Poll - Do you use Roundwound or Flatwound Strings?

[Gregc57]

I voted flat, but I only use them on BIG jazz boxes. I use rounds everywhere else (flat-top, National steel, solid and semi-solid body guitars). I'm tempted to try them on my Hamer Newport Custom Pro though.....
https://www.promusictools.com/media/...d-10-black.jpg

[m_d]

I've worked on my chording technique to eliminate all finger noise so it's back to rounds for me (another Thomastik set, the BBs, which are great except for the absence of a wound G). I like the added brightness and see no advantage to flats as things stands, but might change my mind again down the line, of course.

[JerryB]

Roundwounds, don't like the thumpy sound of flatwounds, but as with anything else, totally subjective topic

[Lucy]

Flats on my Gretsch really sings with some airiness on it for Wes stuff using 11 Chromes rounds on my LP to brighten it up a bit but thats mainly used for bluesy stuff early kirwan/green fleetwood mac.

[Lionelsax]

Hi !

I went back to roundwound strings on my 7 string solid body guitar. It's wonderful, a new world, a lot of dynamics, full chords sound beautiful.
D'Addario EJ21 + Elixir Optiweb Coating 80

[jzucker]

both

[Rolf Field]

Use flats on my Ibanez jp20 and Ibanez 2616 Thomastik Jazzswing 12 nice and mellow
On my Ibanez as120 i use rounds. D'addario 11's Better for Bends and an overdrive/boosted sound.

Use the "fat" archtops for solo playing the as120 in a more like fusion band.

[JazzPadd]

Both here, too. Mostly TI these days, either BeBop or Swing on the archtops depending on the guitar. I also started using the TI AC111 Plectrums on a flattop. I like those as a hybrid set with a round on the low E and flats on the A D G. Lower tension feels and sounds better to me. Plus, the top had started to bulge a bit next to the bridge and using the AC111 seems to have fixed it.

[Woodstove]

Both. I use TI swing flats 11 on a tele set up for Jazz. I’m using Newtone round 13s on my Trenier. Excellent strings, allowing a broader range of styles on the archtop.

[BuddyO]

My Comins GCS-1es semi-hollow came with roundwounds and a plain 3rd, but I wanted more of a jazzier sound, so I switched to flatwounds and loved the way they sounded when playing solo.

But with more of my practice time lately involving playing along with pop/rock songs, I switched to halfrounds, since they are a tad brighter and cut through a bit better.
They are *almost* as smooth to the feel as flats and do not produce any string squeak.
If I where to use it strictly as a jazz box, I would have stayed with the flatwounds, but I find myself playing along more with rock/pop songs lately.

[DawgBone]

LaBella Jazz Flats on all my electrics. Man, I love a good flat wound string and will never go back to roundwounds. Better, more even sounding chords and still plenty of snap off the LaBellas on the low end, enough to retain acceptable note definition and bite. And I don't have to change them twice a month either, more like ever three or four months (aside the high E and B).

[JazzerEU]

During the majority of my professional career, I used NPS roundwounds and changed them every 2-4 weeks (I have very acidic sweat). Towards the end of my career, I had switched to Elixirs because I got sick and tired of changing strings so often. Now that I'm retired, I switched to flat wounds in January of 2023. My Ibanez AF71F was always too bright for my tastes and the flat wounds do a great job at taming it. They also last a long time and are rugged. A month and a half ago, I changed the set I had put on in January 2023 and I probably could've gotten another year out of those strings as the intonation still held strong. After changing strings every 2-4 weeks for most of my professional career, I got sick and tired of changing strings.

[pan60]

i just aquired a little heritage 576 and it came with what i would say was pretty new flat wounds and they feel very alien to me.
i figure i will leave them for a bit i want to give them a fair shake but so far i dont think they will be for me.
they also feel very light so? i might try something heaver? we'll see

[GuyBoden]

I have flat wounds on my archtops. Round wound on my solid bodies.

When I move from flat wound to round wound, I hear a lot of string finger noise from the round wound strings, until my technique adapts to the round wound strings.

Flat wound strings are good at hiding finger noise or is it bad technique?

[garybaldy]

I use D’Addario Flat Top strings (.016-.056) on my steel tricone. I use Martin Monel .012-.052 strings on my acoustic archtop.

I've recently moved up to Monel 13s on my Loar 700 and I like them.

[frabarmus]

Out of 5 electrics: flats on 3 and rounds on 2.
For rounds I like D'Addario EPN and DR Blues and for flats Dogal R40 and D'Addario Chromes.
(I have TIs aswell in my string box).

[garybaldy]

The Martin monel .012’s work really well with my ‘59 R. Hoyer acoustic archtop. The neck doesn’t have a truss rod, though I suspect it has some type of reinforcement. It is straight so I won’t put anything over .012’s. My ears tell me however, that the heavier the gauge string, the better. Drives the box better and beefs up the tone.

When I got the Loar it had TI 12 rw. The lower strings were to loose for me so I've used the Monel 12s for a while. They're much better than the TIs for that guitar. The 13s are better again and fortunately the neck seems to be coping well. The Monels are good if you have a pickup as well.

[alt.kafka]

Flatwounds on archtops, roundwounds on solidbody, bronze on flattop. I've tried rounds on archtop and flats on solidbody, and it just doesn't work for me. I always end up going back right away.

[jackalGreen]

Flatwounds (TI GB in 14s on my Ibanez hollowbody, and D'Addario Chrome 12s on one of my Squier Teles).

The other Squier Tele gets D'Addario roundwouds in an 11 set.

One of the Teles is used for Open G tuning, or various other odd tunings, and the other is just for ordinary plinking around at my desk at home, 99% of the time "jazz," insofar as one can call it that.

Meh, I switch the Teles out pretty often....their tunings, not the strings so much...often trying to chase down something I don't like about the action, depending on mood...so it's either one or the other).

The TI 14s are by far what I most enjoy playing. You can't beat those things out of tune if you tried. Very stable and comfortable.

[pan60]

well so fa i am not really warming up to the flat would i am getting ready to order a couple boxs i guess i will just stay with the round wounds.
i would like to warm up to these but the feel so odd and the sound is a bit muddy to me?
i think i. would rather roll the tone down and have move controle rather then to try and boost the top?
but, i am not giving up on these just yet.

[Dean_G]

I have played both and like certain quantities of each, but the price of flatwounds has sent me back to rounds. I find it easier to vary articulation and timbre with roundwound strings whereas flatwounds are to some extent more of a one trick pony in that regard . I like the d'addario pure nickel 11s quite a bit.

[m_d]

I tried to warm up to flats on my plywood hollowbody but they just don't work unamplified. Other than the large reduction in volume, an amp is necessary to rectify what I perceive as tonal imbalances induced by flats and I don't want to be amplified all the time. With flats I miss the "angel choir", as Tim Lerch put it in a video. So I'm back to Pyramid pure nickels.

[GuyBoden]

Rounds on Archtops, Flats on Archtops, Bronze on Archtops, Plastic\nylon coated on Archtops, Flats on solid body, Rounds on solid body.

I think, I may have tried them all, even half ground, but my playing still sounds very similar.

[gcb]

011 rounwound with wound third

[tomv713]

Half rounds because I’m special.

I really don’t like TI wound rounds