You Should Try Flat Top Acoustic Strings
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- čas přidán 4. 07. 2024
- | D'Addario Phosphor Bronze Flat Top Strings | Amazon - amzn.to/3CHpStf | Reverb - reverb.partnerlinks.io/DAddar... |
The D'addario Flat Top (phosphor bronze acoustic) string set is an interesting one. They kind of exist halfway in between a round and flatwound set. They're slightly warmer in tone, seem to have a bit more tension, and don't squeak under your fingers as you play. In this video I'm playing back to back samples of the Flat Top set against a set of traditional roundwound Phosphor Bronze strings.
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More String Comparisons - • String Comparisons
▶️ Highlights
0:00 - Overview
0:53 - What are Flat Tops?
2:08 - Parameters for the comparison
2:36 - Chords
3:06 - Fingerpicking
3:54 - Flatpicking
4:48 - Classical
7:13 - some Tony Rice
8:47 - Jazz
9:55 - More flatpicking
10:38 - Outro
#acoustic #DAddarioStrings
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Thank you for the video. I usually go for 80/20 on my Martin, but since I’ll be recording it with mics, I decided to try the flat tops. They sound great and almost no squeak. I still prefer the 80/20, but it is what is. For a recording setting and my way of playing, I’ll be recording with the flat tops to avoid any headaches during the mixing process.
Absolutely great playing and wonderful demonstration of the two. The traditionalist: "The rounds don't sound right. They don't sound like an acoustic guitar should!" No, they sound more like a professional recorded acoustic. If you want to record regulars and then compress and EQ them to sound like the rounds, do so. 😄
First off, beautiful playing, very nice sounding guitar, good miking, and unbiased comparison.
I don't like squeaky, and overly bright strings. So, I tend to leave strings on my guitars for a long time and EQ their brightness to my taste. I preferred the tone of the Round Wounds, and silence of the Flat Tops, probably like most people. I'd stick to using Round Wounds for now, as the Flat Tops sounded unbalanced, weak in the bass, and inspiring.
Definite more "ring" with the roundwounds. I have to say that is the sound that is most pleasing to my brain. I use Phosphor Bronze D'Addario EXP17s on my HD28. That is the sound that I have gravitated towards in my 60 years of acoustic guitar playing. Your videos are tops! Thanks for all your work. TT
Really helpful.
I’m definitely trying the flat tops for my finger picking. I think if you strum or need sustained notes then round wound do the job, but… I play mainly arpeggios and ostinatos so all that sustain sometimes kinda gets in the way, and the flats had more definition in the mids I thought.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my HD28V and don’t laugh , 😉 but I’ve also fallen in love with my son’s half size Harley Benton Travel. £90 🤷🏻♂️ it is what it is, but capoed from the 2nd to the 5th or even 7th fret and played finger style it has a sound all its own. Steel string, yes but also hints of Dobro, classical, even Ukulele and harp. Especially when the strings are old. I believe Nick Drake used to play his strings to death before recording because he liked that shortened, more rounded sound.
Wondering if there are completely flat wound strings for acoustic and how they would sound. 🤷🏻♂️ I certainly wouldn’t miss the squeak. 🤷🏻♂️
Great A/B video, thanks. 🙏😎☯️
Wow, you are super versatile! I've got to get some flat wounds or flattops for my fingerstyle jazz playing. Thank you!
Magma Flat Phosphor Bronze Strings are a more refined Version of the D'addario Flat Top Strings because they go a step further & flatten the windings all the way.
Wow, you went to great length for this demo.They do both sound great.The 'normal' strings sounded more alive and dynamic.Although ,the flat-tops still sounded sweet on the fingerpicking and classical examples.I like 80/20 too.
Very interesting. With the flat-tops, as I expected, you certainly lose some high-end shimmer and high-mids that you get on the roundwounds. But they seem to also provide an audible hump somewhere a little lower in the mids register. I liked the sound, and I think I'll give them a try.
The bronze Flat tops sound amazing with an all mahogany acoustic. It really complements the warm a deep woody tones. Especially with something like a 000-15M.
I just tried out the lights, the whole point is when you slide a chord up or down and there is much less squeak. I liked these a lot just for that reason.
great review. would love to hear these on fingerstyle jazz
Nice review as always Alex! I tried them many years ago (2014) but didn’t much care for them. One of the best regular round wound strings I ever encountered that were not coated were GHS Vintage Bronze, which also happened to sound really good and minimal string squeak. Not sure why.
Really Great Job Man 🎸🎸🎸
Man, I didn't even know these were a thing! Definitely gonna try them with my Baden
This is where I start when I buy a new acoustic.
