had to loop the strings through the ball at the end to create a loop, and while not perfect, it works. The G and D strings were a bit too thick to fit the tight spacing at the tailpiece, but I eventually managed to get them to fit by using a set of craft pliers to carefully shape them. My fingers can tarnish strings in a single session, so I wanted something that would last a little longer and these are an improvement over some of the other strings I've tried. They're about the right length for my Eastman octave mandolin too, so a useable alternative.