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a tale of 4 flatwound string sets...
Trying to find a set of flats that I like. The thomastik sound the best to me by far. They last a hella long time. Unfortunately, quality control is not great. I had bought 4 sets a couple years ago and the first set I put on had a G string that wasn't ground properly so I sent 3 of the 4 back for a refund including the set that I installed. I kept one set for backup (more on this later).
I then bought installed a set of chrome 12s. I've been using these for years off and on. I put them on and they are just too bright. Very shrill sounding. They do wear in and after 3-4 months of playing everyday for a couple hours they will mellow out...I've also periodically had sets of these where the G string is not ground properly.
I got some recommendations for the labella jazz flats. I find them to be dark and muddy sounding. Very uninspiring to play on. Additionally, the inner core is extremely fragile and in 2 months time, I had 4 strings break on me. Three broke at the core on the tuner on the wound strings and one B string broke at the ball end.
So, back to the the thomastics, I took out the last set I kept as a spare and discovered that upon opening the pack, all the sleeves were empty except for the high E string! To be fair, these could have easily have been a return which were not carefully checked by the retailer since thomastic doesn't seal their packaging...
So in desperation, I found a set of DR Tite-Fit flatwounds and decided to give them a try. I actually like the sound of them. They are brighter than the thomastiks but not as bright as the chromes. Unfortunately, the 4 wound strings are not polished smooth and are very rough feeling and after 30 minutes, my pick wears to point where I'm hearing a scratching sound as I play.
I just ordered another few sets of the thomastiks. Hoping they solve their quality control issues...
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11-11-2022 08:51 AM
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I haven't yet had this with wound metal strings but my (round)wound TIs all have broken winding where they've been through the tuning posts. In addition I've had quite a few TI 1st strings snap after having loosened them for maintenance (one brand new one even when tuning it down).
Originally Posted by jzucker
I blame the "wasp waist" of the typical tuning posts. I never got that design which is bound to increase metal fatigue issues by bending strings more than necessary. There are Grover StaTites with straight posts; I'm still playing with the idea to get a set of those.
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I've seen a lot of posts of thomastik indicating similar issues. The recommendation is not to do the bend-over-fold-over string technique on them so I only do that on the plain strings with flatwounds. I never had a thomastik break in that way but clearly others have. Originally Posted by RJVB
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I am not familiar with that technique ... or the name. I just pull the string through the hole and then wind it up, guiding the free end over the business end on the 1st turn. I also don't bend the free end; in my experience the other end gets bent more than enough. Never had a string slip either.
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Originally Posted by RJVB
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Ah, right, that I only do with the strings on my (slothead) classical. On that one I pull the strings more or less taut before doing the wrap (twice for the high E), but on my 2 others I leave about a hand width of slack at the 12th fret. A bit more on the steel string (archtop) actually, aiming to get the string to come off a wider part of the roller.
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I count myself lucky. I’ve only had good luck with the Thomastik’s and am thankful that they last so long. I usually only change them out of guilt, they usually sound fine, still.
Agree on the Chromes, only like them after 4 or 5 months.
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A string breaking at the tuning post is easily remedied by a 1 inch square or 500 grit sandpaper. Roll it up and thread it through the hole, work in back and forth and then press it lightly into the outside edges of the post. The b string on my LP broke at the post and after doing this I've had no issues.
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First, look at the piece of the string that's still on the post. If the break was directly against the edge of the hole, a smoothing of the edge (as described) will probably fix it. But if the break is in one of the coils of the wrapped part, it's probably the string and not the peg that was at fault. Originally Posted by whiskey02
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I switched from TIs to Pyramids, FWIW. Both are OK IMHO but the Pyramids seem to have a more natural feel to me. Not sure I can tell the difference in sound between the two, however.
Never liked Chromes. Too bright and stiff.
I also have a set of Labella black nylon tapes on one of my archtops. Probably too soft in feeling and I will change them out to Pyramids at some point. The nylon wraps definitely take the edge off the attack in my experience.
BTW, I look for round core flatwounds which I think TIs and Pryamids are. They tend to feel better and more broken in right away to me than hex cores which I think strings like Chromes are.
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No other strings have broken on this axe. The break isn't caused by a burr. A burr won't break a .046 wound string. It was the interior wire that broke on these
Originally Posted by whiskey02
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I have been really liking these for about six weeks. The finish of all four wound strings is really nicely done.
Flatwound Electric : Strings By Mail
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several others have recommended them. Originally Posted by Cunamara
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Pyramid also make black nylon tape-wounds which feel soft to the touch but are surprisingly high tension (too high for me, ultimately). Originally Posted by lammie200
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got my new thomastik js112 strings today. A couple of the strings are not ground perfectly flat but it's close enough. They sound better than the DR, Chromes, la bella and ghs to me.
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update 2, the thomastiks are so much better sounding (for me) than any of the other flats I've used including ghs, daddario, la bella, DR. They really have a percussive effect that is missing from the other sets IMO...
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My experience is that the TI flats are simply better than all the rest. They are expensive, but worth it. And as luck would have it, no duds or broken strings ( so far).
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...some random thought...- we are all seeking for the holy flatwound set, fortunately there are limited number of choices. (this is not the case with the seek of the holy pick, which is endless)- the end of story is always TI- the problems with the G string is many times mentioned, however it would be useful to differentiate, what/where is the player's problem: the fretting hand or the picking. - My experience is the picking. I mean there is no disturbing feel and finger noise for the fretting hand, however a disturbing explicit round wound feel and sound for the pick. - However this is easily can be solved with 1 minute sandpapering the string at the 5 cm area where I pick. I always happy with the result, no need to throw away the set.- I can not imagine how a pick would affected after 30 minutes of playing, unless the string made from diamond :-). This case however it is bargain for that price. Of course if it was vanilla new, it would be distinguishable after, but in general even using with roundwound, even after hundred hour there should be no usability degradation.
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I've not heard a bad word about these and, fwiw, I like them alot.
Last edited by DMgolf66; 11-13-2022 at 08:42 AM.
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I'm going through some sets I've lying around on my Cordoba and just put on a LaBella one which has polished bass strings. These feel almost as nice under the fingers as nylon tape-wounds and are probably even less noisy. They almost feel like solid brass wire (off the guitar).
I am not entirely certain if they are flat-wounds or half-rounds (round-wounds polished smooth).
Evidently I'm not suggesting to use these on an archtop that requires steel-string tension, I'm just curious why half-rounds haven't been mentioned yet (AFAICT). You'd say they almost have to be smoother than flat-wounds (which could receive only a cursory polishing because "they're flat already"), and I would expect them to last longer.
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I agree with Jack on the QC on TI’s but still the best flatwounds on the market IMO. I can only get my sound with TI’s. Plus they play like butter. Not as smooth feeling as they used to be though.
I always change out the 2 brass strings with Elixir’s. I don’t like the sound of the brass.
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Y'all should try Pyramids. Just sayin'.
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I have Dogal acoustic flats on my Martin acoustic. Great strings. Hella expensive but I won't be changing them for years I hope. Haven't tried their electric strings. Interesting that they are carbon steel wound instead of stainless or nickel. Also, they have a 12 set that has a wound 16 for the second string. I might get adventurous and give them a go someday. Originally Posted by DMgolf66
I've not heard a bad word about these and, fwiw, I like them alot.
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I did, and I really liked them, but for some reason I had intonation problems with d and g, where intonation went sour in a couple of weeks after I changed set. Originally Posted by lammie200
Also they felt a little rougher than ti:s
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a couple guys didn't recommend them on the fb modern jazz guitar page Originally Posted by JohanAbrandt
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