Flatwound Strings Slickness

[NotJackBurton]

Hello. I was hoping to get some feedback on the "slickness" of different flatwound brands.
I only started playing with flats about 3 months ago and started with DR 11's on a 25.5 scale tele and i love them so far on there.

However, i have a 24.75 scale Ibanez with D'Addario 12's and i find them WAY too slick compared to the DR's. It could obviously be partly my technique but i'm struggling at times with keeping my fingers from slipping out of position on larger chord shapes. I've been wanting to shell out for TI Swings to give them a try but don't want to spend the $30 if they are as slick as the D'Addarios.

I've been under the impression that DR's were considered a little "bottom of the barrell" but i love that they are smooth and yet still have some grip on them.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

[Oldjock]

I have been using D'Addario Chrome 12's, on my Eastman T486, for the past 2 years. I like them and have not noticed any of the "slickness" that you describe.

[Jim Soloway]

I think it's really just the nature of flat wound strings (and I think one of the major advantages). I also suspect that the difference between the Tele and the Ibanez is more likely due to the radius than the scale length.

[JohanAbrandt]

Just speculating here but, flat wounds are polished in the end if the manufacturing process, and as a part of that the strings gets covered in polishing compound and metal powder. Depending on how well they are cleaned before packaging, they could have compound left that could make them feel stickier or slicker.

Bass players seems more affected that us

You could try to clean them with alcohol and see if theres any residue left on a clean towel

[John A.]

Hello. I was hoping to get some feedback on the "slickness" of different flatwound brands.
I only started playing with flats about 3 months ago and started with DR 11's on a 25.5 scale tele and i love them so far on there.

However, i have a 24.75 scale Ibanez with D'Addario 12's and i find them WAY too slick compared to the DR's. It could obviously be partly my technique but i'm struggling at times with keeping my fingers from slipping out of position on larger chord shapes. I've been wanting to shell out for TI Swings to give them a try but don't want to spend the $30 if they are as slick as the D'Addarios.

I've been under the impression that DR's were considered a little "bottom of the barrell" but i love that they are smooth and yet still have some grip on them.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

I've never experienced what you're talking about with Chromes or any other string. IME, Chromes actually have a little more of a textured feeling (at least when new) than TI Swings, though, so I I doubt switching to TI's would have the effect you want. If you prefer the DR's, I'd suggest sticking with (or to ...) those. DR string are perfectly good; cheaper than TI does not mean worse than TI. If you want to go a little grittier feeling, maybe try rollerwound strings (e.g., GHS Nickel Rockers or LaBella Roller Wounds), which feel sort of halfway between flat and round.

But if your fingers are literally slipping off the strings I suspect either the strings have some kind of oil left on them from the manufacturing process (i.e., you got a bad set so try another), or there's something in your technique that's not getting along with flatter radius on the Ibanez (though, TBH, I've never heard of this problem before, so I don't quite know what to make of it). Or maybe there's something going on between the oils in your fingertips and the specific metal composition of the Chromes, in which case switching to a pure nickel string might make a difference. All said and done, the only way you'll know what makes a difference is to try a bunch of different strings. Initially, it can be expensive. But in the long run, considering that you'll use dozens of sets of strings over the years, it's minor investment to figure out what works for you.

[NotJackBurton]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll give them the old rub down first to see if that helps. If i'm still not getting along with them i'll try the roller/half wounds, as i've been curious about them for a while also.

[hotpepper01]

When you talk about slickness, I guess the most important factor is surface roughness of the string itself. A technical term for the surface texture. It is quantified by the deviations in the direction of the normal vector of a real surface from its ideal form. If these deviations are large, the surface is rough; if they are small, the surface is smooth.
As to the feel of moving your fingers along the string, friction comes to play a role. That involves your fingers as well as the strings and anyting in between. I like my strings as "slick" as I can get them. Prior to each rehearsal or performance I apply fast fret and clean my hands. For what it is worth I find that there are diffences in the feel between individual sets as well, even if they are same brans, same type end same gauge, same scal length.

[docsteve]

I concur that TI Swings are quite slick. By contrast, the new Pyramid Fusion Flats have a textured surface that some may find too close to roundwounds, but may be just the ticket for you. There are two threads about them on this forum; I posted a review in one of them (last post of the thread).

[Peter C]

You like the DRs, which is the main thing, so get the 12s and concentrate on playing?

Or, prepare for a quest which could last a long time. You're going to find that flatwounds are generally slick

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

You like the DRs, which is the main thing, so get the 12s and concentrate on playing?

DR strings are not at all "bottom of the barrel". The founder is Mark Dronge, whose father founded Guild Guitars. He grew up with strings in his blood - his father even wanted to produce strings at Guild, so he caught the bug early in life. DR's a great company who (AFAIK) still make all their strings themselves and do an outstanding job of it. If you like them, use them and enjoy!!

PS: The reason I know this is that I used Guild-branded strings from the time I discovered them at my dealer's shop shortly after I got my first Gibson electric (1960) until they stopped marketing them.

[NotJackBurton]

Thanks again and for the background info on the DR's. I'll be keeping them on the tele. I look into the pyramids also as i think i'm going to go for a little bit different sound on the ibanez.
Part of the fun for me is experimenting with different setups and sounds and recommendations are always appreciated.