View Poll Results: What FLATWOUND strings do you use/prefer?
- Voters
- 524. You may not vote on this poll
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D'Addario
192 36.64% -
D'Angelico
2 0.38% -
DR Strings
7 1.34% -
Galli
3 0.57% -
GHS
14 2.67% -
Pyramid
21 4.01% -
Rotosound
5 0.95% -
Thomastic
280 53.44%
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Originally Posted by hot ford coupe
i love the TI Benson's, round or flat.
i have never had a problem ordering through juststrings.com , BTW. i always order at least 2-3 sets.
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04-23-2011 11:57 AM
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I voted for Thomastiks, because I use GB flats on my archtop; I really like the sound and the way they feel. But if possible I would have voted for both, because I use D'Addarios on my thinline Epi, which I use for both jazz and blues.
Haven't tried Sadowskys, but I'd be interested to hear from someone who does what they think of them. Also haven't tried Benedetto strings, which I understand are made by La Bella.
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PS - If you think TI Bensons are expensive in the US, try buying them in Europe; the 'regular' price is around € 26 (about 37)!
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Originally Posted by fumblefingers
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Originally Posted by jazzbow
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Looks like the TIs are gaining some ground. That makes me want to try them even more.
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Thomastic...the best jazz strings...i think...:-)
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I have experience with only two sets of flatwound strings, TI Jazz Swing 12-50 and Pyramid 11-48.
Although the TI set is supposed to be thicker, both thickness are identical and possibly slightly bigger on the Pyramid. But the tension of the TI Swing 12 is much looser and going up to the 13-53 should be easy for most hands, while using Pyramid 12 would be more challenging.
But apart from gauge, these are very different strings. The TI set has much more sustain, feels lighter, and sounds thinner and brighter. I don't think the TI swing 12-50 sounds like old retro jazz guitar sound (think Grant Green, Jim Hall,…) compared to the Pyramid, but would be very adapted to the guitar sound of surf, pop, twang,… and today's jazz. It's a very versatile sound and feel.
The Pyramid 11-48 (and above probably even more) sound like the strings I once found on a big 1963 Hofner archtop that had stayed in its case since the 60's. Strings with low sustain, a thick dark sound, with a very silky, almost slippery, texture. The 5th and 6th strings especially have that dark, quiet, deader tone with poor sustain, that's almost caricatural of that old 50's-60's jazz guitar sound.
For a more universal modern sound I prefer the TI, but for an old school bebop sound the Pyramid flats are much better I think.
Last edited by cyberprimate; 05-06-2011 at 12:49 AM.
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TIJF on all my archtop, fretted and fretless basses. The only strings I haven't tried are Pyramids.
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I appreciate kris detailed answer regarding the difference between Thomastiks and Pyramids. I myself was excited to try Pyramids, but the one time I did was disappointed as they seemed rather dull.
Its interesting how strong the majority is for either TIs or D'Addarios. Without steering the thread off course, one thing that would be really useful is if those who use or have liked other strings besides these two would chime in and say what they like about the other kinds. Any users of Pyramids, Newtones, Reds, or others want to add what they like or how they see these as different/better?
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Originally Posted by cmajor9
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Originally Posted by cmajor9
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I'm a D'Addairo man for flats.
I've tried a bunch of the others, but I haven't noticed enough difference to warrant ordering strings online and paying more...I can get Chromes down the street from me anytime I need them, so I stick with it.
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D'Addario ECG24 Chromes Jazz Light 11 15 22 30 40 50. Easy to get and they work for me.
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Not sure I will ever need to change. No string noise, good response - -full frequency, and consistent quality.
I use them on :
Gibson Les Paul
L-4 Elec. Archtop
1930's L-7 Acoustic And
'60's Harmony Acoustic.
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D'Addario 360 Half Round Wound 12s on my ES175CC, perfect compliment to the CC pick-up, flats tend to be "muddy" w/that pick-up - IMO. Love the playability of the strings
TI BeBop 11s on my Heritage 535, IMO they are more like half round than round.
D'Addario Chromes 11s on my Tele w/BL pick-ups
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Thomastic's for me. I find the Daddarios a little bright and I like the string guages Thomastic uses when using a set of 12's. Also, I can get them locally
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1) Thomastik Swing / Benson
2) D'addario chromes
65536) D'addario Half-rounds (too rough)
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For a half-round, I like the Sadowsky Jimmy Bruno strings - they feel smoother to me than the D'Addarios.
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i was thinking of trying the polished rounds or even the coated rounds. To me, the thomastik strings just have the vibe of a '60s archtop and stay that way and are very consistent. D'Addarios are great too but are a little brighter and more modern. The Half sounds grind nasty edges into my picks which causes friction and scraping tones.
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I use D'Addarios chromes... mainly because they last , I dig Thomastikes... but have to change strings every week, they don't last long enough. Reg
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I'm using TI's right now. IMO the chromes feel,play, and sound great, but they're a little too rough on the nickel frets.
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I seem to get along better with the D'Addarios than anything else I've tried, but I'm still looking for the perfect flatwound set. I didn't care for the TI strings at all. I've got a set of Sadowskys on my Epi 175 copy right now; they're pretty nice but (to my fingers) not all that different from the D'Addarios. I would like to check out some Pyramid flats - I use their strings on one of my basses and like those a lot.
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Originally Posted by thenoviceguitarist
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Originally Posted by Reg
But different people seem to have issues with different string brands. I seem to rot through Daddairo rounds, but not Ernie Ball rounds. Flats of all brands seem to last me quite a while.
RIP Nick Gravenites
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