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This is what works for me. Perhaps it could for you. When I got my first real archtop, my gifted luthier friend pieced together the set he always recommends to those who prefer roundwounds. (As in my case ...). These are D'Addario strings I believe, ordered in bulk from Just Strings, low to high:
.050, .040, .030, .019 (unwound), .015, .012
That set is perfect on every archtop on I've owned. I only experimented with other sets on my '61 Guild X50, where the bridge is intonated for wound G. Tried a few sets close to the gauges above, only with wound G. Most recently, a set by John Pearse, with those exact gauges but for a .022 wound G. For which I subbed a .021. Should have been just right, but did not feel right. Stiff, resistant somehow. So ditched the Pearse set, went back to bulk strings except for the G. And the guitar was instantly more comfortable, just felt better.
Confirmation bias? Who knows. No doubt I could find other great alternatives if I tried more brands. But I really don't see the need.
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12-23-2018 05:11 PM
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First off, I really appreciate all the suggestions and discussion created here.
I put on the Elixer 80/20 Polyweb bronze, and I can now see why people recommended against them. Acoustically they are okay, but for me not as nice as the strings the guitar came with (no idea what they were). Acoustically the Elixers do not ring out and sustain as well and are definitely a bit darker. The Elixer low E is actually quite dead! The A string is a bit better, but still deader than the stock strings. The D & G ring out fairly well and sound pretty good, but no better than the originals. However, through the amp (I am using a 1973 SFSR with this guitar) the Elixers are WAY quieter than the other strings. I left the original high E (12) and B (16) on the guitar and the volume of those two strings is about 40% louder than the bronze Elixers. I guess these acoustic Elixers are not the right materials to work well with a pickup.
So now I am off to replace the Elixers with a set of DR Pure Nickel 12-52's I picked up this morning. I suspect they are going to be much better.
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You would have to order them but Philippe Bosset 80/20 Bronze are by far the nicest sounding roundwounds on my acoustic/amplified archtop ( 51' Gibson Super 300/Dearmond FHC pickup) that I found after trying pretty much everything else like Elixer versions/Monels/D'addario etc etc when trying out roundwounds on my then new guitar.
At the end of the day I decided for the kind of music ( hard bop/jazz blues) and RH technique approach I use ( Wes M style thumb) flatwounds sounded better than roundwounds and so Thomastik Infeld Benson Jazz 12-53 Flatwounds are the current winner.
Rob McKillop here on the forum has some good posts about Bosset strings they really are beautiful sounding strings
Will
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Well I would defy ANY string to top those TI Benson's. They can be beat on price though
Originally Posted by Tim Z
It's the way they sound, feel, intonate, last.
I listed the Benedettos for gauge range. They too are pure nickel, but are not the same grade of string as the TI Benson's, IMO.
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Up here in the GWN, we often don’t have all these exotic choices. D’Addario pure nickels, wound .018 G sets, DR, Fender ball ends are pushing the envelope in some cases.
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Been playing the DR Pure Blues for a couple of hours now and they are much better than the Elixers. My only beef with the DR's is they have a 15 B in the set instead of a 16. No idea why they do that, because the B string feels out of place to the others. If I decide to use the DR set, I will have to buy single 16's for it. I have a set of Thomasik-Infield Bebops and D'Addario Pure Nickels on order. Probably won't see either of them until the week after Xmas or after New Years.
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thomastik "bensons" are the same as regular thomastik bebops ( if roundwound) or jazz swings (if flats)...they are both pure nickel wrap...the individual strings are the same, the benson designation is just a different gauged set...for ex. a .53 thomastik flat is the same in jazz swing and benson flat packs..same with benson rounds and bebops
so basically the benson roundwounds give you a variation of the bebop gauges....and the benson flats give you a variation of jazz swing gauges
so pick what gauged set you like best, but know the individual strings are the same quality no matter
cheers
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Other than the gauges then, it is much better price to get the Bebops. The Bebops here in Canada are $24.99 and the Benson's are $39.99. We'll see how the Bebops go and then if I am stuck on them, will order individual gauges (if that's possible). They are going to have to be that much better though for me to want to pay almost 3x the price.
Littlemark . . . . . yes I know other L&M's stock them in Canada, just not here in Victoria. They said they do not stock strings (or other items) that are not big sellers here. They are getting them sent over here from the Edmonton downtown store.
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Toronto is a bigger market I guess. But no don't you buy them regularly, they will keep them in stock. I have TI flatwounds on all my electrics and Martin Monel's on my archtops. They sound great. Monel's are cheap too. The TIs last fit a long time.
