I have been loving your videos. My main “jazzy” guitars are running two very different sets of rounds - Ernie Ball SuperSlinkies in 10, and D’addario in actually 8s. The 8s are on a single coiled traditional tele. Dreams of being a wanna-be Keith Richard’s or Jonny Lang in there with bluesy big bends and vibratos. Still a tele, and smoothens out to wicked nice jazz tones. The Supers are on two Schecters, both with varying degrees of humbuckers. I’m debating Tomastik flats on my one Schecter that is my more jazz fusion go-to at the moment. The Seymour Duncans really shine on that one.
I came full circle on flats. Twice! I remember a time when flat wounds felt so bizarre that I couldn’t play them at all. Like i couldn’t feel where to put my fingers when forming chords or something. They were so stiff and slippery that i had no tactile connection to the instrument. But as I got better, and eventually came to own an early 1950’s ES-175, I became interested in flats again. I was craving that darkness. And I discovered that now my hands were strong enough and my technique solid enough that previous physical difficulties didn’t matter, playing flats was easy. So I got into thomastiks. (Might as well start with the best, right?) And I loved them. Felt like I was driving a Cadillac. But after a few years the $30 price tag drove me to give D’addario Chromes a try. Well, the very first time I went to string the guitar, the roundwound G snapped! I wrote a letter. And a rep from D’addario responded by sending me a replacement for that single G string AND a free set of Chromes to apologize. Wow. I was certainly impressed with D’addario’s customer service. And I quickly became equally impressed with their flat wound chrome strings. Having played both the Thomastik bebops and the D’addario chromes for several years, I can say that on my axe there is simply no appreciable difference between the two sets. Other than a bigger price for the thomastiks. BUT, here’s the funny thing. One day about 3 years ago I badly needed to put on new strings prior to a gig. Didn’t have any chromes. All I had was a set of D’addario nickel jazz round wounds that were kicking around in a shoebox. I put them on, and it kind of felt like coming home. I’ve just never gone back to flat wounds. I don’t think I ever will. You are right about the little bit of extra definition you get in your chords with round wounds. And the extra snappiness. And the way they can be grabbed and bent more easily. But there’s also a tactile thing for me that amounts to a feeling of immediacy or connectedness or something, vs the glassy and somewhat distant feeling of flats. To me it’s worth sacrificing that classic early jazz guitar deadness that some people seek. And you’re RIGHT! Sometimes the low E and A can feel a little TOO dead or flabby. So after a full journey, I’m probably a lifer with my D’addario nickel round wounds 13-56. They sound fat enough for jazz, and feel just the way I want my strings to feel on my ES-175. Perfect tension, perfect response on the lower strings. Nobody hears the string squeak in a bar with trumpets and cymbals, and when i practice alone doesn’t bother me. I say that one of these days when I have a duet gig with a singer I’m going to put on flat wounds again, to go super classic, warm and dark. But who am I kidding? I’m much too lazy to change strings just for one gig. So nickel rounds it is! Sorry to make you read such a long essay. Thanks for the thought-provoking video.
Thanks for sharing James. I'm so much happier with these rounds. I feel more connected to the instrument. It feels right and I think it's a much better sound in terms of fitting in with the rest of a band. I've always found D'addario strings to be very consistent in terms of quality. Good value compared to other brands. Now as for Thomastik flats, they are match made in heaven on my P-bass.
I also think that flats to restrict my expression. Maybe it’s because the notes die off much quicker. I don’t have that much problem with fast lines but with slower eight note lines it’s hard to maintain sustain, and with long notes. My hand gets tired more easily with flats. Flats are also slippery in single note lines. Rounds feel natural to play, even after playing with flats for 10 or so years. I love John Pearse rounds, but BB112 is also a great set. I like the wound 3rd string.
Great Playing, really. I love this kind of smooth electric playing. It´s really hard to make the right choice with strings. Here you can hear that roundwound strings sound pretty well!
