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Hi there. I am a long time player of acoustic fingerstyle/pop/lt rock, singer songwriter stuff and change my D'addario EJ16 phosphor bronze strings about every month. At that point they are getting somewhat tarnished and have lost some sparkle.
Now I am a new owner of an Ibanez GB10se set up with D'addario ECG23s (10-48) with the 3rd replaced with a plain steel .019.
My set up shop tells me that these strings last a long time and I have heard that here and there as well.
I know it is impossible to give exact advice on this topic, but in general what do people mean by "last a lot longer"? I like a lively sound and do not sweat much at all. At $18 a set, I imagine I am not going to want to change every month, but have no experience.
Can you give me some thoughts on this topic even though I realize there is no "right" answer. It is just that I have no experience with flat wounds.
Thanks.
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01-22-2022 05:46 PM
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When they stop holding tune. The flats on my 575 have been on there about a year, still sounding good.
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These strings last between 6 and 12 months on my guitars. It may be a good idea to purchase some string cleaner. When the strings start to tarnish, I give them a little cleaning (I use the Ernie Ball wipes). It seems to not only clean the strings but also extend the life of the strings.
Originally Posted by Photonic
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Flatwounds don't have a "bright sound" and there are no high frequencies that can be lost due to age the way roundwounds lose their highs. Personally I like Thomastik Jazz flatwounds, they are a bit less stiff than the D'Addarios, so consider trying a set of those next string change in a year or so :-)
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I use a combination of flats 30 40 50 from a set and 12 14 18 plain single strings. It is most the plain strings that wear out first. When that happens, I change only the plain strings for fresh ones. I do this a couple of times until I think it is time to change all strings. (after 2 or 4 years
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about a year
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I don’t know how long I leave mine on, which tells you it must be a long time. I use La Bella jazz flats 15-56 and they stay on my guitar somewhere between 1 and 2 years. That’s with a minimum of 3-5 hours playing every day. At some point I feel guilty I haven’t changed them in a long time, and that’s usually what prompts me to change them out.
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Kind of amazing then compared to the Phosphor Bronze round wounds where in a month the is an easily noticeable diminution of sparkle on my acoustics. Quite a different deal here. Originally Posted by setemupjoe
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I have two guitars that came to me with hang tags and flatwounds that had been unused since new for a minimum of 20 years. They were still in tune. Merely a data point. I use D'Addarios, which start with a fairly bright (if not excessively detailed) tone and keep it for a long, long time. I basically change FWs when I want to try something else. I must note I have dry hands and wipe down strings obsessively, and stainless steel doesn't corrode. OTH, I had a band mate who left visible handprints on mic stands and dissolved string sets by the gross, so he borrowed my backup gtr. on the reg. He irritated me in other ways, as well. It seemed to be a hobby, certainly a habit. The leader of the band we were in had a beautiful little Hagstrom git that I insisted on replacing the flatwound strings once a year just so I could get to play it for a week. The strings were fine.
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Can't lose sparkle when you never have it! Originally Posted by Photonic
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Don't.
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Originally Posted by vintagelove
lol ?!?!?!?!?
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You can leave TI flats on for years if you look after them
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Phosphor bronze strings are a racket invented in the 1970s; seriously they are very inconsistent over their life time. I prefer consistent sounding acoustic strings like D’addario Nickel Bronzes or the Martin Retros which sound the same for their lifetime.
The are a REALLY nice colour though.
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Agree, I hate PB's.
80/20's are cool, after the first few hours.
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I use Thomastic flats. I recall changing them prior to the summer, they still sound great.
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Thanks to Amazon I know I ordered my flat wounds 10/05/2020. I have no plan to change them.
The La Bella’s on my p-bass are probably a decade old.
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I had a set on my Hollenbeck for 2years D'addario's they were fine but really just changed them to go back to pure nickel strings.
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Wound Stainless flats last forever (the plain strings don't). Wound Pure Nickel flats last me about a year, though I change the plain strings once or twice during that period.
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Are those any better than normal bronze in terms of balance for using on an acoustic archtop when you want to plug in the floater? I'm always on search of strings that can do both well. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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Yes, for some reason phosphor bronze always seemed to have weird overtones for me. 80/20 are better, agreed. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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Depends on whether your floater has adjustable polepieces. If yes, you can often even make bronzewound strings work. IIRC the DeArmond 1000 is wound for bronzewound strings, with more windings around the four low string poles and less around the two high strings. Originally Posted by bluejaybill
I have put Martin Retros on my flattop, loving those more than any strings I have had on that guitar in the 42 years I have had it. I also put them on my archtop with a modified floating classic 57, which is pretty bassy through my amp; the jury's out whether I like them on that guitar but they did tame the bassiness quite a bit.
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