Poll - Do you use Roundwound or Flatwound Strings?

[QAman]

hate the dead sound of flats
rounds 100% of the time for me. I like a little sparkle to my sound that flats don't have.

Same here. Rounds for me.

[iim7V7IM7]

Same here. Rounds for me.

Same here, mostly TI BeBop .013s and .014s...

[Peter C]

Weird, I'm seeing the last post in this thread was months ago, but it stays on the first page....

Anyway, my experience has been that "best of both worlds"-type strings are a real chimera: the D'Addario half-rounds and GHS (roller-wounds?), for example, felt just like rounds to my fingers and were definitely bright-sounding, so it really seems like an either/or thing*.
I would not have imagined it a couple of years ago, but I've got roundwounds on my main archtop right now because what I'm doing at this moment in time requires more tonal and dynamic flexibility than flats generally allow.

I did get a set of those Rotosound Monel Top Tapes in my last order because I must have a set of flats handy, just in case

*Never got round to trying GHS Brite Flats

[coolvinny]

I've switched over to flatwounds on both my 16" archtops over an approx. 10 month period. First I was digging them (D'Addario 12-52's with the top strings swapped out for 17/14) on my carved top with floater, then I finally switched to TI Bebop 13's on my laminate with mounted HB about two months ago and am very happy with the result. It's easy to turn down any brightness; not as easy to brighten a dark sound. Especially with the dark-sounding pick I use.

[TF]

Roundwounds.... whatever major brand I can find at a sale price.

[CliveR]

Flatwound 13s for that classic jazz tone

[michaelsegui]

I started playing flatwounds on electric about 20 years ago when I dedicated a stratocaster to bottleneck slide.
Can't seem to get on with round wounds now.

[Robertkoa]

The two highest strings where the Melody usually is
are the same regardless of roundwound or not.

So -are you magnifying the differences between the Plain Strings when you use flats ?

Also - what is this buzz/ rumble on chords when people turn the treble waaayyyyy down on chords ?

It sounds bad to my ears .

Very warm strings including a steel alloy for the high E and B strings would be best .
Long ago I asked a Manufacturer about different Alloys for the high strings - he said only Steel was strong enough ...but a slight alloy a few % nickel might work ..right ?

Metallurgist/ Jazzers please chime in here ____________.

Metallurgist Beboppers ?

Metallurgist Metal Players ?

Who will call D'Addario ? Lol.

[skiboyny]

Same here. Rounds for me.

Try some pyramid nickel classic hand polished on your Legrand for me those are the ticket on that guitar.

[feet]

since this came back a billion years later...

still use roundwounds. largely because i can warm those up fairly easily to get more traditional sounds, if need be. and because i get a lot of sounds from everything, i pretty much need roundwounds, though i miss flats. also, about 20% of it just inertia because i never, ever change my strings. once a year is miraculous. since i just rotate guitars a lot i just don't care that much about string changes, so whatever is there stays there.

i used to mess with flats more. they are fun to have around but i don't want to be stuck with them. and i would be, because they cost more, last longer and i never change them. i used to do a neat half/half set, where the fat strings were round and the skinny strings were flat, to keep a bright guitar in check. which is basically the opposite of what people want from half flat sets. i do miss the smooth, zing free feel of a flatwound. really liked the ti ones but they pricey. i don't remember the other brands doing it for me nearly as much. dadarrios were... fine and ghs (maybe?) were less so.

back then is also when i developed my theory that i only liked flats on brighter (high maple content) guitars, and not warmer (high hog content) ones. because they sounded great on my maple body/neck guitars but like oatmeal on my maple body/hog neck ones. i don't know. didn't really research that one.

[Timbelmont]

Thomastik JS112s (one of the most popular choices) on my L5) and Ernie Ball regular slinky on my Stratocaster. Each guitar gets what it needs.

[David Dvorin]

I use a combination of flats and rounds on my 18” Megas archtop: plain steel high E and B, flatwound G and D, round wound A and low E. All TIs that are put together for me by Stringsbymail.

I love the variety of timbre and feel the matched pairs give me and like to treat them almost like separate instruments in an ensemble. The flats in the middle give interesting tones for certain voicings. The rounds on the bass helps to get the present (more harmonics) sound I like in a solo/duo setting.

Not for everyone...