Thanks for the strings exploration! I've just gone from TI flats (Swing) to John Pearse Roundwounds and am intrigued by the difference. There just seems to be more accuracy with the roundwounds and dynamics that I like. There is more tension though as the JP strings are a bit stiffer and thicker from G to low E. So I will try the TI Rounds and see what your low tension Bebops are like as compared to previous TI flats. Your playing sounds great btw and you clearly are in sync with these strings at this time. Cheers and thanks again for posting this!
Can't go wrong with Tomastik rounds or flats, and yes, flats are much higher tension. Remember they have a 'wider' ribbon-like wrap wire around the core wire, so much heavier than rounds. Compare the 'weight' tension between flat and rw of the same gauge string; you'll be shocked.
I just did the same thing on my Golden Eagle, from 13 Thom flats to 14-56 Labella rounds WOW I doubt Ill ever go back. L5's and GE's were meant to be acoustic and after years of playing it I feel like Im hearing it for the first time, now I play it unplugged (its a floater) most of the time. Thanks for a informative video
@@jazzguitarwithandy Because the pickup mount is proprietary I sent the whole pickguard assembly to Kent Armstrong and he fitted his cut single coil into the original pickup cover so you cant even tell its changed. Im really really happy with the pup and with the fat rounds its heaven. Also Ive always played Thomastic , I still play the flats on my 175 but the labella rounds not only sound great their half the price! Really enjoyed your video and your L5 sounds great (thats what i really wanted....)
Recently bought a Tokai 335 and fitted these Thomastik wounds to try and up my jazz game ... Played a wedding on friday night , 1st gig back after pandemic and my strat died 4 songs in ...ad to grab the 335 ..wedding/pop/ classic rock Tunes for 2 hours on flat 12's....no fun ...#bringthecorrectspare Great review Andy...love the lessons , enjoy the sun
Can imagine 12s for classic rock isn't ideal lol It's weird getting back into gigging, remembering to pack everything etc.... Still I never forget turning up at a gig and the other guitarist arrived and then said 'I've got to go home and fetch my guitar'!!
My first gig after covid: we started at 5:00, played a while and then I asked the trumpet guy if it is time for a break yet and he said it was only 5:25. It was kind of brutal. Thanks for the video by the way, trying to figure out a new archtop, info was very helpful.@@jazzguitarwithandy
Difficult topic 🤔… based on my own experience, I can say it depends a loooot on the guitar what strings work really great. I’ve always thought flats are the real deal for Jazz. But since I tried a high quality hand carved Archtop of a friend, I promise you… my world changed. So now, I play also TI BeBop 12/50 round wounds. With the right Amp setting, they have the perfect Jazz tone and sound a bit more alive than regular flats. And TI sets have always a great balance between lower and higher strings. The bottom ones doesn’t sound muddy or “to loud” as for example with a set of Daddario chromes. Pyramid are also great strings. But I prefer TI at the end. Beautiful playing ! And tone 👍 by the way :)
Hey Jimi - you're right it's a difficult topic. I agree re TI strings having great balance and they beat chromes for not being muddy in the bass. I think with rounds you hear the individual notes of the chords more clearly. I think I will keep flitting between both on my archtop!
I put Chromes and Thomastick 11 and 12 flats on my Eastman T386 and tension killed me. Now I’m using Ernie Ball Classic Rock n’Roll 10-46 with very good results, I might try 11s soon
I would also recommend TI swing (flat version of Bebop).I got hooked on TI George Benson both flat be and round. Finally landed on Elixir 80/20 for acoustic. And I tried almost everything.
I just found that out for myself. My Ibanez AF124 had 10-46 D'Addario rounds on it. I put a set of Thomastik JS112 flats on, fully expecting to have to tighten the truss rod. WRONG !! I actually had to slacken the truss rod !! I mentioned that to my Luthier buddy and he said "Yeah. Thomastik Jazz flats are Really Low tension".
Making the same shift on my hollow. First impressions are great. Very smooth on the fingers and lower string sound much more useable. Don't understand why Thomastik are still using clam shell packaging. Definitely not good. Went to nickels on my semi-hollow some time ago and that just suits the guitar so much more that flat wounds.
