Gibson ES-175 - Strings choice only (exit poll)

[archtopdream63]

what kind of strings do you use for Gibson es 175? no other archtop.
just 175D, es175, es775, es165
please be on topic.

[ThatRhythmMan]

I use the same on ALL electric archtops with inset pickups, so that’s easy, Thomastik Infeld Jazz Swings. The only thing that varies is the gauge.


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[archtopdream63]

I use the same on ALL electric archtops with inset pickups, so that’s easy, Thomastik Infeld Jazz Swings. The only thing that varies is the gauge.


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what year do you have?

[ThatRhythmMan]

what year do you have?

I have a very well known 1953 ES-175 with a circa 1962-63 Gibson patent number humbucker in it.




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[Bluedawg]

I still have Gibson Sonomatic roundwound 11 gauge on my 1985 175.

They still sound great. Unfortunately, they don't make the Sonomatics anymore. They haven't made them in years.

The Sonomatics were repackaged and renamed several times, but I've lost track and I'm not sure if they are making them now.

[archtopdream63]

I still have Gibson Sonomatic roundwound 11 gauge on my 1985 175.

They still sound great. Unfortunately, they don't make the Sonomatics anymore. They haven't made them in years.

The Sonomatics were repackaged and renamed several times, but I've lost track and I'm not sure if they are making them now.

the sonomatics or seg900ml are no longer avaliable. I agree, the best strings for gibson archtop.
Never tried the reissue gibson strings, but it seems they don’t make hard gauges anymore

[deacon Mark]

I use the same on ALL electric archtops with inset pickups, so that’s easy, Thomastik Infeld Jazz Swings. The only thing that varies is the gauge.


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I am with you on this Chuck the THomastik are pretty hard to beat. Pricey but they last me a long, long time and feel nice. I actually use them on acoustics too since I don't like bronze strings. I do use the flatwoods on the Super 400ces though and that lends itself to a very smooth electric sound.

[Doctor Jeff]

I am glad I am in the majority—TI JS112s.

I posted elsewhere about them being somewhat brittle near the free end, leading to 2 of them breaking while tensioning them up.

Still, I would buy again without hesitation.

[archtopdream63]

I am glad I am in the majority—TI JS112s.

I posted elsewhere about them being somewhat brittle near the free end, leading to 2 of them breaking while tensioning them up.

Still, I would buy again without hesitation.

I sometime use the js113 but…. the acoustic projection is killed. Nice sound plugged in, very easy to play.

[ThatRhythmMan]

I am glad I am in the majority—TI JS112s.

I posted elsewhere about them being somewhat brittle near the free end, leading to 2 of them breaking while tensioning them up.

Still, I would buy again without hesitation.

Did you string them so they bent on the metal winding? They need to have silk winding at least at the point where the string bends going into the tuner. I learned that the hard way.


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[kawa]

Thomastik-Infeld/JS111 is best!

Gibson discontinued sonomatic series.

[Doctor Jeff]

Did you string them so they bent on the metal winding? They need to have silk winding at least at the point where the string bends going into the tuner. I learned that the hard way.


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Yes I did bend the string distal to the hole. As I recall, there was silk there but beyond where the winding started, at least on one of them. It broke right where the string went into the post hole.

[blkjazz]

Stringjoy Broadways 12-52

[kawa]

Gibson new product

flatwound-electric-guitar-strings

Flatwound Electric Guitar Strings | Gibson Japan

[nyc chaz]

Gibson new product

flatwound-electric-guitar-strings

Flatwound Electric Guitar Strings | Gibson Japan

I could be wrong but those have been available for a few years.A friend had them on his archtop and they felt awful to me.

[Spook410]

Just Gibson ES 175. Not Epiphone. Not Greco. Not Westville. Not an Ibanez PM. Not a Gibson L4 or L5CES. Umm.. no. Wouldn't want someone with less experience in archtops thinking strings apply so specifically to a model rather than a type of guitar.

