Roundwound vs Flatwound strings on jazz guitars!
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- čas přidán 2. 04. 2019
- Geek level 10 achieved. A short video of me playing a few of my laminate archtops with roundwound and then flatwound strings so you can hear the difference. I'm using 13 guage Thomastik Infield Bebop series, and then changing to the equivalent Swing series. Not a comprehensive review, just a quick demo. I didn't set any fancy mics up or anything, because I had to drive to Hull straight afterwards and time was not on my side. But I think you get a flavour for what the two different string types sound like on the same guitars. 1966 Gibson ES175DN, 1952 Gibson ES125, and a Benedetto Bravo Deluxe, all going into a Mambo amp.
Came here for the flatwounds, stayed for the fantastic playing. You really know how to make a guitar sing
That was one of the greatest openings to a video ever
The playing was so brilliant, I forgot about the flat/round debate. I actually couldn't tell much difference between them - on the video.
I'm a recent flatwound convert. It's the attack at the start of the note that sounds good to me with flatwounds and a smooth transition between chords with none of the scratchy scrape that you get with roundwounds.
Yeah, what a great vid. Very useful comparison. You actually made me consider going back to roundwounds after playing flatwounds for a bunch of years. And your playing is just wonderful, super tasteful and masterful. I knew you were a real deal after you played about 3 notes.
The flats really made the 125 sound delightful. That guitar really needed them along with the Benedetto. Plus after a week or so flats settle in and sound even better! I love a well broken in set of chromes for my Gibsons and Guild x-150 single pickup.
Wow no matter what guitar and type of strings, you sound fantastic. Thank you for posting!
They both sound great when played by a great player. It's a matter of what you really want to express through the guitar itself.
very great video👏 thank u for showing us flatwound strings in three different guitars, awesome
Great playing , tone and taste . Thank you .
LOL "...and I used to play Warhammer!" - quality intro man! Respect from a fellow guitar geek. Thanks for your perspective on flats vs rounds. VERY tasty chops too.
If I put round wounds on my ES125… they sound almost awful if I compare them with same amp settings to a set of similar gauge flats.
Soo… it’s safe… it’s not just the strings … it’s how far you are able to create sound with your hands, soul, experience … and instrument! This guy here is the best example! He plays amazingly! His tone is just awesome… no matter if rounds or flats… I guess he could sound similar if he uses the same Amp and just a 200$ guitar 👍😎 it would be not a huge difference in such a video… !
I would love to see a video of him explaining us how he gets this awesome sound!
… anyway… this video is already fantastic! Great inspiration
Great comparison. I especially appreciated seeing the string sets compared on 3 different guitars - thanks! I have been using Swings (JS113 flat wounds) on my Holst archtop. I really like the strings, the flat wounds are easy to play and bring out nice tonal characteristics of my guitar. However, sometimes I feel the sound from the flat wounds is too 'vanilla'. Watching your comparison convinced me to try the Bebops.
Great playing. Thanks for this
Very helpful video! Great playing too. And I can clearly hear the relative squeaklessness (is that a word?) of the flatwounds, which is my main motivation for experimenting with them.
great jazz shreddage, great tone. great info. Subbed!
First of all, great playing! And I decided to wear headphones for this and turned the volume high and from the way the audio sounds it sounds like it's coming from the speaker in my room! If I had just played my guitar through that speaker without my headphones it would've sounded just like that!
Btw I have an acoustic guitar with flatwound strings (jusy an FG800) with a humbucking pickup (KNA HP-1). The speaker is just a large Ion Explorer bluetooth speaker (but I can plug something like a guitar or microphone directly into it or from my computer).
You are a great player, sir.
Great job !! Love it
Lovely playing, looking forward to seeing at the Bardswell Centre, Brentwood
That opening line made me laugh out loud, legend!
Great playing!
nice playing man
love the last guitar
Hi, I've switched to using flatwounds 13s Thomastic from using 12s roundwounds Elixir. From my experience, Im having this mixed views on that flats as it is the sound Im looking for but not the playability feel (particularly on the lefthand) Im comfortable with. I find it somewhat like a "sticky" feel to my lefthand which is very bothering for me (both on Thomastic and D'addarrio string brands)
Anyways, what are your thoughts on the playability of flatwounds to roundwounds (?) as I am now thinking of going back to my usual roundwound set of strings.
Good idea. Of course it all depends on the style you play; amp gain vs wanting an archtop
"room" sound; string gauge; what suits the particular instrument, and overall volume depending on the context - would be interesting to hear the 175 with a rhythm section. I thought the 175 sounded great with roundwounds, but then the pickups are higher gain. The Thomastik flat wounds are lighter in gauge than the competitors, but a lot of people like the Pat Martino top
heavy sound. Thanks for putting this on.
