Thomastik-infeld unwound strings abrasive?

[Sabicas]

I've been using TM "Swing" flatwounds for a while on several guitars. I decided to get some 11s (I usually have 10s) and noticed the unwound strings are a light yellow/gold and they feel abrasive against the frets when applying vibrato.

Has anyone else experienced this?

[vinnyv1k]

Yes I always replace the E and B with Elixirs.

[John A.]

Yes, I notice the color difference; no they don't feel abrasive to me.

[AaronMColeman]

Yes I always replace the E and B with Elixirs.

Where do you get them from? I'm looking to replace the high strings.

[entresz]

Yes I always replace the E and B with Elixirs.

That's what I do too!
I use the 12-50 TI set but swap the 12 and 16 for Elixir 13 and 17. Pretty much the perfect set of strings for my electric instrument. The Elixir plain strings are slick and last a long time.

[tomassplatch]

I agree, I don't like the --tin-- (sorry) brass plated Thomastik top strings. There are some old threads on this in the forum. They sound fine at the beginning but as the thin tin coating starts wearing off, they produce a nasty high pitched buzzing on some types of frets.

[vinnyv1k]

Where do you get them from? I'm looking to replace the high strings.

Strings and Beyond

[sgosnell]

Any place that sells strings almost certainly sells singles. I usually order them from Guitar Center, because they sell Rogue plain strings very cheaply, and I can't tell any difference between them and more expensive ones. The TI plains are coated with brass over tin, and the brass is what gives them the color, but it's a very thin brass coating, and easily wears down to the silver-colored tin underneath. I've never found them to be abrasive, just a tad thinner than other brands of the same advertised diameter. They're metric, and the diameter is rounded to the nearest thousandth of an inch. Thus .012 strings aren't quite .012 inches in diameter, but close. I've just given up on TI strings entirely, because they're just more expensive than they're worth to me. It's a subjective decision, not really objective at all.

[wintermoon]

Hard to believe at those prices they're selling defective strings. Glad I'm not a customer.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Hard to believe at those prices they're selling defective strings. Glad I'm not a customer.

I've bought a lot of strings over 65 years, and I don't recall more than a handful that had any problems out of the pack. Those problems were all with intonation, and I haven't encountered that in several years. So I'm a bit mystified at all of the posts suggesting defective strings from major manufacturers. I've now mounted 9 sets of TI Jazz Swing flats on my guitars in the last 2 years - 2 sets on the Ibanez and 2 on the 810CE7 plus 1 each on the Eastman Elite, the Les Paul, the Tele, the ESP and the Ibanez flat top. I used the plated TI plains on all archtops for about a year until I went to heavier steel plain Es and Bs. So I've used several plated TI plains but now use D'Addario steel singles (13 & 17 on the archtops, 11 & 13 on the solids). I save the unused TIs and carry them as spares for the LP on blues gigs - so being a bit thinner and a hair brighter works just fine. And since they come in unsealed paper sleeves, I check each one before putting it in the gig bag - and they've all been fine.

I haven't gotten a bad string in any of those packs. I have had some strings come out of the packs corroded or otherwise rough - but they were all years old, stored in their original paper sleeves, and not in sealed packs. I found a bunch of strings I'd bought for the pedal steel I had in the '80s (and gave up on because I still sounded less than professional on it after 3 years of trying). They were almost all still usable, and a few wipes through a folded jewelry polishing cloth was all it took to clean them up. They were good enough for the blues

So I agree with you, wm. I find it hard to believe that there are that many defective strings coming out of new packs of fresh stock.

[Sabicas]

I don't know if they are "defective". I also play steel guitar and some types of metal bars don't slide as easily over some types of strings. I'm wondering if the brass-plated TI unwound strings are just a bad match for my frets (this is on a Gretsch G2655t). They don't feel abrasive to the fingers. It's only when bending the string or applying vibrato.

[vinnyv1k]

The TI’s are certainly not defective. I just don’t like the brass strings. They sound brighter and get sticky faster then plain steel.
IMO plain steel sound better then brass on a electric archtop.

I get a solid year out of a set of TI’s.
I hate stainless steel flats. They feel rough and eat up you frets as stainless is much harder then your frets unless you have SS or Evo Gold frets. TI’s rule except for the E&B. An extra $2.50 doesn’t hurt me at all. That’s a cup of coffee.

[Oscar67]

I just don’t like the brass strings. They sound brighter and get sticky faster then plain steel.

Interesting! With my guitars and with the way I play, the unwound TI’s actually sound more musical and toneful. They lack the super-high transients that I associate with unwound B and E strings. Sometimes when I change strings, I leave the unwound TI strings on and only replace the wound ones…