Guitar Strings For Telecaster

[OldGuitarPlayer]

D'Addario Pure Nickel 12's. Roundwound and wound G. Play them in daily and they lose their zing quickly. You get some snap and warmth. You'll be amazed!

I didn't go for the .012's with a wound G but instead picked up a set of D'Addario Jazz Extra Light round wound .010-.049 w/.022 wound G string. I like the wound G idea to give me more of an acoustic guitar feel. I was also thinking if I don't like how the .010 sounds I can swap it for an .011 gauge one for a little thicker tone but still having the lighter strings on top. I also figured since I have been using .09's for so long I should start with something a little lighter than .012's for now.

We'll see how these work out for the next few weeks.

[thrush40]

Yes, I was imagining you trying to go to 12s from 9s.

I recently switched from 12 flats to 11 rounds on my tele. For now, this seems like the best for me. I didn't mind 12s, but I can bend the 11s.

Also, you go any heavier over those 10s and you really will need to do a whole set up. Maybe you did already going from 9s to 10s.
Anyway, best of luck and enjoy.

[Lobomov]

It's so personal ... but in my opinion there is something to be said about just your plain regular round 11s. I don t find a huge difference sound wise and like thrush I like the fact that you can bend them.

[iim7V7IM7]

On a Tele I like to play pure nickel, round wound strings in a .011"-.050" gage. I switch between DR, Pure Blues, 11-50, Dunlop, Pure Nickel, 11-50, GHS, Nickel Rockers, 11-50 and Pyramid, Pure Nickel Hand Wound, 11-50. There are subtle differences in feel and tone between these, but all provide the pickups with plenty of signal for beautiful chords and single lines with weight but are not too heavy to interfere with the occasional bend or double stop. I mostly play unwound sets because switching to a wound G requires different intonation.

[OldGuitarPlayer]

Ok I have it strung up with the new strings. I am liking the wound 3rd! It seems to even out the strings and since I am not bending it so much I am having no difficulty in terms of it's feel or tension. I am going to see how the neck reacts and may tweak the truss rod a little but it seems good to me. The thicker B and E strings really sounds nice and clear and I do like the little extra tension for chords using my fingers. In that way they really feel nice. I may actually try an .011 for the 1st string but for now the .010 sounds pretty balanced.

I looked at the Tim Lerch video and he uses .012-.054's with a plain G string but tunes down a half and sometimes a full step for solo chord melody style playing. This too sounds interesting. This world of finger style jazz guitar (let alone on a tele) is new to me but I can see now that using thicker strings helps. I can dig in a little harder with my plucking hand.

[TLerch]

Just to clarify,
I use 12-54 tuned to E for playing in a group setting and tune down 1/2 step for playing solo.
for D and Db tuning i use 14-60 (22 plain 3rd). the reason I prefer to use a plain G is to balance the output of the 3 top strings. In my experience the wound G is too weak sounding on a Tele. Remember the core of a wound 24 is probably a 10 and that is all that is reacting with the magnetic field so a 20 plain G is a lot stronger than a 24 wound and I like the way the plain G feels as well. (its not an issue of bending or not as has been stated above) I do however use a 24 wound G on most of my archtop guitars.
Its all very personal so I hope everyone finds a great solution that helps them get to the music.

all the best
Tim

[OldGuitarPlayer]

Thank you! Your videos have been most helpful and an inspiration to me. You've really helped me understand solo jazz guitar playing and music in general.

[omphalopsychos]

Great information, Tim. Just a question, if you have a moment. I know you did a comparison between the Lollar Special T and the 52, but you never stated an opinion on the youtube video (and it's a bit hard to discern much difference from the audio). Which of the two would you recommend for playing jazz, or old style jump blues? I've contemplated the CC, but for now I want to avoid routing. Thanks!

[TLerch]

I prefer the 52, if you use a clean boost (i use an RC booster) you can get that thing to sound very full and rich. without any boost it is great as well.
Tim

[darkwaters]

Ok I have it strung up with the new strings. I am liking the wound 3rd! It seems to even out the strings and since I am not bending it so much I am having no difficulty in terms of it's feel or tension. I am going to see how the neck reacts and may tweak the truss rod a little but it seems good to me. The thicker B and E strings really sounds nice and clear and I do like the little extra tension for chords using my fingers. In that way they really feel nice. I may actually try an .011 for the 1st string but for now the .010 sounds pretty balanced.

I looked at the Tim Lerch video and he uses .012-.054's with a plain G string but tunes down a half and sometimes a full step for solo chord melody style playing. This too sounds interesting. This world of finger style jazz guitar (let alone on a tele) is new to me but I can see now that using thicker strings helps. I can dig in a little harder with my plucking hand.

I'm a big fan of a wound G. I had 9s on my Tele for a while, but the other day I switched them back to my favourites, D'Addario XL110Ws. I use those on almost everything. I have one guitar that, at least for now, I keep strung with 9's (a Jetstream 390), but I even replaced it's plain G the other day with a wound G and may continue to do that for as long as I keep 9's on her. What can I say, I just like the feel and tone of wound G's.

Bear in mind that with a wound G, the intonation will have to change and because, as Tim pointed out, the wound G is "weaker", I'd highly recommend raising the G pole piece, if you're using humbuckers or P90's, to balance out the strings.

Funnily enough, I tried flat wounds years ago on my Dot, but, after several weeks, they had to go. The tone was just fine, but I couldn't adjust to the feel of them. As strange as it sounds, the feel was just creeping me out. Like running your fingers up and down skinny, long snakes. (Shiver...) Go figure.

[OldGuitarPlayer]

Thanks for the tip! However, my tele has a single coil in the neck so no pole pieces to adjust. As been mentioned I do notice that the wound G is not quite as loud as the plain strings but I don't think it's a big problem. Maybe when the strings get worked in the tone will change and I may change my mind. So far I do like the feel and tone of the wound G. I may try flat wounds on my next string change but for the most part I like rounds. I do like the slightly thicker gauge since it makes the chords sound fatter. I don't think I need to use a higher gauge than what I have on there now.

[jazzbow]

I tried flat wounds years ago on my Dot, but, after several weeks, they had to go. The tone was just fine, but I couldn't adjust to the feel of them. As strange as it sounds, the feel was just creeping me out. Like running your fingers up and down skinny, long snakes. (Shiver...) Go figure.

Sounds like you're tactile defensive. I'm audio defensive. The sound of squeaky fingers on roundwounds drove me to flatwounds.

[mr. beaumont]

My tele tone secrets are:

flatwound strings, a set of .012's with the high E replaced with a .013.

Never run volume or tone at 10. Somewhere between 7-9.

Play up near the neck pickup.