For a purely electric archtop, which includes all the above and many others, I have moved away from Tomastik Infeld. While I can afford their ridiculous prices better than some, I choose not to pay it when very good alternatives like Newtone doublewound archtop strings are available a bit cheaper. About $13 a set including shipping to the US when you buy 10.

[StoneWaller]

I really need to try those Newtones. Have used their Michael Messer resonator sets for my Nationals and they were always fantastic.

To quote one of the forum members, I don't quite rember who (Christian Miller maybe?... It was someone who's opinion is much higher regarded than my experience allows, thus I listen) ... I remember reading it when I was 175 hunting and consuming everything I could. It was good advise.

To paraphrase "a 175 does a certain thing, it's up to you if that thing is something you want."

Seems to ring true. I get a lot of versatility out of a set of nickle or monel round wounds, and they'll inspire me to play stuff other than the ancient tunes I'm forever working on. Little R. L. Burnside, Jr kimborough hypnotic blues grooves, maybe some overdrive or a pedal even.....but if I really want it to do the (what I perceive as the 175 "thing") Labella Flats are killer.

Don't always want that flavor, but when I feel like cos playing with my 175 as a jazz cat playing tunes in a 50s airport cocktail lounge, nothing beats em

[Spook410]

..

playing with my 175 as a jazz cat playing tunes..

The Newtone doublewound strings are pretty good. Certainly worth trying to see if you like them. As for the Gibson ES175, mine is a 2003 (I think). So not a unique vintage model. Still, maybe it's because our ears are attuned to what it does. Maybe it's a special combination of materials and geometry. Not sure precisely why, but it's an exceptional guitar. Seems to do everything well in spite of it's humble plywood construction.

[StoneWaller]

Right, they're just cool. So much character from one to another. My first archtop venture was a Sadowsky ss15. Great guitar. Impeccable build. And as we'd say in the shooting world, boringly reliable. If I was a gigging player, a professional, or just a more serious student, I get it. My 16 VOS is a little quirky, hurts my shoulder, and is subjectively harder to play, but I can't put it down. Paired with the right strings it's sonic bliss

[Cunamara]

I am one week into owning an ES-175, still figuring out how to get tones out of it. There is certainly a unique thing to it and that thing does seem to be a thing I want. I also like how it naturally wants to sit "neck up." And the neck dimensions are really nice, wider and fuller than my other guitars which somehow makes it easy to play. Looks like it sat in the case mainly for the last 19 years, not a scratch or a ding, not even pick swirls on the pickguard.

It was set up just before I bought it and I have no idea what strings are on it. Since the ball ends are all yellow brass, they are not D'Addarios; that much I can guess. They feel like 11s and sound great. I have generally really liked SIT S1150 nickel plated strings on many of my other guitars, so when I switch that's what'll go on there.

[StoneWaller]

Very nice. Still learning how to produce those sounds too. Think there's a lot of magic in getting tone out with a caressing touch, as I discovered trying not to wake my daughter at 1am. I have heavy hands as my wife say, so it's really forcing me to work on my right hand technique.

Oddball suggestion, but Dogal expressives could be worth a try as you break her in. Another great forum recommendation. I love to be able to eves drop on pro player discussions. You learn a lot. I'd like to hear more opinions on these as I don't think I've played anything quite like them.

Verdict is still out, as I'm giving a month on a 52-12 set currently. They are beautiful sounding...maybe too pretty and polite? Trying to avoid hyperbole, but they have a freakishly consistent sound from string to string up and down the neck. Very clear, sweet, and electric. The weird thing is it stays like this as the volume rolls off. If I roll off any other set, it goes from liquid saturation, to a pleasant blending of the woody acoustic tone, to a depressing dead flatwound thud on zero. With these I check to see if I'm actually on zero. They still maintain some of that same sweetness in the acoustic sound.

Referencing the fan favorite: if Thomastiks are a dark smokey club, Dogals are a clear blue sky? Both really good sounds. Great to have so many choices.

