I have the Vortex also which is the same but has a thumb hole stock. It is a fine CB and I love it. I may be the guy you read about when you mentioned four strings. First string was fine that came with the CB. Had heard from the guys in here that the Danny miller strings where pretty good and I liked the way a Flemish string looked compared to a endless loop, some said Danny's strings where a little more accurate also, among other things, so I bought string number two. String three came in when Don started to make them and the good friend he was gave it to me to try and use for free! A great friend. String one and two are still fine at this point. Then I became tired of reading post about His strings with the cat whiskers served on and how people were loving them, so string four was in the mail! LOL!! Not defective, just me buying stuff I probably could have done without, but am always willing to play if it helps in the end, even a little. He is DNK on here or BOO on the Excal forum. Fine strings IMO!!