I have been using Optima Gold plated Rounds for the past 35 years and would not change them with anything. Much warmer (Golden ) tone , Lasts long kind to fingers and no I am not affiliated with Optima :))))
If you want to check out what kind of strings Charlie Christian used it would be Monel steel round wounds. Martin do sets called ‘Retro.’ These may not work so well with modern pickups however.
Yes, I'd heard about those from Jonathan Stout. Didn't realise Martin did that set. There was a 1938 ES150 for sale about 5 miles from me last week, would love to try one of those.
This guitar and playing is lovely acoustically ... just tried a few eastmans (smaller bodied models, archtop hollow body) today and were great but acoustically didn’t sound as full and rich as this guitar. What would be similar to this guitar for £2000 or less budget? Thank you for the great videos!
If you're after a great acoustic sounding archtop . Are you after a floating or set pickup? I think guitars with floating pickups tend to have a better acoustic tone. Also, with jazz guitars a lot of makers always put flats on, which I don't think works as well re acoustic tone. That's a good budget you have. I'd definitely look secondhand and something with a solid top. I wonder about an old Ibanez L5 copy?
@@jazzguitarwithandy I would recommend for sure. They tout that they are more "lively" than the typical full, traditional flatwounds and I agree. I'm not an accomplished player by any means, so take my opinion for what it is, but I have tried at least a handful of brands for fun and these are my favorite for sure. Feel great as well.
@@darrenmcgowen2705 just investigating them further. They sound pretty interesting, made in Italy too. I certainly like the description of the sound. Going to see if anyone's posted a demo..
@@jazzguitarwithandy not sure you ended up trying the Dogals but I purchased a set because Ed Cherry who is pretty much my favorite living jazz guitarists uses them. They should be brighter than TI flats because they are steel wound.
I use a D'ddario flat wound 10s set for playing some jazz blues stuff, the g string is wound but it broke some time ago and I replaced with a regular unwound string. This hybrid situation allows some string bending as well ! There are also halfrounds but I am not sure how they play.
Some folks swear by Thomastiks for all their string needs. For me, even their Bebop set sounds dull. D'addario Pro Steels are oddly my favorite. I do an odd hybrid set. 52 42 32 for the heaviest strings, those are from a John Pearse #2700 Bronze set. 26W, 17, and a single 14 for the G, B, and E strings--those are from a set of D'Addario. Unfortunately, D'Addario stopped making a 13 set of their Pro Steel XL set. Now I have to buy individually. All that customization is STILL cheaper than a set of Thomastiks. All a matter of preference. That said, D'Addarios sound brighter and fuller to my ears. Worth experimenting. Swapping out the high E and creating a mixed set was the best idea I discovered. Peter Bernstein and Barry Greene are a few of the many jazz guitarists that play mixed gauge set strings. Try it!
I like the flat wounds less finger squeak noise but i play mostly solo if i was with a band the slight squeak may not be as noticeable and the brighter more alive sound would help cut above the drums and piano and horns.
I mostly use D'Addario Pure Nickel round wounds. EPN21s (12 on top string, wound G) on an archtop and EXL115s on a Tele style (11 on top string, unwound G). For me the EPN21s work great on an archtop that is played acoustically or toward acoustically. They are marked as warm/bright on the packaging and I think that is pretty accurate. To my ear they are very balanced. They are also easy on the hands and on the wallet. I've been experimenting for the best electric jazz sound on an archtop (again, to my ear as this is so subjective). There, I'd like to get a hair warmer than the EPN21s. I've tried the D'Addario Chromes and they certainly are darker. But I get some unpleasant sounds on them now and then with the picks I use (I know, pick selection is a whole other thing). I use V-Picks because they are easy to hold and sound very good for acoustic jazz, but they are very dense/brittle in texture and can get a bit scratchy on the flat-wound strings. The low end strings sound good and warm electric, but to my ear are dead acoustically. I've got a set of Bebops on hand with a 13 at the top that I'll try. Will also look at what some of the other folks responding here are using. I'm also familiar with the Labella black tapewounds, but seem to remember the 12 set as being overly slinky on the wound strings, and the 14 a little more tension than I like on the high E.
