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I've recently purchased a Gibson 335 and was wondering what set of strings to put on it for the best jazz tone and if it is possible to put flat/round wound strings on it?
Thanks for any advice!
-Brian
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06-15-2011 10:30 AM
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Depends on your taste. I've heard some folks say flats on a 335 are a little dark. Others love 'em.
I love flats, I use 'em on everything. My Hofner Semi-hollow sounds great with them--it is a 25.5 in scale and has mini-buckers, which make it a little brighter than a 335, but it works.
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I put .013 D'Addario Chrome flats on mind and they sound great. Thgey sustain well for me also. Just make sure your neck is adjusted correctly and your action is comfortable.
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How about the original Gibson Strings, I guess Brite Wires 0.10.
Aren't they good?Last edited by Jazz_175; 06-15-2011 at 03:40 PM. Reason: correct typos
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Nothing wrong with any strings, but the OP is looking for a jazz tone.
I suppose it depends on what kind of jazz, but for jazz chords up the neck I personally need a wound G. I just don't like the sound of a plain G in close voiced chords, no matter how good the guitar is set up.
Also, for a thicker tone, I like a heavier string...I'm not of the "put suspension bridge cable" on your guitar school, but for jazz, I want at least .11's with that wound G, .12's at least on a Gibson scale guitar....but that's just me.
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what kind of jazz tone? Adam Rogers uses a 335. He uses a custom guaged set of daddario strings.
http://www.adamrogersmusic.com/html/about.php?psi=30
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I recently changed strings on my Heritage 535 with the goal of achieving less of a rock/blues tone and more of a jazz/blues tone. I switched from D'Addarios EXL 110 to TI Jazz Bebop 11s and am very pleased. They almost seem half-round to me, back down the tone and its a great jazz sound IMO. Crank it up, a little OD and nice fusion or blues tones.
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I currently have flatwound Chromes on my 335. They sound and feel great, but they've caused significant fret wear on the nickel frets. I'm pulling them off soon.
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Really? I thought flats caused less wear than rounds, and that chrome (and nickel) were the softer strings. Comments?
Originally Posted by thenoviceguitarist
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Sounds very strange to me as well.
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The FW typically produce less fret wear. But the chromes are as hard as stainless steel, much harder than a nickel plated string like the TI's. I placed chromes on my 335 immediately after I had the frets crowned/ recon'd. I noticed significant wear after only 6 mos. I was playing that guitar almost exclusively for 2-3 hours a day.
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The same set up on my epiphone sheraton (Y) Highly recommended. Originally Posted by hot ford coupe
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I have 11 TI BeBops, and really like the sound.
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I never tried Tomastik Infeld but am very curious. Originally Posted by msr13
How do you compare TI BeBops with the common XL D'Addario, if you ever tried.
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I like them both, but the TIs are very smooth feeling and sounding. I just really like them on the 335. Not sure I can quantify it. I do use the XLs on my solid bodies very happily. At one point, I was using flats on the 335, and the sound was definitely too muddy for me. The TIs are really expensive though-- but I feel they last longer than the XLs. I have no real data to support that, other than probable buyers' delusion.
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I use 013 TI Bebops on my Ibanez AS200 (335 style), and I dig the tone.
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My 335 has D'Addario .012 EJ21s. Lots of meat. The guy I bought it from had strung it with flats, which were pretty dead. Maybe they'd work through a brighter amp.
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I was using EJ21 on my Es-347. Very nice strings but I found a bit hard doing whole tone bendings in several positions, so I moved to EXL116, a hybrid gauge 0.011 - 0.052 and now it's ok. Originally Posted by lpdeluxe
However I am now thinking to reduce the bass strings to 0.050 or 0.049 or less, that's why I am interested in the TI or probably Gibson Brite Wires 0.011 0.050.
I am not so keen on flatwound strings on 335 style guitars.
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I am curious as to how many of you have tried flatwounds on a 335 (or similar) style guitar and kept them on and/or how many have had tried them and took them off in preference to roundwounds.
I know it is totally personal choice....I am just interested in the experiences, thoughts, comments that might arise.
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My 335 has always had flatwounds on it. I don't like finger squeak and I like the flatwound tone, so it's a no-brainer for me.
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I would say that if you want to play flat wounds and use the 335 as a jazz box, then string 'em up. If you want to hear the 335 do its iconic blues/rock/jazz/funk thing, then round wounds are the way to go.
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I've had flatwounds on my Roland g303 solidbody for a year and a half now, I love it, don't see me changing back in the near future anyway.. I play a lot with overdrive too, to me that works great! I have lots of videos of me playing it if you wanna check out how that sounds, the guitar is actually kind of similar in tone to a 335.
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I had flats in my 335 for a lot of time and have been really happy going back to rounds.. but I am also using rounds in my archtop! Unless you really hate finger squeak I don't see any other advantage of flat strings - you don't need them to have a jazz sound.
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I like strings that will allow my 335 to produce a nice clean electric jazz tone and can still do overdriven tones. I've had good luck with stainless steel sets (11s to 49s Fenders or D'Addario). Originally Posted by Greco
In general flatwounds are too lifeless for my taste. The only exception are the Thomastik flatwounds. I've had good luck with half rounds, such as GHS Rollerwounds, on some of my archtops. These are roundwounds that have been flattened a bit to minimize finger-noise while allowing a clearer tone to be generated. I believe D'Addario also makes a half-round set.
100% nickel round wounds are also nice and warm. I have them on my Sadowsky semi-hollow.
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Epi Dot with Seymore Duncans using D'Addario Chrome 12's since pickup swap.
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Cheap hollowbody or archtop recommendations?
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