I don't like flat wound strings

[Scolohofo]

i usethomastiek 10 flats on my aria Herb Ellis,they suite this particular guitar very well for a gentle touch,yes.

[larry graves]

i usethomastiek 10 flats on my aria Herb Ellis,they suite this particular guitar very well for a gentle touch,yes.

Herb was endorsing the 12s (flats) up until he died. I use theGB 12s.LG..

[skei]

Never heard of anybody saying you must play flatwounds for jazz, everybody I know seems to play them from choice,10s seem light for jazz,perhaps times are a-changin.LG..

Well, I guess 10' would be light, I got a set of 11's, they seem to be very fine. Also suppose I met the wrong people who told me to use flats. I really tried, they just don't work for me, I don't have a problem with other people using them though, it's probably just that I'm too used to round wounds. There's really a big diff for me, like night and day.

[silhouette]

Well it is interesting to see what everyone else thinks about this issue. I myself have spent a long time thinking about this question. I have half a dozen jazz boxes and another half dozen solid guitars. There definitely is an issue changing from heavier 12-52 Flat strings to 10-46 round wounds. However I have stuck with the flats on my L4 / 175 and the Guild Artist Award. I can honestly say that the L4 sounds fantastic with flats. It is percussive and has a lot more depth to the sound. There was a rather elastic element to the sound with the lighter round wounds. I have gradually got used to the different feel - it does take a little time - and I really appreciate the different colour, plus I like slurring the notes without the squeek. If there is something I can't do on the Jazz box I pick up the solid.

[SamBooka]

Flats were a revelation when I first tried them. Love the feel. Still do.
But I like the tone I get better from roundwounds on my Epi EmpReg and 165. I still use flats on my Jazzmaster tho.

[Meggy]

Well it is interesting to see what everyone else thinks about this issue. I myself have spent a long time thinking about this question. I have half a dozen jazz boxes and another half dozen solid guitars. There definitely is an issue changing from heavier 12-52 Flat strings to 10-46 round wounds. However I have stuck with the flats on my L4 / 175 and the Guild Artist Award. I can honestly say that the L4 sounds fantastic with flats. It is percussive and has a lot more depth to the sound. There was a rather elastic element to the sound with the lighter round wounds. I have gradually got used to the different feel - it does take a little time - and I really appreciate the different colour, plus I like slurring the notes without the squeek. If there is something I can't do on the Jazz box I pick up the solid.

Yesterday I had a go on an archtop strung with 10-46 roundwounds - and I was not impressed... they really do not get the jazz tone very well in my view. I think an archtop needs something like a 12-52 set (whether using flats or roundwound or one of the in-between types like half-rounds) or heavier even, to drive the top a bit and get that woody jazz tone happening. I have found 13-56 on my guitar make a big difference.

[silhouette]

Yesterday I had a go on an archtop strung with 10-46 roundwounds - and I was not impressed... they really do not get the jazz tone very well in my view. I think an archtop needs something like a 12-52 set (whether using flats or roundwound or one of the in-between types like half-rounds) or heavier even, to drive the top a bit and get that woody jazz tone happening. I have found 13-56 on my guitar make a big difference.

Precisely - it is about driving the top. That is where you get the big sound. However, it does take time to get used to the heavier strings. You definitely have to play differently and utilise a different set of techniques.

[SamBooka]

First thing I changed after going to 14s.. went with a heavier pick!

[silhouette]

First thing I changed after going to 14s.. went with a heavier pick!

Heck, you must have been working out!
I use Big Stubbies - the thickest I can get. I find you get very precise control and get a lot of attack if you want it. You also use less energy and can do some quite subtle stuff.

[larry graves]

What brand 14s Sam, Ti's do a 14 the George Benson set. Big gauge big sound no two ways about that..

[SamBooka]

I tried the GBs. They sounded great on my EmpReg for about a week. They sounded ok on my 165.

My Epi has newtones on it now. Newtones are too bright for my 165 (otherwise they are great strings) so I have TI BeBop 14s.

[fws6]

This all is very personal. One person likes to wear sneakers the other cowboy boots. There is no right or wrong just personal preference - Same thing with strings.

I have a couple of acoustic archtips with floating pickups (old Epiphones like mattymel has ) - And to me flatwounds sound terrible on all of them.

I use DAddario EJ 22 013s very affordable and great string. Thomastik bebops too but more expensive. I tried the Benson roundwounds but didnt like them, very light in the middle register strings and not able to 'drive the top' as it is called above.

On one of my electrics (59 Guild X 500) I have flatwounds and it works great to get that dark muddy sound when you amplify but for an acoustic jazz guitar they are not satisfying at all.

[Steve Hoffman]

Of course not! Acoustic archtops need bronze acoustic guitar strings. The Gibson Mastersound acoustic 13's work well.

[fws6]

>Acoustic archtops need bronze acoustic guitar strings

Yeah you are right !!!!! .... but they usually dont work well with a floating (like DeArmond) though. That's why I settled for the EJ22s at least, (nickel) string, sounds perfect for jazz, easy to amplify, cheap too.

[Steve Hoffman]

I'll have to try a set, thanks. I have many floating pickup archtops and have never been thrilled with any strings, flat or round..

[Meggy]

Precisely - it is about driving the top. That is where you get the big sound. However, it does take time to get used to the heavier strings. You definitely have to play differently and utilise a different set of techniques.