My mahogany Martin 000 sounds best with Elixir nanoweb (11-52). Went through a ton of strings for that and assumed they would brighten up the J45, nope, not nearly the same.
PB seems the most popular choice. But I thought, maybe I'll try flats... Here I am.
It's that feel & tone that fits and you'll be hard pressed to change.
I want to say some of the reason for the lower highs are a simple matter of a larger diameter core string. This can be overcome with an equalizer of course. Also the thicker core will increase the amount of tension to achieve the proper tuning. So you may find you will need to adjust your truss rod tension as well. The strings will also last longer because of the core size being larger. I put Magma 10s on my electric and 12s on my acoustic.
Great episode
I have an Hd28 and use the ej17. I like them on your video. they seem brighter which i prefer. I have been hearing from a friend to try the new XS which he switched too. I’ve played them on his hd28 and they felt really good and sounded good but are pricey.
Nice video. Reminds me I should change strings. Nice playing.
I might try those next. I tried the XT set on my electric a year or two ago but I preferred just the regular XL nickel set that I've been using for years.
I like the flat tops. More mellow to me. Think I will try a set!
Very interesting film, my pet hate is squeaky string noises, not so much finger squeak but pick squeak, I'm trying all sorts to reduce it and these strings certainly do seem make a difference. When amplified it gets worse and when you try to EQ the squeak out you tend to loose valuable top end frequencies. will definitely give them a whirl.
Fabulous channel.
Well looks like I'm getting some flat tops! I'll be sure to keep the affiliate link. I have a weird tactile issue with roundwound strings (the texture feels very bad to my fingers) and I'm only now realizing that there's viable alternatives. Thanks!
You are very talented and I enjoyed this thorough demonstration very much, thank you for posting it and I hope to see more.
I dislike any string squeak and in search for a squeak free string set for acoustic guitar I tried D'Addario Flat Top.
I thought they helped reduce string squeak but didn't eliminate it.
Even with your talented playing I did noticed some Flat Top string squeak during the jazz demo.
I think the Flat Tops do a better job reducing string squeak than Elixir coated strings.
As previously mentioned, Magma Flat Phosphor Bronze are a more refined than D'Addario Flat Tops, the string surface on the Magma strings have a much smoother polished feel. I don't get any string squeak with Magma Flat
like did with D'Addario Flat Top.
Thanks for the recommendation! I would also say you should check out the Thomastik Infeld plectrum string set too, but at least one of the strings in that set are round wound, the others flat. Very interesting sound.
Thank you for the suggestion Alex.
Yes I know about the round wound string/strings in the Plectrum string sets.
I prefer all my acoustic guitar wound strings to be flattened polished or flat wound.
I'd love to see Thomastik Infeld offer such a string set for acoustic guitar, I would definitely give them a try.
I hope you get an opportunity to try the Magma Flat Phosphor Bronze strings.
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I love my flat tops 😍
Almost negligible after listening twice through, but can hear the slight differences. To me the difference is noticeable in the feel of the PB compared to FT strings.
Great demo as always. 🎧 🎙️
How do the flat tops compare to the Martin Retro’s?
Alex Price
Try Magma Phosphor Bronze Flatwounds
Thank you for posting this. The difference is very clear. I like the idea of reducing string squeak, and my duo partner (who plays a harp) would really appreciate it, but to me it's as though you are playing a very much inferior guitar when those flats are on it.
How far is that mic away?
wouldn't the flat top strings need to start thicker just for them to be the same gauge as the phosphor bronze after grinding down the strings? It would make sense to me that the flat tops would have more tension because of that, but I could be wrong
Yeah, it makes sense. The inner core of the strings I'm sure is thicker than on a standard set.
Flatwound strings are physically more dense than rounds, so they have more mass per unit length. More mass per unit length means a lower note for the same tension. Therefore, a string that is heavier per unit length needs to be pulled tighter for the same pitch. Even if the core was the same diameter it would have to be tighter because of the extra mass.
If there was the OOO (or smaller) shaped guitar, I would definitely prefer flatwound strings
I think if you EQ'd the flats you could get them to ring more like round
The rounds sound the best on the D28. The flats seem to change the EQ to a flat line, like strings reaching the end end of their life.
Best? Just different.... You're used it for sure.... Flat wound had a really cool sound.... Not only that... I don't even like rounds For the first 24 to 48 hours.... After which I'd be curious to compare them with the flats... Which seem a lot less offensive to my sensibilities fresh like this....
What’s the opening tune?
Last Thing on my Mind - Tony Rice
Id think the flat tops may sound better in an acoustic lelctric
actually the string whisps of round wound, make me sick to my stomach, like a rodent squeeking by 😮