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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink The String thread

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just moved up to chrome 13's on my jazz from 12's. Its a bit of getting used to, especially on e-string minor chords, but its not bad.

I'm practicing clean tone to really hear what I'm doing weakly. I find even playing unplugged hides alot of buzzing that comes out clean tone, wihtout reverb.

The strings sound great though.

Anyone notice something wierd about chromes -- one day you'll play them and they'll sound bad (really sharp high end and the rest totally muddy) and the next, they'll sound great?

I think Fender flatwounds sound better than most people seem to think although nowadays I use Pyramids on almost all my guitars strung with flats. As for the Pyramids, my experience is that at least the heavier sets take several hours of playing until they start sounding good but after that keep a consistant level for a long time.

I would refuse using D'Addario Chromes because of the multi-colored ball ends, hahaha...

T H E ✠ S U R F I T E S

Well, I put on the set of Thomastik-Infields, and I am really impressed. They've actually got a really pretty sound. It turns out they're not too light for my setup (no buzzing on the bridge), but I still may go with a larger gauge next time I change strings, just for a bit more girth.

The sounds with my particular guitar is very classic, and the tone knob seems to be more effective with these particular strings - they don't get muddy, they just get kind of middy. Using the bridge pickup, they sound bright but not shrill. I know these have a rep for not having enough high end, but on my guitar I found that the high end was very pleasant. A little mellowed out, but not dull. And they bend almost like roundwounds, which is nice.

So, I definitely prefer these over the Chromes, and also over any roundwounds I've tried (DR, Blue Steel, Elixir, Ernie Ball, etc etc). I haven't tried Pyramids yet, but I'm very happy with the Thomastik-Infields. Obviously I haven't tried many flatwound sets, but these sound very sweet to me.

http://www.reverbnation.com/thedeadranchhands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZEW74mHjQk

So I compiled a list of all the thread's recommendations for my own uses, and figured I'd throw the compilation up for everyone else to see. I added every recommendation that included both a brand and a gauge, and for every case someone also mentioned what guitar they were going on I added that info at the end. The "6x, 5x" numbers preceding the strings are the number of times that brand & gauge was recommended.

Enjoy!

  • D'Addario .9 (Strat)

  • 6x D'Addario Chrome .11 (Jag, Jag, Strat)

  • 5x D'Addario Chromes .12 (Jazz, Strat)

  • D'Addario Chrome .13 (Jazz)

  • D'Addario Chrome Flat .15 (Jazz)

  • D'Addario EXL 115 Round .11 (Yamaha SGV)

  • 2x D'Addario Half-Round .12 (Tele, Hodad)

  • 2x D'Addario XL Nickelwound .11
    DR Pure Blues .12
    Ernie Ball Super Slinkies .9
    Ernie Ball Beefy Slinky .11 (Tele)
    Ernie Ball Skinny Top/Heavy Bottom .10 (Hollow-body)
    Ernie Ball Not Even Slinky .12 (Les Paul Jr.)
    3x Fender Flat .11 (Jazz, Jag)
    2x Fender Flat .12 (Strat)
    Fender Flat .13 (Strat)
    GHS .10 (Tele)
    GHS Boomer .11 (SG)
    GHS Boomer .12 (Hodad)
    GHS .14
    Gibson L5 .12 (Strat)
    Gibson Flat .12 (ES-295)
    2x Pyramid Round .10 (Mosrite, Mosrite)
    Pyramid Flat 12-str .10 (Burns Dubl 6)
    2x Pyramid Flat .11 (Jazz)
    4x Pyramid Flat .13 (Jazz, Jag)
    2x Rotosound Flats .12
    Rotosound Grey .13 (Surfmaster)
    2x Rotosound Round .11 (Gretsch, Strat)
    3x Rotosound Purple Round .12 (Jag, Strat)
    S I T .12 (Jag)
    2x Thomastik-Infeld Power Bright Round .11 (Strat, Tele)
    Thomastik-Infeld Jazz/Swing Flat .12

Having been playing Ernie Ball Not Even Slinkies (.12 Roundwound) for about a year I've just put on a set of Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Swing (.13-.53 Flatwound, wound G, nickel top strings). My thoughts:

The flatwounds are warmer and more responsive to intonation and feel, particularly on the bass strings, and in that sense a bit more 'musical'. You can see why the Jazzers use them. The roundwounds are probably preferable if a rough and meaty Dick Dale kind of a style is what you are after, although we've been playing a bit quietly of late, I've yet to give them a work out on a cranked twin yet..