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[mrcee]

I switch back and forth, based mostly on the whim of the moment. But I think I generally tend to prefer flats on solid-bodies and rounds on archtops, certainly not exclusively though. The only guitars I've never used flats on are flat-top acoustics, my J45 and Ovation. I've never reached a point where I feel comfortable buying strings in bulk, because I change my mind so often.

No guitar manufacturer makes its own strings. Not Fender, not Gibson, not Benedetto, not Martin, not any of them. There are a number of string manufacturers, and if you buy in sufficient bulk you can put your own brand on any of them. You don't even need to buy that many, relatively speaking.

Was it always the case that guitar manufactures didn't make strings? I read an interview once with an older guy who built steel guitars in Texas that had years ago, maybe in the 60s, worked for Fender in the string dept. I can't remember his name but maybe he just tested them etc and an outside company actually made them.

btw I use RW 10s on a Tele. I'd go heavier but I've got a sensitive finger tip. I used to use 1/2 round 12s on an archtop.

[rpjazzguitar]

Flats are too dark sounding for me.

I use rounds with a plain 3rd.

I'm bothered a bit by the difference between the plain third and wound fourth, but not so much that I can't usually ignore it.

Then again, most of the time, I'm not going for a certain traditional jazz tone. I love Wes, Jim Hall, Tal, Kenny B etc, but I don't play that way.

[savofenno]

I use mostly rounds in solidbodies, except in surf guitars like Jazzmaster, mustang, etc. i have flats. In floating pickup equipped archtops i use roundwounds, but in archtops with top mounted pickups i have flatwound strings.
In flattops i use both bronze, nickel and steel roundwounds.
For basses i can have both flatwounds in old type of basses like Höfner Violin bass, or rounds in modern basses.

I own 52 guitars and 13 basses.

[Strbender]

I use flats on my archtop and rounds on my tele, and strat.

[BFrench]

I'm always trying different strings, mixing brand/gauge...what brands consider the perfect gauge mixture for sets 10-11-12-13...is seldom my preferred gauges. So I buy individual brand gauges or custom sets...maybe I should try a flat/round set mixture......oh and to answer the question...both

[snoskier63]

Both, depending on the guitar and what its preference is.

[Tal_175]

Flats on bright guitars (jazzy Strat), rounds on dark guitars (ES-175). Flats on ES 175 with a thick pick is thunk overdose.

[Peter C]

the D'Addario half-rounds ...... felt just like rounds to my fingers and were definitely bright-sounding.

Ahem, that was after playing Chromes for a long time, which are beyond smooth and make practically any other string feel rough by comparison. Those half-rounds are actually definitely closer to flats than rounds, and pretty quiet, too. Just for the record

[ScottM]

Both, depending on the guitar and what its preference is.

...or what my preference is for the style.

I have never even considered playing flats on my strat or any semi-hollow because I always use those guitars to do the "everything from Santana to Merle Haggard to Duke Ellington" gig.

The 575 has has flats on it about 95% of the time. Occasionally, I'll put round wounds on it to see if it's really that much brighter, but I always go back. If I were a jazz guitar player, I probably wouldn't play any other guitar.

[Donovan]

Thank goodness I like rounds cuz' flat are expensive and I kill strings fast (the skinny ones fastest).

[DMgolf66]

I find it interesting the cheapness tone in many of the responses. I have to imagine SOME have a pennywise dollar foolish thing going on. Spend hundreds and even thousands on a guitar and then the same on amp and pedals, etc. But then complain about the cost of a set of strings that MAY cost $30+ and which may last a year+. Meanwhile the string is the very thing that is making the sound and the thing both hands have a connection to. Some of you make your living doing this and some it is a hobby that they are super passionate about. I was a golf pro for 10 years. My connection to the club was the grip, less important in terms of performance (more of a feel component) than strings, but I never knew a good player who would skimp on his grips (Which need to be changed a decent amount) to save a few bucks. On the other hand, Im a fisherman who will go offshore for tuna and other species and i've heard guys who are new to the game talk about trying to save a few bucks on slightly cheaper hooks or line after spending 10's of thousands on gas, tackle, lures to save a few bucks on the only thing connecting them to the fish they are trying to land? Saving pennies on something you love, feeds your soul, inspires you or in some cases feeds you makes me shake my head. To ME, cheapness, if you have the means, applied to something you love is not cheapness it's something worse.

[Donovan]

A year on strings? Not here. Lucky to get a month, particularly in summer. The skinny strings get old and crusty before the fat ones die.

[Tal_175]

Flats on solids, rounds on hollows. Because I'm edgy.