I agree your technique does have to adapt if you have been previously used to playing a solidbody with light strings. On the plus side though, I find this happens quite naturally over time without the need to think conciously about it much. Also, heavier strings make it easy to set the action lower I think, which can help to compensate for the increased tension, in terms of ease of playing. These days I have 11-48/50 on my solidbody guitars (I use one of these for jazz quite often) and 13-56 on my archtop as already stated.

[kamlapati]

I bef to differ, big strings definitely do not allow setting the action lower. For me bigger strings move a little more, through a larger arc, and definitely buzz if set to the same height as smaller strings. I always raise the action on bigger strings. And since we're all trying to "drive the tops" of our acoustic archtops, raising the strings, and hitting them harder, is the way to go.

[Meggy]

I bef to differ, big strings definitely do not allow setting the action lower. For me bigger strings move a little more, through a larger arc, and definitely buzz if set to the same height as smaller strings. I always raise the action on bigger strings. And since we're all trying to "drive the tops" of our acoustic archtops, raising the strings, and hitting them harder, is the way to go.

Of course you are very welcome to differ! Your experience is just as valid as mine. For myself, I am not a high-action/hard hitting type of player - I go for more of a light touch really, but I still do find the heavier strings help to get more of the "tone" from the guitar. I'm not very concerned with acoustic volume, but more with the quality of the amplified sound. But this is just to explain where I'm coming from. I hadn't considered things from any other than my own perspective I admit - you are right to point out that there are other ways of doing things.

[brian329]

I bef to differ, big strings definitely do not allow setting the action lower. For me bigger strings move a little more, through a larger arc, and definitely buzz if set to the same height as smaller strings. I always raise the action on bigger strings. And since we're all trying to "drive the tops" of our acoustic archtops, raising the strings, and hitting them harder, is the way to go.

To each his own.

I have a very low action with strings between 9-46 to 11-50, depending on the guitar. I pick very lightly, my guitars have been set up with a PLEK machine adjusted to the way that I play, have no buzz issues whatsoever and have been complemented on my tone.

[Meggy]

To each his own.

I have a very low action with strings between 9-46 to 11-50, depending on the guitar. I pick very lightly, my guitars have been set up with a PLEK machine adjusted to the way that I play, have no buzz issues whatsoever and have been complemented on my tone.

I've heard about the PLEK machine - it sounds great! I hope to get my guitars PLEK'ed one day too, although they have good actions at the moment. Does anyone know if there is anywhere in the UK where you can have the PLEK process done?

[Dad3353]

Good afternoon, Meggy...
Googled, found...
'Plek machines in the UK are at Chandlers (Kew) and Charlie Chandler's Guitar Experience (Kingston).'
Hope this helps...

[lespaulson]

I've always just used what felt right to my touch and would never presume my choices to be 'better' for anyone other than myself. That said, I've used D'addario Half Rounds (.11 - .46) since the early 80's on every guitar I own. The reason is that I record a lot and really hate the string squeeks regular strings produce. I only change a set when one breaks. I like the sound of broken in strings and D'addarios seldom if ever break. Some sets have lasted me years. Regular strings are easier to grip but the finger noise is too much to bear. I've also used Dunlop Jazz III picks since they came out. In all, I just stumbled into what I like by trying everything which I think is the only way to go. Try everything.

[SamBooka]

Not to be too preachy but .. hey.. why not?
1) every guitarist should know how to do basic setups of their guitars. To me that is. Trussrod, intonation, action, and pickup height. This are things that require only common tools. Fretwork and nut work that requires fancy files, I will let that slide.

2)before you go spending 120$ on new pickups players should consider trying different brands,types and gauges of strings. Unless you have the right strings (which varies by player, guitar, even style) you are not going to get the most out of that120$ pickup. Same goes for picks. Most of them are under 75cents each!!! I have 4 different picks I use depending on the mood.

It was hard even for me to justify putting 25$ strings on a guitar and then cutting them off a week later because I didnt like them. But then I considered that I spend 2000$ on a guitar.. another 50$ worth of strings werent going to kill me. BUT: if you are going to be changing string gauges you should know how to set up your guitars trod/intonation/pickup height and possibly even action. Big changes in gauge may also require nut work too but burn that bridge when you come to it.

[NSJ]

Not to be too preachy but .. hey.. why not?
1) every guitarist should know how to do basic setups of their guitars. To me that is. Trussrod, intonation, action, and pickup height. This are things that require only common tools. Fretwork and nut work that requires fancy files, I will let that slide.

2)before you go spending 120$ on new pickups players should consider trying different brands,types and gauges of strings. Unless you have the right strings (which varies by player, guitar, even style) you are not going to get the most out of that120$ pickup. Same goes for picks. Most of them are under 75cents each!!! I have 4 different picks I use depending on the mood.

It was hard even for me to justify putting 25$ strings on a guitar and then cutting them off a week later because I didnt like them. But then I considered that I spend 2000$ on a guitar.. another 50$ worth of strings werent going to kill me. BUT: if you are going to be changing string gauges you should know how to set up your guitars trod/intonation/pickup height and possibly even action. Big changes in gauge may also require nut work too but burn that bridge when you come to it.

Agree. Except I don't trust myself to that "quarter turn" of the truss rod.

I have no desire for buying guitars, completely out of GAS. But I did spend $20 on a pick (Red Bear) that I just about adore. And recently tried some Thomastik Bebop strings---fantastic strings.

Thinking about getting some Grover tuners, next.....

[rabbit]

I can't read this thread in it's entirety.

My take is that, mixed in with all your other kit,
if you don't have a guit & amp set up that sounds
good with flatwounds, your guitar life is missing
something necessary & good.