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In the overall scheme of things, Victoria is a very small market. It can be really tough to get all kinds of products here, with strings being just one of them. Try to find a high end archtop here to demo and you will be looking for a long long time. I wanted to demo an Eastman before I bought this one. There are three Eastman dealers here in town, and not one of them stocks a single Eastman guitar . . . . not even the lower end models. L&M said the same thing; i.e. the market here is too small for them to stock a high end archtop jazz guitar, but they will only order them in for you. Toronto is a whole different story!
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the thomastiks really are great..a cut above...that's why so many guys here use'm!!..hard to believe how good they are, until you use'm and dial the specific set you prefer in....but once you do, there's no option..and they last for long time...always wipe'm down after sessions and they will stay true long time...
cheers
ps- feel similarly about dr pure blues..but their packaging quality control has not been as tight over the years..but if you get a good set..its a GOOD set!!
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+1 on the Thomastik Bebops. I have a set of .013s on my Gibson ES-275 and after trying different strings—D’Adarrio XL and NYXL, Thomastik Swing flats (which I love, but not for the 275—I finally landed on perfection. I tried the Bebop 12s but wasn’t happy with the plain G string, and decided to get the 13s, but only because they have a wound G. I was stunned once I put them on! The 275 really came to life, and I’m SO happy now!
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The TI Bebop 12's have a plain G string?? I was not aware of that. I do not want 13's, but do want a wound G.
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TI gauges are different from other brands. 13s feel more like 12s; 12s like 11s, etc. If you like 12s then you should get 13s.
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Dang it Tim!! Sorry 'bout the bad advice. I kinda feel like I owe you $17 :) Originally Posted by Tim Z
FWIW: according to the Eastman site that guitar ships with D'Ad NYXL 12-52, which are supposedly brighter and louder than XL.
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Not too worry man. . . . . . it's all good Originally Posted by ccroft
Dang it Tim!! Sorry 'bout the bad advice. I kinda feel like I owe you $17
FWIW: according to the Eastman site that guitar ships with D'Ad NYXL 12-52, which are supposedly brighter and louder than XL. I can use the Elixers on my Taylor acoustic when it needs a change. This is all fun and interesting for me with a new toy.
I must say though, other than them putting a 15 B (crazy) in the set, I am really liking these DR Pure Blues 12's. Are the D'Addario Pure Nickel 12's very similar to the DR Pure Blues? If yes, they may be the ticket for me.
I do want to try the TI's Bebops though, but wish I had known before I ordered them that they do not have a wound G. That's not going to work for me. I am also questioning their construction tolerances if they make a 13 that feels like a 12. Having to order a set of 13's to get a set that "feels" like 12's, seems kind of crazy to me.
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Any of the TI choices are worth trying. Hearing and feeling are believing. And, yes, the tensions of their gauges are less than most other strings being produced. Trust me when I tell you, if you prefer 12s, get 13s. I’ve read that on this forum hundreds of times. It’s odd, but true.
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Do you mean that they have lower (perceived) string tension? Should I expect to have to adjust my truss rod if I used the same gauge in TIs that I use now in LaBellas? Originally Posted by El Fundo
Or do you mean that they actually feel different under your fingertips? It is somewhat amazing to me that I can tell the difference between .009 and .010 off the guitar, when just picking them out of a pile. But fingertips are indeed sensitive.
Can anyone comment on the feel of LaBella nylon tape flats vs. TI flats?
Thanks
SJ
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TI’s web site includes pdfs for each product with string tensions. I think D’Addario lists tensions too, so you could compare them. But the pdfs don’t seem to list what scale length they are for. To compare tension specs, the scale length must be the same. Originally Posted by starjasmine
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D'Addario tensions default to 25.5", but there is a calculator on the site which lets you specify any scale length you like, even different scale length for each string, for whatever that's worth. No idea about TI, though.
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Rufus Guitar in Vancouver sells TI Bebops
I get my TI strings form Strings and Beyond. Free shipping to Canada on orders over $35.
I also like D'Addario pure Nickels on an archtop.
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Juststrings.com sells individual strings or "single strings".
I have settled on the TI Benson round wounds 12-53 but replace the 12 with 11, and the 16 with 15. I use archtops with a 25.5" scale length so the tension/stiffness is pretty high.
I tried lighter strings for the lowest 3 strings but they seem rubbery and I didn't like their tone very much. I also could not play without string buzzing when the action was set low on a flat/straight neck.
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