Thanks for the comment James. I've not used those. I've been using EJ21s on my L7. I like those, cheap and nice balanced tone. The Bebops are still my go to on my main archtop though. Gave up on Chromes a long time ago.
Creo que las cuerdas de guague más altas pueden ofrecer un tono más gordo y jazzero, pero lo más importante es sentirse cómodo con la guitarra. Uso 12s en mi archtop acústico, pero 11s en mi archtop eléctrico.
I have been loving your videos. My main “jazzy” guitars are running two very different sets of rounds - Ernie Ball SuperSlinkies in 10, and D’addario in actually 8s. The 8s are on a single coiled traditional tele. Dreams of being a wanna-be Keith Richard’s or Jonny Lang in there with bluesy big bends and vibratos. Still a tele, and smoothens out to wicked nice jazz tones.
The Supers are on two Schecters, both with varying degrees of humbuckers. I’m debating Tomastik flats on my one Schecter that is my more jazz fusion go-to at the moment. The Seymour Duncans really shine on that one.
I'd give the flats a go on the Schecter.
I came full circle on flats. Twice!
I remember a time when flat wounds felt so bizarre that I couldn’t play them at all. Like i couldn’t feel where to put my fingers when forming chords or something. They were so stiff and slippery that i had no tactile connection to the instrument. But as I got better, and eventually came to own an early 1950’s ES-175, I became interested in flats again. I was craving that darkness. And I discovered that now my hands were strong enough and my technique solid enough that previous physical difficulties didn’t matter, playing flats was easy.
So I got into thomastiks. (Might as well start with the best, right?) And I loved them. Felt like I was driving a Cadillac. But after a few years the $30 price tag drove me to give D’addario Chromes a try. Well, the very first time I went to string the guitar, the roundwound G snapped! I wrote a letter. And a rep from D’addario responded by sending me a replacement for that single G string AND a free set of Chromes to apologize. Wow. I was certainly impressed with D’addario’s customer service. And I quickly became equally impressed with their flat wound chrome strings. Having played both the Thomastik bebops and the D’addario chromes for several years, I can say that on my axe there is simply no appreciable difference between the two sets. Other than a bigger price for the thomastiks.
BUT, here’s the funny thing. One day about 3 years ago I badly needed to put on new strings prior to a gig. Didn’t have any chromes. All I had was a set of D’addario nickel jazz round wounds that were kicking around in a shoebox. I put them on, and it kind of felt like coming home. I’ve just never gone back to flat wounds. I don’t think I ever will.
You are right about the little bit of extra definition you get in your chords with round wounds. And the extra snappiness. And the way they can be grabbed and bent more easily. But there’s also a tactile thing for me that amounts to a feeling of immediacy or connectedness or something, vs the glassy and somewhat distant feeling of flats. To me it’s worth sacrificing that classic early jazz guitar deadness that some people seek. And you’re RIGHT! Sometimes the low E and A can feel a little TOO dead or flabby.
So after a full journey, I’m probably a lifer with my D’addario nickel round wounds 13-56. They sound fat enough for jazz, and feel just the way I want my strings to feel on my ES-175. Perfect tension, perfect response on the lower strings. Nobody hears the string squeak in a bar with trumpets and cymbals, and when i practice alone doesn’t bother me.
I say that one of these days when I have a duet gig with a singer I’m going to put on flat wounds again, to go super classic, warm and dark. But who am I kidding? I’m much too lazy to change strings just for one gig. So nickel rounds it is! Sorry to make you read such a long essay. Thanks for the thought-provoking video.
Thanks for sharing James.
I'm so much happier with these rounds. I feel more connected to the instrument. It feels right and I think it's a much better sound in terms of fitting in with the rest of a band.
