Consider flat wounds. No, seriously. Hear me out.

[CandidPicker]

Interesting.
How does everyone get on with wound 3rds?
How about bends?

IMHO, the wound Gm makes tuning easier; not so much variance compared to the unwound G.

Bends, OK. I usually don't bend too much with jazz, but with blues, there's more reason for doing so. T-I strings are well-constructed, so no chance of snapping a string.

The action feels quicker, and as @Axis39 said, does away with extraneous string noise. The key aspect is the T-I's are rounder tones, more balance across the frequency response curve, not so overt in specific frequency areas. (Read: not as many frequency transients).

If anything, the T-I's will smooth out a semi-hollow or hollow body guitar's tone because they clean and clear up what makes for bad tone. Because good tone is dependent on a healthy foundation, the T-I's, which are well-constructed, prevent bad tone from occurring.

All you need do is maintain a good routine of practice, and your guitar and T-I strings will last quite some time.

 

[merciful-evans]

I don't even notice a difference, to be honest. The tension is so even on the 10-44 set, they just feel completely comfortable to play. I bend all over the place and have never had a T-I g string break on me, nor do they interfere with my playing in any way. They do get rid of 99% of the string noise, though.

I've had a number of guys try my guitar, and stop short when they suddenly realize they are playing a guitar with flats on it. They will usually comment on the good tone, and how nice they actually feel. Then, they profess that they never imagined I was playing flats. I've never had anyone even casually remark on the fact that the g string is a wound string.

Sounds great. I use flatwounds on my archtop, but never yet on anything else.

Thanks to you and candid picker both, I'm curious enough to try these now. Now just need to nominate the right guitar....

 

[Axis39]

Let me also state for the record that the only other flats I've tried, and liked, were Pyramids. I've only tried a few brands, though.

I am NOT a fan fo the Chromes you can get at most places. I find them kinda funky, and they do not last nearly as long as T-I's! They definitely do not feel as good, either.

 

[merciful-evans]

ok ordered.
Probably try them on the ES-339

 

[CandidPicker]

ok ordered.
Probably try them on the ES-339

The .10-.46's will fit without any additional nut slotting, or you might be able to get away with not needing an intonation. If you're already familiar with what flat wounds sound like, you can gauge how well they'll sound on your 339. PDG = Pretty darn good.

 

[merciful-evans]

The .10-.46's will fit without any additional nut slotting, or you might be able to get away with not needing an intonation. If you're already familiar with what flat wounds sound like, you can gauge how well they'll sound on your 339. PDG = Pretty darn good.

I couldn't find a set that were 10-46. The only (10) option I saw was 10-44. They have now arrived, but I haven't used them yet. I'd better get the ES-339 out and put some wear into it first.

 

[CandidPicker]

I couldn't find a set that were 10-46. The only (10) option I saw was 10-44. They have now arrived, but I haven't used them yet. I'd better get the ES-339 out and put some wear into it first.

You're correct. The T-I's I located as well were actually .10-.44s. Likely just used to seeing standard .010 gauge strings and thinking .046...

Best wishes with them, though. The only issue I personally experienced was getting them to feed correctly through the bridge (the red wrap makes it slightly more difficult). But once you've got that, you've got it licked...

 

[Axis39]

One note about stringing up... T-I's are round core, so you must take a little care before cutting them.

It is best to kink them near where you'll be cutting to lock the wrap and core together.

 

[dogrocketp]

Also consider D'Addario half rounds if you find the sound of the flat wound bass strings too muffled to your ears. They can be a pain to find, but they have great hollowbody tone. Juststrings usually has them in stock. On my full on big box archtops, I prefer DR zebras. They alternate the winds between bronze and nickel. All the cut necessary for swing with better pickup response.

 

[CandidPicker]

Also consider D'Addario half rounds if you find the sound of the flat wound bass strings too muffled to your ears. They can be a pain to find, but they have great hollowbody tone. Juststrings usually has them in stock. On my full on big box archtops, I prefer DR zebras. They alternate the winds between bronze and nickel. All the cut necessary for swing with better pickup response.

Thanx for the suggestions. I think the T-I's have spoiled me a little on their quality, so it may not be easy to convince me otherwise regards the D'Addario's or DR Zebras. I guess it's just like owning a nice PRS...once the light bulb goes on over your head, it's not as easy to disregard an obvious choice. Not saying PRS is an ONLY choice, but for many, it is what this forum is about.