It's a bit easier to play on fat wound G string than a fat plain G string. The extra smoothness of the bass strings feels quite nice to play on also.

For non-surf, you can get some fantastic overdrive sounds...

Possibly none of this is news to people, I thought I'd just toss my 2p in...

Overall, I wouldn't like to pick a clear winner, it's depend on what I was playing. I think I'll stick with Flats for a bit, I'm trying to steer the band's sound away from Dick Dale (purely for the sake of being different, nothing at all against DD!) at the moment and the flats seem to maybe offer more opportunities to do that.

I don't know how much visitation this thread gets anymore, but I was wondering what everyone's opinion was with changing their flat wounds. To me it seems that flat wounds last exceptionally long. I actually seem to like their tone after playing them for a few months.

I know it varies based on the player (especially those who play on stage) but how often do you guys change them?

More often than not, I change my flats when one breaks (assuming the pack isn't very new). Other than that, I'll change if I've had the set on for a while and I have a show.

Ryan
The Secret Samurai Website
The Secret Samurai on Facebook

Last edited: Mar 09, 2009 12:31:51

WaimeaBay
I don't know how much visitation this thread gets anymore, but I was wondering what everyone's opinion was with changing their flat wounds. To me it seems that flat wounds last exceptionally long. I actually seem to like their tone after playing them for a few months.

I know it varies based on the player (especially those who play on stage) but how often do you guys change them?

I've had my TI flatwounds on for three months now - they still sound great

http://www.reverbnation.com/thedeadranchhands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZEW74mHjQk

wonderpug
So I compiled a list of all the thread's recommendations for my own uses, and figured I'd throw the compilation up for everyone else to see. I added every recommendation that included both a brand and a gauge, and for every case someone also mentioned what guitar they were going on I added that info at the end. The "6x, 5x" numbers preceding the strings are the number of times that brand & gauge was recommended.

Enjoy!

  • D'Addario .9 (Strat)

  • 6x D'Addario Chrome .11 (Jag, Jag, Strat)

  • 5x D'Addario Chromes .12 (Jazz, Strat)

  • D'Addario Chrome .13 (Jazz)

  • D'Addario Chrome Flat .15 (Jazz)

  • D'Addario EXL 115 Round .11 (Yamaha SGV)

  • 2x D'Addario Half-Round .12 (Tele, Hodad)

  • 2x D'Addario XL Nickelwound .11
    DR Pure Blues .12
    Ernie Ball Super Slinkies .9
    Ernie Ball Beefy Slinky .11 (Tele)
    Ernie Ball Skinny Top/Heavy Bottom .10 (Hollow-body)
    Ernie Ball Not Even Slinky .12 (Les Paul Jr.)
    3x Fender Flat .11 (Jazz, Jag)
    2x Fender Flat .12 (Strat)
    Fender Flat .13 (Strat)
    GHS .10 (Tele)
    GHS Boomer .11 (SG)
    GHS Boomer .12 (Hodad)
    GHS .14
    Gibson L5 .12 (Strat)
    Gibson Flat .12 (ES-295)
    2x Pyramid Round .10 (Mosrite, Mosrite)
    Pyramid Flat 12-str .10 (Burns Dubl 6)
    2x Pyramid Flat .11 (Jazz)
    4x Pyramid Flat .13 (Jazz, Jag)
    2x Rotosound Flats .12
    Rotosound Grey .13 (Surfmaster)
    2x Rotosound Round .11 (Gretsch, Strat)
    3x Rotosound Purple Round .12 (Jag, Strat)
    S I T .12 (Jag)
    2x Thomastik-Infeld Power Bright Round .11 (Strat, Tele)
    Thomastik-Infeld Jazz/Swing Flat .12