[Cunamara]

It is interesting to note that every discussion of strings results in a lot of forum members declaring the superiority of Thomastik Infeld strings. It does not seem to matter what the guitar in question is, whether it is a carved fine luthier-made archtop, a laminated factory made guitar, Telecaster, Stratocaster, a Les Paul, etc. The TI strings always seem to come out on top in the opinion of our members. It would be interesting to study this in a blind hearing test; do people think these are the best strings because they are among the most expensive (and therefore, because we have invested heavily in them, are prone to perceiving them as being better) or because they really do have a "superior" sound that most peoples' ears would agree.

My favorite strings on most of my guitars are SITs, which are about US$7 a set. I find them to be very even in tone, long lasting, feel nice under the fingers and I'm very pleased with them. But is that because I'm a tightwad and a deal hunter? Maybe I've got a different set of biases at work here. The only electric strings I use other than the SIT Power Wound S1150 set are custom sets of Thomas Vincis that I ordered years ago to try to balance better with my old CC bar pick up (.013 to .050, a slightly odd set but I think it gives a nice beefy top end without the lower strings being telephone cables). These are currently on my semihollow Telecaster and my 17" Cushman archtop. On my steel string acoustic guitars, I use Martin Retro Monel which I like vastly better than brass or bronze wound strings. They also worked well on the CC pickup, taming the bass response a little bit which was part of what I was aiming at with the Vinci string set. My understanding is that Monel strings would have been what was available to Charlie Christian, so it makes sense that those would balance well with that pick up.

However, I am also a bit skeptical that different brands of strings are really all that different. For one thing, at least for US strings, many brands are actually D'Addarios repackaged. And as far as I know, no string manufacturers draw their own wire; they order it from other manufacturers that draw the wire from various alloys. The string manufacturers just wind the strings from the spools of wire they've purchased. I have no idea how many different alloys would be available for this and how many variations there really can be. Maybe there are hundreds of different alloys that can be mixed and matched for different tonal results, and perhaps somebody here knows more about this than I do. There are some string makers that use different construction methods, such as double wrapped low strings, which I think would obviously result in some difference in tonality. TI brass plates their treble strings, which might make a difference in tone there as well.

[StoneWaller]

True. It is a rabbit hole. Add psychoacoustics, external influences ( marketing, group think, etc) on top of countless variables in our individual kit, hands, skill level... One person's beautiful and clear is another's cold and sterile.

I think it's the construction and materials as opposed to brand in what makes a more universal discernable difference - steel / nickel. Round core / hex. And then the gauge make up of each manufacturer uses.

If you did an A/B comparison of Chromes and Labella, (hex and steel) or Thomastik and Pyramids (round and nickel) and all had the same gauge set how discernable would those tonal differences be in a blind test? I'd wager I could tell which are steel and nickel as a player, but as a listener, probably not.

The Dogals I mentioned are steel with a round core, and a copper/bronze looking wrap under the steel ribbon - a different construction & material combo I don't think I've seen, hence another different sound to choose from.

[gianluca]

I costantly move from a set to another searching the right match for me at that time (usually 012 or 013 flats ffom TI or D’Addario) but I lately realized that TI 011 flats are perfect for my 175: I now understand what “butter playing” means. really easy to play but still keeping fat warm tone and sustain.
When I roll off the volume knob to 5/6 I get a pretty acoustic tone through my fender twin reverb tone master.
Volume to 8/10 for a full warm fat jazz tone.
tone knob on 5/6 for me.
At the end 010 is the factory setup for 175 and a TI 011 set is almost like a 010 set

[Spook410]

,,, It would be interesting to study this in a blind hearing test; do people think these are the best strings because they are among the most expensive (and therefore, because we have invested heavily in them, are prone to perceiving them as being better) or because they really do have a "superior" sound
..

It is a fact that TI's have a lower string tension than the rest. More subjectively, and to my less-than-perfect ears, they do sound a bit different than your typical electric string. Certainly different than something quite bright like Chrome's. Also, wrapping and wrap application will vary my manufacturer. Finally, given the consistency, I still think TI is the best. Just not enough to justify the cost which is why I'm liking Newtone double wrap archtop strings. Not overly bright. Reasonable tension. Pretty consistent string to string. Not too squeaky.