TO BE FLATWOUND OR NOT TO BE FLATWOUND

[elrigato]

???I HAVE RECENTLY PURCHASED AN EPIPHONE EMPORER II JOE PASS HOLLOW BODY JAZZ GUITAR.
I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT IT WOULD SOUND MUCH BETTER IF I HAD FLATWOUND STRINGS ON IT.
WHAT IS THE BEST BRAND?
ALL COMPANIES WEB SITES CLAIM THAT THEY HAVE THE BEST FLATWOUND STRINGS.
IS THERE REALLY A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REGULAR AND FLATWOUND ? IF SO WHICH FLATWOUNDS ARE THE BEST ?
THANKS TO ANYBODY WHO CAN HELP.

[spitfire23bc]

I use D'Addario flatwounds on my Ashbury jazz guitar, and they sound and feel great! There's very little noise as you slide up and down the strings, unlike roundwound strings.

That said, I've never used anything other than flatwounds on it, so I have nothing to compare it with other than the occasional acoustic that belongs to a friend!

But I love the feel of the strings I use ;D

[UnklMickey]

elrigato said:

....IS THERE REALLY A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REGULAR AND FLATWOUND ?....

yes, and that's spelled with a capital Y_E_S_!

with flatwounds you hear more of the fundamental, less harmonics.

they sound "purer", less "springy".

you might like that better, or maybe not-so-much.


as Spitfire23bc said you won't hear the "skritchy" noises when your fingers slide over the strings.

that's a definite plus.



unk

[elrigato]

THANKS GUYS
I'LL BUY SOME THIS WEEK END AND TAKE THEM FOR A RIDE

ROB (ELRIGATO)

[sumgai]

Rob,

Is your CAPS lock key broken?

~!~!~!~!~

Back in the day, none of us clod-kickers could figure out how to move our fingers without string-squeak. Flatwounds were a Gawd-send when they first came out, but they lacked the tone ("bite") of a roundwound, and the sustain was less, too.

So the string makers came out with what they called "tapewound". They took a regular roundwound string, and wrapped a flat piece of epoxy (looked like piece of masking tape) around it, just the same way they did for the wrapping wire around the coil. This was so smooth it was considered "noiseless" by that day's standards.

They're still out there, but mostly for bass, these days. You might consider them, if you're really looking for quiet-with-punch (or at least, more punch than flatwounds).

HTH


sumgai

[lunaalta]

Dammit, I started buying strings in those 2" packs. Before they sold them in sets.
Always asked for a banjo string for the first, just like 'GOD' Eric....LOL

[elrigato]

Hey guys, I bought some flatwound strings made by D'addario today, they feel and sound great on the 'ol Joe Pass Emporer II

Thanks once again for your help....Time to try some Jazzzzzzzzzzzz

Would these string sound good on my Les Paul and my Tele ?
Do these strings come in 9's......the ones on the Joe Pass are 13's
My Les Paul and Tele both have Ernie Ball 9's on them.....13's seem pretty tough to bend.

Just wondering

Thanks again
Rob