I have a new one to add to the list, I have 11 flat chromes on my 68 Mosrite, and they are the difference between night and day, from the round 9's I had on it. I love the smoothness, and the tone. They even stopped the buzzing around the 5th fret, I was getting from having a worn out zero fret. Probably just bowed the neck a little, from the extra tension! Hey, what ever works! Wink

Pyramid Golds are the best sounding for me. I use .012 on Jaguar and .011 on vintage Tulio.

In the roundwound field, I like both Pyramids and Rotosound, that I put sometimes on my ho-daddy Danelectro DC-59.

Anyone else use these?

image

I just put a set on my Mustang and I'm liking them a lot. Priced about the same as D'addario Chromes but to me they sound better.

Bill S._______
image

HELLDIVER on Facebook

I have T/I .010-.044's on my 60's Classic Strat and have laid in another set for my hopefully-soon-to-be-delivered Classic Player Jaguar Special.

Tried Pyramids long, long time ago, when they were just a little ad in Vintage Guitar...OK, but awfully pricey.

Have used the D'Addario's as they are relatively cheap and can be bought easily locally, but there is something about them that I do not care for...maybe its because I got "bit" from a barb sticking out of the frenching once?

T/I's seem to be the best compromise for me.

Would love to find some of the old LaBella or original Fender flatwounds from the 60's, back when that was all you could buy...

Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most...

Bill_Ashton
Would love to find some of the old LaBella or original Fender flatwounds from the 60's, back when that was all you could buy...

This seems to be a myth. Dick Dale, The Atlantics, The Shadows, and many others played round wounds back in the day.

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

This post has been removed by the author.

Last edited: Sep 23, 2009 21:12:40

Perhaps I worded that wrong...

Back when I was growing up, and playing in garage bands (1966-67), the guitars did in fact come with roundwounds, however the fingernoise drove us crazy and the solution offered (by the stores) was flatwound strings. Very expensive for a 13-year-old, but they were magic when you put them on...don't seem to remember single-coil noise being a problem Laughing

Fender were the top shelf, if you had those on your guitar you were it! LaBella were also considered good, but not as good as Fender.

Then there were the ubiquitous Black Diamond strings...EVERY store and EVERY guitar teacher sold those...heavy, heavy guage. What you usually put on or bought to replace broken strings because you could not afford anything else.

The MYTH may be about the Beatles using Pyramid flatwound strings...they may have, if they wanted flatwounds and that was probably what was available in Europe...but thats another thread.

Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most...

I have these unused strings that I found in the case of an old guitar buyed in the States.

Maybe it bring you memories from the Garage days Bill.

image

Oh! OH!

That's them!

The Black Diamond strings always looked like they were in packages a hundred years old.

And those are the LaBella packages...with a guitar that looks almost like a Barney Kessel Gibson...but not quite...

Yes, those bring back memories...

OH! My fingers...

Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most...

Has anyone tried DR Flatwounds? If so, what's your opinion? Thanks

I'm using 11s now - Fender Super 250s roundwound but I'm gonna try Flatwound 12s. I was looking at Rotosound 12s but the adds didn't mention flat or roundwound. Are the Roto Purples what you Roto fans (Roto rooters?) are using. Also will my AVRI Jazzmaster nut accomodate 12s?

ziv
I'm using 11s now - Fender Super 250s roundwound but I'm gonna try Flatwound 12s. I was looking at Rotosound 12s but the adds didn't mention flat or roundwound. Are the Roto Purples what you Roto fans (Roto rooters?) are using. Also will my AVRI Jazzmaster nut accomodate 12s?

Ziv, the Roto Purples are roundwound. They are an excellent roundwound string.

12 rounds or flats on an AVRI Jazzmaster are no problem. You just need to get the guitar set up properly for that guage.

Ryan
The Secret Samurai Website
The Secret Samurai on Facebook

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