I've always found D'addario strings to be very consistent in terms of quality. Good value compared to other brands.
Now as for Thomastik flats, they are match made in heaven on my P-bass.
I also think that flats to restrict my expression. Maybe it’s because the notes die off much quicker. I don’t have that much problem with fast lines but with slower eight note lines it’s hard to maintain sustain, and with long notes. My hand gets tired more easily with flats. Flats are also slippery in single note lines. Rounds feel natural to play, even after playing with flats for 10 or so years. I love John Pearse rounds, but BB112 is also a great set. I like the wound 3rd string.
Great Playing, really. I love this kind of smooth electric playing. It´s really hard to make the right choice with strings. Here you can hear that roundwound strings sound pretty well!
Thanks. I agree, it can take a while to find the right strings.
Fantastic review! You answered every single question I was curious about. Thank you. I just ordered some.😊
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the strings exploration! I've just gone from TI flats (Swing) to John Pearse Roundwounds and am intrigued by the difference. There just seems to be more accuracy with the roundwounds and dynamics that I like. There is more tension though as the JP strings are a bit stiffer and thicker from G to low E. So I will try the TI Rounds and see what your low tension Bebops are like as compared to previous TI flats. Your playing sounds great btw and you clearly are in sync with these strings at this time. Cheers and thanks again for posting this!
You're very welcome. I've just put the Bebop 13s on my main guitar. Wish I'd done it much sooner!
Can't go wrong with Tomastik rounds or flats, and yes, flats are much higher tension. Remember they have a 'wider' ribbon-like wrap wire around the core wire, so much heavier than rounds. Compare the 'weight' tension between flat and rw of the same gauge string; you'll be shocked.
Flatwounds bowed a bunch of necks in the early '60s ...
i put labela black nylon on my 175，the low voice become more fat and dark！ and 1256 make acoustic tone better！enjoy it！
I have tried using really good flats on my ES-355 and had to yank them off every time! TI makes great strings, as does StringJoy!
I only use round wounds these days.
Great job mate. I always enjoy your videos.
Glad you like them!
I just did the same thing on my Golden Eagle, from 13 Thom flats to 14-56 Labella rounds WOW I doubt Ill ever go back. L5's and GE's were meant to be acoustic and after years of playing it I feel like Im hearing it for the first time, now I play it unplugged (its a floater) most of the time. Thanks for a informative video
Must try Labellas, only ever used them on a bass. Those Golden Eagles are killer guitars, what pickup does it have?
@@jazzguitarwithandy Because the pickup mount is proprietary I sent the whole pickguard assembly to Kent Armstrong and he fitted his cut single coil into the original pickup cover so you cant even tell its changed. Im really really happy with the pup and with the fat rounds its heaven. Also Ive always played Thomastic , I still play the flats on my 175 but the labella rounds not only sound great their half the price! Really enjoyed your video and your L5 sounds great (thats what i really wanted....)
Recently bought a Tokai 335 and fitted these Thomastik wounds to try and up my jazz game ...
Played a wedding on friday night , 1st gig back after pandemic and my strat died 4 songs in ...ad to grab the 335 ..wedding/pop/ classic rock
Tunes for 2 hours on flat 12's....no fun ...#bringthecorrectspare
Great review Andy...love the lessons , enjoy the sun
Can imagine 12s for classic rock isn't ideal lol
It's weird getting back into gigging, remembering to pack everything etc.... Still I never forget turning up at a gig and the other guitarist arrived and then said 'I've got to go home and fetch my guitar'!!
My first gig after covid: we started at 5:00, played a while and then I asked the trumpet guy if it is time for a break yet and he said it was only 5:25. It was kind of brutal. Thanks for the video by the way, trying to figure out a new archtop, info was very helpful.@@jazzguitarwithandy
Love your playing..
