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When I bought my archtop it came with some flat wound strings on, which were really flat, I mean the E bass was like a tagliatelle pasta. Since then I couldn't find anything remotely close to that. I wonder if I could get some help from the forum on my quest finding these flattest flat-wound strings and reuniting them with their long lost buddy, my Ibanez. Thank you!
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07-09-2021 05:42 AM
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If your guitar is an Ibanez, then it probably came with some D'Addario Chromes (ECG24).
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I bought it used so I don't think these were factory strings, they were also almost brand new. I have put the D'addario flat wounds 12 on my tele and they are not the same thickness, the ones I'm talking about were really flat.
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The "flattest" flatwounds I've tried are LaBella tape wounds, which are also very low tension and feel noodle-like compared to Chromes.
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How do they sound compared to Chromes on the same guitar?
Originally Posted by John A.
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Can you get flatter than flat?
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Do you perhaps mean low tension? Flatness and tension are not the same things, but from the OP it sort of appears that low tension is what was wanted. Strings are round, and I've never seen any that are the shape of tagliatelle. But most flatwound strings look pretty much the same, using flat windings. Some are much stiffer than others, though. Tomastik-Infeld flatwound strings tend to be low tension, and rather floppy on the guitar. Some like that, some don't. LaBella tapewounds are very floppy, and sound that way. Chromes are much brighter in comparison, although still not 'bright'. Tapewounds tend to thud instead of ring. The Pizzarellis use(d) tapes on most of their archtops.
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Perhaps they were also low tension as well, I can't recall. But what impressed me was their physical shape, was flat like noodles. Ok, I'm exaggerating just a bit, but it's true they were flattened out compared to the Tomastik flats I have now put on and also the Chromes that I have on my other guitar.
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I have never, ever, seen guitar strings that weren't round. I've seen some that were worn by frets, but never new strings that were not round. I've been seeing guitar strings for about 70 years, and they were all round. I would not even consider using any strings that were not perfectly round.
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They wouldn't work either because they wouldn't vibrate evenly... Originally Posted by sgosnell
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Noodle, yes, but tagliatelle? Originally Posted by John A.
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OP can you post a picture?
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Unfortunately no, because I stupidly took them off without asking the seller what strings she had put on the guitar.
They looked like those labella tapes but they weren't black, just normal silvery colour
Labella Jazz Tapes
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It has been a while, and I disliked the feel of the LaBella's so much that I took them off almost immediately. So I'm not sure my memory is reliable, but I think the Chromes (when brand new) are a little brighter. At some point I'll go back to the LaBella's in a heavier gauge to offset their floppiness, but at the moment I have a few sets of Chromes on hand. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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The LaBella's I'm talking about are silver colored. On second thoughts, I may have meant the LaBella Jazz Flats (not Tape Wounds). I'll try to figure that out and report back. Originally Posted by Grigoris
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More like fettucine. Last time I made pasta carbonara I didn't read the package carefully accidentally used guitar strings instead of fettucine. Molto al dente. Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
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Have you heard me sing? Originally Posted by deacon Mark
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For that really chewy tone? Originally Posted by John A.
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Then you're probably gonna love string cheese! Originally Posted by John A.
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Originally Posted by deacon Mark
Sure-just take a set of Thomastik Infeld, place them on the nearest railway track and wait for the 5:15 Express.
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Is that why they say to boil old strings, makes em easier to eat?
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I can hear the boys now : " Well, the 5:15 Express would've been a more valid test but it wasn't available, so the 3:45 Ipswitch-to-Kensington was diverted and used for the test. The test however was to prove moot, because it was concluded that, despite being untuned to pitch, due to their superior construction and design, the TI's exerted no tension whatsoever, and were therefore unaffected by the downward forces exerted by the rolling wheel of the engine, and could not therefore be flattened any further........." Originally Posted by Doug B
Sure-just take a set of Thomastik Infeld, place them on the nearest railway track and wait for the 5:15 Express.
......(( 'now about their round, non-hex core - -' )) : )
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I found another pack that came with the guitar. They're definitely LaBella Jazz Tapes, guage 12, and they're black, not silver. Originally Posted by John A.
I Interpreted the OP to mean smoothest surfaced when he said "flattest", compared to the texture of Chromes and TIs.
But I guess others think he meant flat, as in squashed. Smooth, the LaBellas are, but the shape of spaghetti, not tagliatelle.
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I never considered this before, and it seems pretty far fetched to me. Is it possible that anyone thinks "flat wound" means strings that have been flattened into long thin ribbons after winding, or that the term "tape wound" means a string flattened into the form of a long thin tape? Originally Posted by John A.
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By flat do you mean that the surface is uniformly smooth and unindented? As mentioned, guitar strings aren't flat, they're round. Use your brain and fingers for a few seconds.
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