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Do flatwound strings on a Telecaster work?
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10-20-2011 03:36 AM
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When I had Fenders, Teles and Strats, I put flatwound 11s and 12s on all of them and they played great! Has the same effect that it has on a hollow body: Darkens the tone and decreases sustain.
On the Tele it had the added bonus (to me anyway) of "de-twanging" it.
Make sure you re-adjust the truss rod if you make the switch though.
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I allways use .12 flat on my tele.
Combined with the old neck pickup it has a very nice round (un-tele) like sound.
I prefer it over my archtop when playing in a combo with horns or piano.
It just seems to combine better with the other instruments.
G
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Flats work beautifully on a Tele. They give you a nice dark sound with a little more sustain that an acoustic archtop. Same with a Les Paul and a Strat. All three instruments are more than suitable for jazz.
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I think that this must be relevant to the original question:
Does anyone know (with any certainty) Ed Bickert's string set-up on his Tele?
I guess I've always thought that he must have been using heavier flats, but come to think of it, I don't think I've ever heard that specific information anywhere that I can recall.
While we're at it, any idea of what kind/brand of humbucker he put into the neck position of his Tele?
TIA,
Larry
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Tonally there are no issues but if you make the switch to a stock Tele, it's likely that you'll need the slots opened up a bit on the nut or the strings could bind. That's especially true with the wound G.
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Originally Posted by ooglybong
Pretty sure that's a stock gibson humbucker (Ed did the mod in the mid 70's, I think, so whatever was stock then)...of course, you can find YouTube vids of Ed playing his telecaster before he put the Humbucker in, and well...he still sounds like Ed.
As far as strings, I don't have confirmation, but I've heard reports of folks who have seen him live and got to take a peek up close at his guitar and they've said roundwounds, and a relatively light gauge as the 3rd string is unwound! Go figure.
If you watch some vids, you can see where Ed picks and how light his touch is...that's a big part of it.
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I tried flatwound Thomastic on my Tele.
I like more 11's Pure Nickel XL D'Addario.
More dark sound and better sustain.
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You'll pretty much always get more sustain from round wound strings than flats. I've recently started using GHS Brite flats. They're a round wound string that has the windings ground flat as versus a string that is wrapped with a flat ribbon-like metal. They have a bit more sustain than true flat wounds but even they have noticeably less sustain than the D'Addario Excel round wounds that I was using. Originally Posted by kris
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For what it's worth, right now I have a set of LaBella flats on my tele...and I love it. I agree with retroman, the de-twanging is a good thing. I suspect most players in this forum prefer the neck pickup, but most tele players dont have much use for it. I love the stock tele neck pickup with flat wounds.
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I think it also depends on what Telecaster and whick pickups you've got there.
Mine is the American Vintage 52 Reissue. The neck pick up has a kind of compressed, low output, not sparkling (as modern Teles) sound.
I once put in Galli flatwounds and I removed them after a few hours.
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Are you talking about when you have the switch all the way forward?
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No, I am talking about the fact that, even after the circuitry modification was done so that the neck pick up has full tone functionality, the sound that comes out (to my ears) is still rather compressed (depressed, depressing).
Of course it is a vintage sound (...boring...?)
I have not come to totally appreciate that guitar, except for the finish and manufacturing.
Maybe with a Deluxe Reverb (see other post DR or Princeton Chorus)
I can change my view.
I have also considered changing the pick ups, but that's part of another thread....
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I switched to .012 flats on my Squier VM and it defintely did what everyone says - de-twangs, darkens. I've since returned to a lighter gauge but stayed with the flats and I like it. Still less twang, but not quite as much "jazz" sound as before. Also seems a bit stiffer playing than rounds. I played a friend's tele for a minute last weekend and his .010's are a lot more, in Ernie Ball terms, slinky.
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I didn't notice a huge difference when I put flats on my Tele- because my rounds were so dead when I did! It definitely takes some of the twang out, but it's not going to magically make your Tele sound like an archtop. I do like them, though.
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I tried chrome 11s once on my telecaster but quickly gave up. I felt it sounded "half assed" not like a hollow body but also not really tele-esk anymore. Have went to pure nickel 10 or 11 strings and like the sound. A bit less bright but warmer and having a nice jazz voice with the tone rolled back a bit
. Just my 0,02$
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I've used GHS Brite Flats a few times. I like them. They're just a bit different from anything else. I think Mr. Soloway described it well. I have used the Brite Flats as well as Pyramid and TI flats on Tele and I liked the results with all of them.
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Is it Thomastic flatwound? Originally Posted by Geert
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13' or 12' or 11' gauge ? Originally Posted by va3ux
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D'Addario nicel wound EXL 116 has warm sound...11'. Originally Posted by FrankLearns
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Do you guys change back and forth with different gauge strings to experiment?
I wish I could do that without being worried, but I'm always worried about truss-rod adjustment (which I never do myself) and intonation problems.
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truss-rod adjustment-not nesesery if you use same gauge...anyway it is easy . Originally Posted by Jazz_175
set up in the bridge is also easy.You have to use good quality tuner.
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i put xl chrome 12s on my tele and it needed a different nut but in my opinion flatwounds are a must for jazz on a tele.
i will never go back
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i too tried flat wounds Thomastic Jazz swing set .......... didn't like em, i then discovered new York tele player 'Jim Campilongo" "(experimental /jazz/country) fender custom shop do a Campilongo tele....and on his website he says despite everyone telling him it should NOT work his tele has d'addario 9's on it ........ i tried it and i love it ........just roll off the tone control ( i have a fender american standard tele) and i use a point to point wired 15W tube amp ( a custom build version of a princeton but with a 12 " speaker) and the combination of amp (which has nice bass) and tone roll off i get a very workable jazz tone and don't have to fight the strings .............
and sure it's NOT that traditional joe pass tone, but thats what i have an archtop for
i think if you using a tele you should accept that you heading more to a modern jazz tone than a traditional hollow body tone albeit very usable with any style of jazz
check out the campilongo site and his jazz flavoured video's he explains his gear in depth including string choice
But as with any gear we all have different preferences so try out the flatwounds give it a week or so to get used to em ..and decide for yourself ....... "one man/womens meat is quite often anothers poison when it comes to music gear "
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flats are fine if you're asking me. but i made great experience with daddario halfrounds 12's on my 50s strat. i just had to roll of the tone knob- maybe 30 % and the sound was warm but not muddy.
p.s i know that a strat is not the same as a tele, but i think the 50's strat typ differs very much from most of the other strats.
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