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At $40 (approx), are they worth it?
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04-28-2016 11:17 AM
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Loved them... not sure I would pay that much anymore (they were about 27$ back in the day IIRC). I stopped because even if they sounded great the intonation on the wound strings would go to far south on me and I would only get 3-4 months out of them. There are others here on the forum who get years so take my story with a grain of salt. If I could get a couple of years out of them.. then sure.. 40$
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They're definitely nice, and last a loooong time. At $40 though, I'll probably just switch back to the Bebop 13s when it's time. Don't think the price justifies the difference.
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They lasted forever for me but Swings feel and sound better. Not sure why. I bought 10 packs in bulk 7 years ago and have still not used them all - not sure I would ever pay 40 bucks for guitar strings though.
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$40...ouch. They must have gone up. I buy a set or two every year (they last about a year!). They do sound really good and they feel good too. At $40 I'd have to look for alternatives....
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Some years ago I changed from Chromes to GB's. In those 15 minutes my sound got lightyears better; warmer, more dynamic and more fluid, if it means something.
I loved their sound so much that I wanted to play better so they made me better player!
Now I wanted to change into heavier gauge but GB's .014 feels like too much. TI Swing .013's are now hot thing here.
40$ is quite a lot. But if they last 6 months (and make You happy every day) it makes 22 cents a day. Is that so bad anymore?
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The GB's are way too expensive and always have been, I have used the TI Bebop but they are pricey too. Also the plain strings with TI sometimes come through with some crud or corrosion on them and a buddy uses TI Power Brights for his rock thing and complains about occasional runs of plain strings breaking.
Talking with someone a couple months ago about strings led me to trying pure nickel strings and to me they are similar to TI strings in sound and feel. Most companies have pure nickel strings and price is way less than TI so worth checking out.
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I've never been able to figure out the difference between the Benson flats and the TI Swings--except for the gauges and the price. Anyone know?
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been through this before...i checked the thomastik string pdf
Originally Posted by stringmaster
same exact strings..just in different gauged set
also the sets come in 2 different forms..with tin coated unwound strings or brass coated unwounds..so if your unwounds are corroded..try the other type
cheers
ps- one of closest type strings to a thomastik roundwound is the dr pure blues ..pure nickel outer wrap with a round core inner..true vintage style..most pure nickels use modern hex coreLast edited by neatomic; 04-28-2016 at 04:32 PM. Reason: ps-
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I use TI Swing flats on most of my archtop guitars and have for some time. I have one guitar--a Unity--that was plek'd with TI Bensons. I've kept the GBs on that guitar. I like the sound of the guitar with those strings, but I haven't tried the Swings on it. I'd probably like them just as well. I've just been superstitious. I get a year out of both sets. No intonation problems with either.
Recently, I put LaBella tape wound strings on one archtop. They are good strings, too. Wouldn't surprise me, though, if--being a creature of habit--I end up with TI Swing flats back on that guitar again.
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Originally Posted by stringmaster
One George Benson gets paid for use of his name so price is higher.
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I don't know whether you are referring to the round or flat wound strings. I went through a set of round wounds. While I liked them, I found the D'Addario EJ 21 set to be 90% as good at a small fraction of the price. Perhaps I world feel differently if I lined in Europe and the price difference was less dramatic.
Sent from my XT1064 using Tapatalk
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There are other brands with nickel wrapped strings, yes, but are there any other nickel wound flats? I've never found any. One good option if you like TI bebops or benson round wound is the Newtone archtop strings. Double wound with nickel, sounds and feels nice for less money than the bebops or benson round wounds.
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I've just recently gone through this experiment with my L5 Wes.
Thomastik Infeld Benson 113 (flats) are somewhat too heavy. They're NOT too heavy to play, but all the tonal qualities I liked about the 112's are a bit overdone in the 13 set on my L5. Someone once likened it to rich ice cream. Regular ice cream tastes nice, but the rich kind of becomes less enjoyable as you consume more of it.
Thomastik Infeld Benson 112 (flats) are perfect. I really enjoy the sound and they are both pleasurable to play and to hear. You get enough snap depending on your picking style from these strings being thinner.
1. From my experience, the Benson have a much higher fidelity through an amplifier than Chromes. Acoustically, I'm not sure it makes a great difference, but through an amp, I'm hearing better string separation and evenness.
2. Benson seem to be better than Chromes (especially in the feel of the strings) but are they 3x-4x better (as in price)? Probably not, simply because for someone such as myself, they don't last long enough. I get about 1 1/2 weeks to 2 weeks out of one set and that is not long enough to justify the price. The Bensons go dull and sound uninspiring when they finally do give up. I play out a lot and practice every day and all on one guitar, so perhaps that is the reason why aside from "finger acidity".
Thomastik Infeld Swing 112 (flats) are a perfect balance. I use these strings primarily because they have just as much fidelity as the Bensons. They feel only slightly rougher than the Bensons, but still smoother than Chromes. They project very well and even through an amplifier and the cost is lower. I feel you can get a lot of grip with your tone from these strings as they have a slightly raspier quality to them.
Lastly, I have experienced differences depending on guitars. I like the Bensons, but I also have an L5 which is a big factor in why I choose to use these strings on and off. If I were using something like the Ibanez AF75 I started with, I am positive that whatever quality those strings could bring to that instrument wouldn't be worth the cost.
Are the Bensons worth it? Well for you personally, how long do they last and how well do they match your current instrument? If they last a month and make your "Heritage 575" stand out and you can afford it, I think so.
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Can someone tell me the color of the silk wraps on the Benson .012 gauge flats? My new Gretsch was set up with Thomastik flats that I believe are Bensons--the wrap is kind of a turquoise/blue--or are those the Swing series?
Thx
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Swings are red. Bensons are blue.
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Thanks! Originally Posted by Herbie
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I use Benson round .012" because the Swing version has an unwound third. Bought a bunch on sale for $20 a few years back.
Danny W.
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Originally Posted by Danny W.
not so!!!..none of the thomastik flat swings have an unwound g...from the 10's on up
http://www.thomastik-infeld.com/site...er_06_13sc.pdf
cheers
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Is so--check the round strings--they are called BeBops, not Swing as I stated, but I did say round.
Danny W.
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one wrong don't make a right!.. hah..i get ya tho
just wanna make sure thom swing flat lovers aren't scared off...good strings
cheers
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You guys are both right. The key thing is this: you need a wound third to play jazz. The unwound third is pretty doinky sounding.
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My L5 came strung with a set of flatwound Swings (red ends). Only recently did I change them out for the Benson flats and the difference is mind boggling. From the beginning I never really considered my guitar to have great acoustic qualities and just thought it was the nature of the beast. The GBs have totally transformed it and the difference in price seems like a very small price to pay for the tonal upgrade. Originally Posted by Bach5G
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Like kid335 I am afraid that I have found the same thing. I have been using Swing flats for years and have been well pleased. Then I experienced the Bensons on a nice guitar I bought. Uh, oh. The GBs are seriously great strings.
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I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I even put my L5 up for sale a couple of months ago until Vinny and Joe talked me into keeping it. The tone wasn't bad in any way but had me feeling "meh, I could live without it". After I pulled it off the market I thought that maybe I could improve the farty low end by replacing the Classic 57 with a Seth Lover, which is still en route. I was putting off a string change until the pickup came in, but for whatever reason decided to try the GBs on a whim. I immediately felt like a total idiot because if not for Vinny and Joe I might have actually sold it over strings that I don't like! Originally Posted by Greentone
I will still probably give the Seth Lover a try just because I bought it, but expect that it could have a diminishing return now that there is nothing to fix.
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