 

[jxe]

flat-wound strings, like prs guitars, in the final analysis: just another thing jimi never played.

 

[CandidPicker]

flat-wound strings, like prs guitars, in the final analysis: just another thing jimi never played.

PRSh was still likely in elementary school/junior high at the time, so there's that...just some R&D waiting to happen...

 

[Kiwi]

OP here. I have to laugh at myself with this follow-up. I am become Kiwi, Destroyer of Strings:

I next put the $30 T-I flats on my PRS 594 SH. As expected: much joy, wonderful tone, unicorn farts and rainbows.

A couple days ago I had to loosen all the strings to make a pickup adjustment. When I re-tensioned them, the low E went sproing. The wrap broke off from the core, at the tuning peg. %$#%@!!!

JustStrings.com will, in fact, sell you a single replacement T-I low E string in .044 gauge. The single string will cost you $10.14 and you will pay it. Oh yes, you will pay it, to rescue the rest of the set!

Be smarter than me,

=K

 

[Muybien04]

OP here. I have to laugh at myself with this follow-up. I am become Kiwi, Destroyer of Strings:

I next put the $30 T-I flats on my PRS 594 SH. As expected: much joy, wonderful tone, unicorn farts and rainbows.

A couple days ago I had to loosen all the strings to make a pickup adjustment. When I re-tensioned them, the low E went sproing. The wrap broke off from the core, at the tuning peg. %$#%@!!!

JustStrings.com will, in fact, sell you a single replacement T-I low E string in .044 gauge. The single string will cost you $10.14 and you will pay it. Oh yes, you will pay it, to rescue the rest of the set!

Be smarter than me,

=K

Great. Just picked up a set to throw on my tele. Need to do a new set up so this will be interesting.

Maybe we should all split a "spares" pack

 

[bodia]

OP here. I have to laugh at myself with this follow-up. I am become Kiwi, Destroyer of Strings:

I next put the $30 T-I flats on my PRS 594 SH. As expected: much joy, wonderful tone, unicorn farts and rainbows.

A couple days ago I had to loosen all the strings to make a pickup adjustment. When I re-tensioned them, the low E went sproing. The wrap broke off from the core, at the tuning peg. %$#%@!!!

JustStrings.com will, in fact, sell you a single replacement T-I low E string in .044 gauge. The single string will cost you $10.14 and you will pay it. Oh yes, you will pay it, to rescue the rest of the set!

Be smarter than me,

=K

Ouch!

 

[Axis39]

OP here. I have to laugh at myself with this follow-up. I am become Kiwi, Destroyer of Strings:

I next put the $30 T-I flats on my PRS 594 SH. As expected: much joy, wonderful tone, unicorn farts and rainbows.

A couple days ago I had to loosen all the strings to make a pickup adjustment. When I re-tensioned them, the low E went sproing. The wrap broke off from the core, at the tuning peg. %$#%@!!!

JustStrings.com will, in fact, sell you a single replacement T-I low E string in .044 gauge. The single string will cost you $10.14 and you will pay it. Oh yes, you will pay it, to rescue the rest of the set!

Be smarter than me,

=K

I bought a bunch of single e and b strings a few years ago because they were the ones that needed replacing before the wrapped strings.... It got me two and half years out fo a set. But, i think I got lucky and bought them on sale somewhere online... I cannot imagine (as cheap as I can be) that I would have paid 10 bucks a string. Not that they aren't worth it, but because I really am a cheap bastard.

I actually need to refresh my stash of T-I strings. I'm down to a pack of five strings.... (yeah, broke one at some point and stole a spare from this set).

I will say that these strings are not particularly fond of being de-tensioned and re-tensioned. The cores seem to be a bit brittle for that kind of treatment. But, stretching from bending doesn't seem to effect them at all.

 

[tabl10s]

Hmmm.....I've never played flat wounds.

I used them on my Strat back in '78.

 

[jxe]

I used them on my Strat back in '78.

why’d you do it?

 

[Alnus Rubra]

why’d you do it?

Maybe he was into flat picking

 

[jxe]

Maybe he was into flat picking

but why strat instead full jazz-master