Flatwounds for Tele?

[blackcat]

Thinking of changing the roundwound 10s on my Classic Vibe Tele to flatwound 11s - not Chromes. Slooted vintage tuners. Worried about the red silk windings and fitting. Any recommendations please? Lower tension preferred if a choice.

David

[AllanAllen]

I like DR flats on my tele.

[blackcat]

I like DR flats on my tele.

Thanks for that AA - Just looked at the Legend 11-48s and here in France they come out at almost 30€ per ste which is quite a bit more expensive than TI Jazz Swings. Is tension low/moderate?

[wzpgsr]

Thinking of changing the roundwound 10s on my Classic Vibe Tele to flatwound 11s - not Chromes. Slooted vintage tuners. Worried about the red silk windings and fitting. Any recommendations please? Lower tension preferred if a choice.

David

I just bought a CV 50s Tele this week and asked the shop to string it with TI 12 flats. No issues with the red silk windings that I’m aware of, but I think you need to be careful to crimp the strings prior to clipping so the strings don’t unwind. 12s are bit to stiff feeling on this guitar for my liking. 11s may be the sweet spot.

[docsteve]

I used to have gauge 11 TI flats on my Tele and have gauge 11 Pyramid Fusion Flats on it now. No issues at all with the wraps. TIs feel softer than Pyramids. Haven’t tried .12s yet.


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[blille]

I used chromes 10 and replaced the top two with 12 and 16. I believe I also used TI 12 (similar gauges to above) with no problem. Take into account that the scale is larger than the average archtop so you may want a smaller set than whatever you’re used to, to account for the tension difference.

[lammie200]

I use Pyramid Gold 12s on mine. There is no silk wrapping at the tuner end.

[kris]

I use 16s GHS Pat Martino on my Tele.

[AllanAllen]

Thanks for that AA - Just looked at the Legend 11-48s and here in France they come out at almost 30€ per ste which is quite a bit more expensive than TI Jazz Swings. Is tension low/moderate?

I used DR 12s because the DR 11s were low tension compared to Ernie ball round wound 11s.

I also went with DRs because they were the cheapest option in USA. I’d probably go with TI if they cost less where you are.

[blackcat]

I use 16s GHS Pat Martino on my Tele.

Kris - That is incredible. How do you handle them?!

David

[Bobby Timmons]

How TF do 16s not blow up? I'm honestly curious to know. How do they not break? Or something else?

[Peter C]

If you don't want Chromes, search for Pyramid flats here in Europe. With Thomastik Swings, you may want to go up one gauge, so 12s for 11s. You will likely notice a volume drop on the rather skinny wound 3rd string in these sets, especially with non-adjustable pickups.

[entresz]

I've never had an issues stringing TIs on my Fender Tele with vintage style tuners. I alternate between the 11-48 set and the 12-50 set. Both sound good.
Once I started using flats on my Tele I never went back to roundwounds, even for playing other styles outside of jazz.

[Cunamara]

Since you're in Europe, Pyramid strings should be reasonably priced and are excellent quality.

[kris]

Kris - That is incredible. How do you handle them?!

David

Excellent strings.
I've been playing them for over a year with no problems.
They are very easy to play on. They don't break.

[himself]

I use TI 12 flatwounds on tele, but tuned one step low.
Check Tim Lerch YT channel, I gues he recently "discovered" flatwounds on tele.

[Kirk Garrett]

I used 11 flats on my Squier Tele and liked ‘em a lot. But they eventually broke five out of six tuner posts which I had to replace.

[blille]

How TF do 16s not blow up? I'm honestly curious to know. How do they not break? Or something else?

They have the added bonus that you can grate some cheese or slice ham in between sets.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I used 11 flats on my Squier Tele and liked ‘em a lot. But they eventually broke five out of six tuner posts which I had to replace.

Wow! I've used 11 Chromes for years on many solid & semi hollow bodies (Carvin, Fender, LP, ESP, Kubicki, Raines, Ibanez etc) with stock and Sperzel tuners and never had a problem. What broke - the actual post? If so, where was the break and was it exactly the same on all 5 tuners?

[Kirk Garrett]

Wow! I've used 11 Chromes for years on many solid & semi hollow bodies (Carvin, Fender, LP, ESP, Kubicki, Raines, Ibanez etc) with stock and Sperzel tuners and never had a problem. What broke - the actual post? If so, where was the break and was it exactly the same on all 5 tuners?

It’s a cheapo Squire that I happen to love. But the tuners were crap. They were soldered at the post, which is where they broke. Three little dots of solder was their only security. Nonetheless they stayed in a forward leaning position (leaning toward the body) for ages, and the strings stayed in tune. But I decided to change strings to rounds, and then discovered what exactly was going on. The peg holes were holding the posts in place under tension from the strings.

[outaspaceman]

In an article about Mark Speer from Khruangbin, I read a while ago: He favours flatwound strings, but for playability, ditches the low E (0.42) and substitutes it with the A (032), then the D for the A, and so on, using a 0.10 for both the B and high E. I thought that was interesting on a Strat, especially since he doesn't sound flat at all.

I was used to putting flatwounds on my hollow bodies and had done it on a tele before, but when I tried it on my American Strat, I was happily surprised by the sound. Never forget that EQ is your friend too. Now I alternate between flatwounds and half rounds, which is the 3rd possible option. D'addario sells them in 9, 10, 11 and 12 gauge sets and I like them a lot. At around 14 euros, they definitely don't break the bank.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

It’s a cheapo Squire that I happen to love. But the tuners were crap. They were soldered at the post, which is where they broke. Three little dots of solder was their only security. Nonetheless they stayed in a forward leaning position (leaning toward the body) for ages, and the strings stayed in tune. But I decided to change strings to rounds, and then discovered what exactly was going on. The peg holes were holding the posts in place under tension from the strings.

Wow - that’s a far cry from the very high quality of the first Squires. I bought a new Squire Strat in 1983 or 4 that was better than the US-made models at the time.

I suspect that what looks like solder dots is actually tiny spot welds. Either way, a 2 piece post seems like a strange way to cut production costs.

[Kirk Garrett]

Wow - that’s a far cry from the very high quality of the first Squires. I bought a new Squire Strat in 1983 or 4 that was better than the US-made models at the time.

I suspect that what looks like solder dots is actually tiny spot welds. Either way, a 2 piece post seems like a strange way to cut production costs.

True. My Squier is from 2009, and it’s a great guitar…that happened to come with rubbish tuners. In fact, I vastly prefer my guitar to various other Teles costing over $1K that I’ve played in shops. At this point, it’s a parts caster.