Seriously good player ❤
Fantastic playing, and nice video. Congratulations
Gauge 13? You mad bastard you still play really well
Couldn't really hear much of a difference, but then again it was all going through an amp. What I'd like to hear is an acoustic strung with flats.
Thank you! Helpful!
Interesting. I've been fooling around with rounds lately after using flats for years. I heard the same thing here as I noticed last night when switching. There's a warm sonic aura that surrounds everything with the roundwounds.. harmonic info I suspect. I now miss this when I play and listen to flats, which are bone dry in that regard.. This is separate form the fundamental tonal difference between the strings. If you listen, you can hear it here - very apparent.
I like the Round Wounds better, and I didnt think I would.
Sam, if had to pick between flat or round on all you guitars, which would pick?
I really cant criticise as i have world of warcraft on the other monitor instead of looking at my music stand(!) but i did really come searching for exactly this comparison as i was thinking of doing the same thing. I stayed for the really very lovely playing though, and I dont say that a lot about stuff, especially on the interwebs. nice one, and it does show that the choice of string is not as important as the soul of the playing...
thank you for making me switch to flats
Hi, I'm a beginner who started a few months ago and it is now definitely time for a string change, but I've been wondering about different types of strings. I recently discovered that violin strings are flatwound, which makes sense because the grooves in roundwound strings would not get along with rosin, but since I've been playing violin for a while and kinda prefer the feel of them, I started wondering what flatwound guitar strings sound and feel like. I'm not all that into jazz, but I'm still considering trying them out. Do you have any tips for me?
Awesome! Which kind of pick do you use? Dunlop Jazz III?
Thank you so much.
Brilliant playing! Thanks for sharing! Would it be possible to share the neck pickup height for ES 175!? Thank you in advance!
Sam,
Par Excellence. IMHO I prefer the TI BeBop round wounds.
I believe the Bravo Deluxe is a long scale which explains the fast response and clarity of the notes.
GOOD JOB...!
Great playing. So which do you prefer?
Fantastic playing regardless of string choice. I like t.i. flats
Incredible playing here, makes guitars or strings much less relevant, you sound great on all
Flat wounds provide the expected jazz roundness. Very nice playing and lovely guitar. That being said the rounds have a nice sparkle, nothing wronge with that.
Love the sustain of the Roundwounds better. awesome vid just wished you played both strings on same melody to really get the difference in sound. thank though.
Great vid! 👌
A recently widowed lady in the neighborhood has two of her husbands Benedettos for sale as of March 24, 2023
Magma makes Phosphor Bronze Flatwound strings
I was unable to choose. The sound is so woody it is overwhelming.
To my ears, playing on fats equals playing on rounds with compression (less peaks on the trebles), with a lowered down Tone knob (the trebles sound darker), and with a humbucker (rounder sound especially on the trebles and mediums).
But the major difference is the strings are smoother, sliding on the bass strings is made silent with the flats, and that's important when playing jazzy harmonies or some specific arpeggios.
And that you cannot do with the rounds, except maybe with coated ones, but coateds provide a weird sound that I don't quite appreciate.
So one's got to have at least one of his guitars stringed on flats if he intends to play that kind of stuff (let it be written and done 🙃)
Great playing and collection of guitars. I was surprised to hear the scratching sound with the flatwounds as well as the roundwounds (which is expected). That's not really that big a deal, just thought the flatwounds would be quieter in that regard. Maybe it sounds different in person.
On a second listening, the flatwounds do seem to be a little quieter.
In my exeperience and with the same set of strings as in the video old Bebops sound exactly the same as the the new Swings. BUT new Bebops are totaly different and full of life, where Swings are in comparison lifeless. Don't get me wrong, for years I used TI Benson 14s but Bebops were revelation and I use them since.
Geek level 100 achieved hahaha XD: changing strings every 2 weeks between swings and bebops and not ending up with either of them. Pyramid flats are my choice. Beautiful playing nevertheless!
Com este play quem se importa com as cordas? Great
i hope these strings are easier on my fingers
On the ES-175 the roundwound sounded (way) better, flatwound sounded lifeless to my ears, with the ES-125 just a small bit better and on the last guitar both sounded almost equally good and balanced (Listened to it with Beyerdynamics DT-250 studio headphones)
You have a Joe Pass influence it seems :)
Lmao intro was hilarious
Flat wounds sound cleaner
Flats all the way!...
Flats!!
IMHO, round wound
sup lieutenant winters
flatwounds everytime, all 3 guitars.. a fuller, rounded sound that just sounded more serious.. your phrasing was better with em too.. 🎸😎
Stiff.
You really just wanted to show off. Sounds nice. Flats are not cheap
i like flatwound strings sound more but the jazz genre is super annoying