New String Day - A TI Revelation

[deacon Mark]

I decided today to put a set of TI Benson GR112 round wounds on my Heritage D'angelico. It had D'addario round wounds, the set was .13 .17 .24 .32 .42 .52 and while they are a fine set, I was surprised they were brighter sounding than I expected. So, for my Christmas joy I put these TI's on that are 12 16 .20w .30w .38w ,53w, I thought for sure that the gauge switch would require maybe some tweaking and basically going into this pretty skeptical. I was especially concerned in the middle as the gauges dropping .04 each. It always seemed to be an odd mix of gauges.

Well, I am a believer now! These are fantastic strings, and I did absolutely nothing else to the set up at all. I did not adjust the action or anything I simply strung them up and started playing. Clearly the windings are thinner or at least smoother than the D'addario strings. They almost have a feel of the half-rounds but these are completely round wounds. I wonder about the feel given lighter top strings. I went a bit heavier for the last few weeks to break the guitar in a bit it has not been played much at all. I am completely over the top on these strings in every way. They sound better, play better and feel better all the way around. I am a bit of a tightwad and always rallied against the cost of the TI's but not now these were a cool Christmas present. Bigmike drop this set on me I owe him for sure.

Normally I use the Daddario's on the other guitars but for some reason this particular guitar has a bright attack that is nice but the TI's smooth to perfection.

[wintermoon]

13-52. I used that gauge D'Aquisto strings for yrs until the company folded.
What D'addario's come in that gauge?

[losaltosjoe]

I decided today to put a set of TI Benson GR112 round wounds on my Heritage D'angelico. .

DM - Are you using the HDA strictly as an acoustic archtop or do you use a floater and an amp? Thanks.

[deacon Mark]

13-52. I used that gauge D'Aquisto strings for yrs until the company folded.
What D'addario's come in that gauge?

George I get the regular set of 12-52 and replace the high e and b with 13 and 17. I also buy strings in bulk from Just Strings order the gauges I want. They won't tell you who makes the set for them but I am completely convinced it is D'addario and they just use the simple ball end not color coded. These days I like the pure nickle on most guitars and I have like the half round, I had issues with the half round but that was a QC error and got some additional that work fine. For electric sound the noise is nice not have to worry about and they sound good.

[deacon Mark]

DM - Are you using the HDA strictly as an acoustic archtop or do you use a floater and an amp? Thanks.

I use it both ways but based on my topic thread I don't generally plug in. It seems to pick up a lot of the natural acoustic sound with a dearmond 1100 reissue and my Claris Amp helps too. A set of flat wounds gives it a much more electric sound as expected. I am always torn because I like flat wounds for electric playing but acoustically they just don't keep up.

[fws6]

>Normally I use the Daddario's on the other guitars but for some reason this particular guitar has a bright attack that is nice but the TI's smooth to perfection.

First thing that comes to my mind…. What kind of daddario ‘s ? Because DA EJ22 013’s are nickel wound, wheras DA EPN22 013’s are pure nickel. If you perhaps used EJ’s before than indeed they sound rather bright ; and switching to the EPN’s would also be smoother sounding, at a bit nicer price level.

Not taking away from the Bensons being great strings as well. I have tried them and liked them, but the $$$ always kept me from buying again.

[whiskey02]

Deacon Mark,
When playing unplugged do you notice a reduction of volume with the TI's compared to D'addario set? I have Benson flats on my LP and love them. My archtop is only played acoustic now; have not tried TI's on it but with
"normal" (all other brands) gauges, it does put out better volume with .13's rather than 12's.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I am a bit of a tightwad and always rallied against the cost of the TI's

That's why I never even tried them for years. But all the hype here and elsewhere led me to buy one set of JS113 flats for my gigging archtop about 2 years ago when they were on sale at Just Strings. They last so much longer than the Chromes I'd been using that they're cheaper by far. I recently decided to try plain steel 13s and 17s for E1 and B instead of the TIs that come in the set, and the plain steels are a bit more mellow - the TI plains sound a bit "plinky" to me. But even with an extra $3.58 for two D'A NYXL plains (from Strings and Beyond), it's still a lot cheaper to use TIs because the wounds last well over 6 months and so do the plains. I got a year out of that first set of JS112s and could have gone longer on my laminated archtop. And I'm m at about 8 months now on my 17" carved Eastman.

[skiboyny]

You will have a hard time killing those round wounds. They last forever!

[deacon Mark]

Deacon Mark,
When playing unplugged do you notice a reduction of volume with the TI's compared to D'addario set? I have Benson flats on my LP and love them. My archtop is only played acoustic now; have not tried TI's on it but with
"normal" (all other brands) gauges, it does put out better volume with .13's rather than 12's.

None that I can tell but the player is the last to know. The person out in front of the guitar has the best perspective.

[2bornot2bop]

I use it both ways but based on my topic thread I don't generally plug in. It seems to pick up a lot of the natural acoustic sound with a dearmond 1100 reissue and my Claris Amp helps too. A set of flat wounds gives it a much more electric sound as expected. I am always torn because I like flat wounds for electric playing but acoustically they just don't keep up.

That’s why I use TI Bebop rounds on any acoustic. I use 14’s, when I can find them. They work fabulous on acoustic guitars and don’t sound thin. They’re nearly the diameter of D’Addario 12’s. One pair lasts me a lifetime.