String question for G.W. Flanagan longbow

[OakyJuan]

Greetings! I am a newbie to both longbows and this forum. I have shot compound about 5 years, recurve 2, and just recently acquired a used custom made Flanagan takedown  longbow, 64" - #49@28".
 It came with a 61" Grizzly string, which I believe to be a hybrid of FF and non-FF materials with Flemish twist. It shot relatively quiet with no noticeable hand shock. The brace height as delivered was around 8-1/4", which I felt was too high for the bow.
 I tried adjusting the BH but even with the string basically unwound( preserving only enough twist for end loop integrity, I could only get a 7-3/4" BH.
  Not knowing if the bow could handle FF string materials
I had a new string made of B-50. I installed and tested and found 7-1/4" BH to be ideal, but even with Beaver puffs it does have a bit more noise and only slightly more vibration than the old string.
  I would like to try out some of the newer string materials and designs that offer a much more dampened or less noisy response but I don't want to over string the bow either.
 I guess my question is if anyone has any experience with Flanagan longbows (he has retired) and if so, are they capable of handling the high performance string materials?
 My own observations is the bow is of laminate construction, the limbs are both faced and backed with Bamboo, tips are reinforced with bone material. I'll try and figure out how to post a pic if needed.
 Sorry for the long post, appreciate any help offered!

[Bill Turner]

I have and shoot four of Mr. Flanagan's bows. Two one piece long bows, one three piece LB, and a three piece recurve. All of his bows handle the newer string material just fine. Personally, I prefer D97, the same material Black Widow provides on their bows. I have spent a great deal of time with Mr. Flanagan, both in his shop and on the shooting range. You are lucky to have one of his bows. All of mine are extremely quiet, accurate performers.

[LBR]

Quiet is more based on string build, tuning, nock fit, arrow weight, your release, etc. than the material...but material can make a difference;  more with some bows than with others.  

My current favorite material is BCY-X.  Dynaflight '97, 8125G, Mercury, 8190, etc. are also very good materials.

[OakyJuan]

Thanks Bill, I do consider myself very fortunate to have one of G.W.'s bows. With the Grizzly string it was super quiet and had virtually no vibration in the riser.  I love this sweet shooting longbow and was just worried about the 8" brace height and the last thing I wanted to do was harm the bow in any way.
 I've only heard good things about Flanagan bows. My sweet wife knew I was looking for one and when one came up for sale she told me Happy Birthday! I've been shooting it every day since!
Sounds like I'll be trying out another string, I'll start with the D97.
Thanks for your advice too LBR, and I couldn't agree with you more on the arrows, release, knocks, tuning. I took out as much variances and it really came down to just one string material vs another.  With the arrows and points adjusted for the B-50 they were shooting nicely, just with more noise and vibration than with the hybrid string.

[LBR]

What you get when you mix materials is the weaker material acts as a type of built-in dampener.  The stronger material is carrying the load, the second material is basically sitting there, so it's very important to have enough of the main material to carry the load safely.  Mike Treadaway has been doing this for years.  I haven't tinkered with it myself...haven't had a need to.  Honestly I'm not comfortable with it.

Chad

[SteveB]

Originally posted by LBR:
What you get when you mix materials is the weaker material acts as a type of built-in dampener.  The stronger material is carrying the load, the second material is basically sitting there, so it's very important to have enough of the main material to carry the load safely.  Mike Treadaway has been doing this for years.  I haven't tinkered with it myself...haven't had a need to.  Honestly I'm not comfortable with it.

Chad

I feel the same way. Never had an issue with noise that I couldn't address without it.