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If anyone has tried out both, please describe the difference. I prefer a dark, full, warm sound ala Martino and am currently using the TI Swing 13's, but am wondering how the Benson's compare. I've thought about graduating to Martino's strings, which I believe are LaBella 15's, but don't really don't know what to expect regarding the degree of tension on the neck and the physical challenges of playing a string that thick. Any thoughts/feedback/suggestions would be welcomed. I wish there was a local guitar somewhere that was strung with Martino guage strings to try out.
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10-08-2015 01:57 PM
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Pat Martino’s personal string preference: Flat wound .016p, .018p, .026w, .032w, .042w, .052w or .015p, .017p, .024w, .032w, .042w, .052w.
The bottom four wounds are those of a typical 12-52 set.
Note that Mr. Martino's choice of guitar has a 24 5/8" scale length.
http://www.thomastik-infeld.com/site...er_06_13sc.pdf .Last edited by Jabberwocky; 10-08-2015 at 03:26 PM.
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Well, this is definitely a YMMV response.
Originally Posted by jazzfreak
I have recently put on a set of TI swing 13's replacing a set of TI Benson 14's which were over a year old and definitely dull at that point. I really like the swing 13's, I find them brighter and more articulate but this could be due to them being new strings and the lighter gauge. I remember really liking the Bensons for a long time. I would recommend them to you, my guess is they will sound darker than the swings. (I would recommend going from 13's to 14's rather than jumping from 13's to 15's...)
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I just discovered that the TI's come tin or brass plated. (For long only brass was available here) Does anyone have a clue what the difference in sound could be or what other reason makes them produce two kinds. Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
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I believe you are comparing flat wound not round wound "Bensons" to the "Swings" .... ? Originally Posted by s1track3d
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the labellas that martino uses are heavy stainless steel..they are going to be high tension..be somewhat bright when first put on the guitar and then quickly go thunk...
thomastik flats are thin core pure nickel..they are very low tension..and the pure nickel wrap is much less bright new...so it falls off more evenly tonewise
the brass vs tin bit just applies to a microscopic coating on the unwound high b & e strings only...it has more to do with corrosion than sound..as you'd have to have dog ears to hear the difference..and good luck pawing your dmaj7's...hah
cheers
ps- because of the low tension and softer pure nickel double wrap of ti's..you can generally go up a gauge if you are used to using usa made stainless steel strings...ie if you use 12 chromes, try ti 13's
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Neatomic nailed it. Round cores have less inner friction and are lower tension. The D'Add Chrome 13s have substantially more tension that the TI 13s.
I recently emailed a technician at TIs about the unwound coatings. It's more a visual thing than sonic.
Strings make a marked difference in sound- volume, decay and frequency profile. Some I used to hate but now I like. So I have several guitars, each with a different type of strings on it. The only brand I haven't made peace with yet is GHS. I hated their FWs a couple of years ago- dull with mediocre decay. I'm about to put a set on. There's a good chance they'll sound great now.
I have kept copious notes over the last five years about strings I've tried. This has been very helpful. It has shown me that my tastes have expanded and that I shouldn't believe what I write down.
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a great string from ghs..if you use lighter roundwounds at all!..are their big cores...alt. in the past, called rene martinez or carlos santana's..they have a thicker inner core but a pure nickel wrap...so they just give that slight bigger tone without feeling really heavy...they are actually listed as 9.5 , 10.5 or 11.5 gauge...
and i'm with you on experimenting with different strings on different guitars..no set rules apply...before recently going to ss flatwounds on my tele, i'd been using big cores for a long while, and they were great! may well go back
cheers
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I found the flat Bensons to be very similar Originally Posted by jazzfreak
to the flat jazz swings
apart from the price !
by the way the tin on the plain strings
rubs off in a couple of weeks anyway ....
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same goes for the brass ... Originally Posted by pingu
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Sorry about the dumb ? but if I'm understanding correctly, you are comparing Thomastik Jazz Bebop(roundwounds) 13-53 to GB 14-? (flatwounds) Thanks!
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I think no one in this thread has compared Bepob round wounds to anything. The TI Swing sets are flat wounds. Originally Posted by jads57
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I don't recall if anyone has been able to clarify (and I know if it's been posed) any differences between the TI Swing (flats) and the GB Flats--other than the gauges and the price? Anyone know?
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Both flatwound sets. Benson 14's to Swing 13's Originally Posted by JazzNote
Last edited by s1track3d; 10-09-2015 at 01:33 PM.
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Originally Posted by stringmaster
no
same strings just different gauged sets..you can check the charts at thomastik...ex. a 20 g string from either swings or bensons have exact same tension and stats
cheers
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HaHa, then George must get the extra $12.00 to $15.00 a set
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Sorry don't know the Thomastik variety of string names. The Bebpop (round wound) seem awfully expensive when compared to othercomparable products available. Do they last a lot longer like flat wounds or is it just the brand name recognition? Not meaning to be flippant by asking, just curious, thanks again!
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Well my opinion is that they don't necessarily last longer as they are pure nickel wound--but they last long enough. I feel that it's a pretty unique string in the way it's made--round core, silk wrapping, etc--that creates a different feel and sound compared to the run of the mill. I prefer them on two of my archtop guitars, but like nickel plated hex core strings on my others--but I'm more of a Blues/Swing player than a jazzer. To me the typical brands GHS, EB, D'A, Mangan, etc might be subtly different, but the TI's are a different animal. Originally Posted by jads57
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For about 25 years, I used D'Addario Chromes flatwound strings. They were very predictable. Then, I moved to the TI Benson set. I much preferred the TI string. I used them for a year or so. For the last 10 years, I estimate, I have used the Jazz Swing set on my electric archtops, blending in an occasional LaBella tapewound on one of the archtops.
I am pretty committed to the Jazz Swing, at this point. They get the sound I like, they last a long time, and they are cheaper than the Benson set. I like the tension of the TI sets, in general.
I think the nickel over nickel works well with the pickups on my guitars.
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I'm tempted to try them(Bebop 13-53 nickle wounds) but at $24 a set thats like at least 4 sets of another major brand. So even if I love them, and need to replace them once a month that gets to be quite expensive!
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You would have to play 30 gigs a month to have to replace the strings monthly. I've had TIs last a year.
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Me too, TI flatwounds. Originally Posted by Cunamara
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I don't know about the round wounds, but on the flat wound swing set the third to sixth string seem to last forever so i have plenty of plain high E and B strings laying around, change them every two to four weeks on my two main guitars and keep the rest on it for about a year. That saves me a lot of money and time too. Originally Posted by jads57
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Found on old discussion circa 2010 here:
Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Bebop (round-wounds) vs. Jazz Flats... .
Interesting comparison. Had forgotten about it. Do the videos mirror your own experience with the Bebop vis-a-vis Swing? How do the GBs stack up against the two?
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I use both, 13-53 bebops and 12-50 flats I really like the bebops but I tend to get a bit of string squeal with them which can be offputting at times.
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