TI Jazz Swings have suddenly gotten a lot cheaper at 2 online shops!

[sgosnell]

There are a couple of differences with most TI plain strings I've tried. They're brass plated, and the plating wears off quickly. The gauges are actually a tiny bit smaller than nominal, because they draw them to a metric size, and round that up to the nearest inch equivalent, so a .013 string will be .01299 or so. Those differences may not be of significant importance to anyone, but they do exist. I buy the cheap plain Rogue branded strings from GC/MF, and they're good enough for me. But it's your money, so spend it on what you prefer. I also like the DR Pure Blues strings. I use rounds in preference to flats, but that's just me.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Thanks, I've always wanted to try TI but the price was a bit high and I like my Chromes. But I ordered some Swings in 13, and a couple extra 14s. Neither site had single 13s.

I've been using TI JS113s on my carved archtops for over 4 years now. I'm getting a year+ from them and I still love 'em! I use JS112s on my solid bodies. But I hear a very slight "plink" from the TI tin plated carbon steel E1 and B strings that I don't hear from bare steel. So I buy 0.011, 0.013" and 0.017" plain steel strings in bulk from Just Strings for $2.85 / dozen. I use 11 + 13 as E1 and B on my solid bodies and 13 + 17 on my carved archtops. I change the plains every 4 to 6 months on the archtops because I bend a bit even on straight ahead jazz, and I don't want to break a string on a gig. As I haven't broken a string on an archtop in many years, this may be overkill. But for 24 cents a string, I can afford to splurge.

Since I use my LP and my Raines Tele for blues gigs, I change E1 and B every 6 weeks or so on them to avoid breakage. I use GB114s on my laminated archtop, but I can't find bulk 14s and 18s. So I use 13 and 17 plain steel.

[kevmoga]

Musicians Friend has TI flats 12 gauge for $26.72. The Black Friday sale included those in the 20% off on orders over $99 category. That worked out to $21.40 or so per set if you bought 4. I run them on two archtops, so I’m stocked up until next years Black Friday sale!