Thank you
Difficult topic 🤔… based on my own experience, I can say it depends a loooot on the guitar what strings work really great. I’ve always thought flats are the real deal for Jazz. But since I tried a high quality hand carved Archtop of a friend, I promise you… my world changed. So now, I play also TI BeBop 12/50 round wounds. With the right Amp setting, they have the perfect Jazz tone and sound a bit more alive than regular flats. And TI sets have always a great balance between lower and higher strings. The bottom ones doesn’t sound muddy or “to loud” as for example with a set of Daddario chromes. Pyramid are also great strings. But I prefer TI at the end.
Beautiful playing ! And tone 👍 by the way :)
Hey Jimi - you're right it's a difficult topic. I agree re TI strings having great balance and they beat chromes for not being muddy in the bass. I think with rounds you hear the individual notes of the chords more clearly. I think I will keep flitting between both on my archtop!
i like the django picture in the background 🙂
The master!
I put Chromes and Thomastick 11 and 12 flats on my Eastman T386 and tension killed me. Now I’m using Ernie Ball Classic Rock n’Roll 10-46 with very good results, I might try 11s soon
I've got Ernie's on my 335 at the moment. First time I've tried them.
I would also recommend TI swing (flat version of Bebop).I got hooked on TI George Benson both flat be and round. Finally landed on Elixir 80/20 for acoustic. And I tried almost everything.
Interesting Joe. I might have to give those a Bebop flats a go. I'm just feeing that you get more of the richness of the chord with rounds.
Jazz BeBop 12-50 round wound are my preference on my Guild Starfire 2. I can hear a better note separation and clarity than using flatwounds.
That's what I feel too. They've still got enough of the mellow tone you need.
Thomastik Jazz Strings have a slightly lower tension cause they're designed more like their Bowed stringed instrument strings.
I just found that out for myself.
My Ibanez AF124 had 10-46 D'Addario rounds on it.
I put a set of Thomastik JS112 flats on, fully expecting to have to tighten the truss rod.
WRONG !! I actually had to slacken the truss rod !!
I mentioned that to my Luthier buddy and he said "Yeah. Thomastik Jazz flats are Really Low tension".
@@KozmykJ The lower tension would make them great for Guitars that have worn out tops.
Making the same shift on my hollow. First impressions are great. Very smooth on the fingers and lower string sound much more useable.
Don't understand why Thomastik are still using clam shell packaging. Definitely not good.
Went to nickels on my semi-hollow some time ago and that just suits the guitar so much more that flat wounds.
I've moved to using these on my archtops and 335. I really like them. You're right about the packaging.
Thomastik BeBops on my AE11 for sure.
They are fantastic strings. Have you been a long term user? If so, how long do they tend to last for you?
I have been using Optima Gold plated Rounds for the past 35 years and would not change them with anything. Much warmer (Golden ) tone , Lasts long kind to fingers and no I am not affiliated with Optima :))))
Thanks for the recommendation, will have to look into those.
Andy give John Pearse 2900 roundwounds a try next time. They are a fraction of the cost of Thomastics and I think you may like them Cheers Barry
Thanks for the recommendation Barry, I'm tempted to do that give the cost of TIs.
Only TI for me (for jazz.) On my 175 flats (swings) are better. On a carved guitar, rounds (bebops) are great.
Interesting, not thought about the difference on carved vs pressed tops.
Good video , thanks 😂
Glad you enjoyed it
D'ADDARIO CHROMES 011 FLAT
If you want to check out what kind of strings Charlie Christian used it would be Monel steel round wounds. Martin do sets called ‘Retro.’ These may not work so well with modern pickups however.
Yes, I'd heard about those from Jonathan Stout. Didn't realise Martin did that set. There was a 1938 ES150 for sale about 5 miles from me last week, would love to try one of those.
This guitar and playing is lovely acoustically ... just tried a few eastmans (smaller bodied models, archtop hollow body) today and were great but acoustically didn’t sound as full and rich as this guitar. What would be similar to this guitar for £2000 or less budget? Thank you for the great videos!
If you're after a great acoustic sounding archtop . Are you after a floating or set pickup? I think guitars with floating pickups tend to have a better acoustic tone. Also, with jazz guitars a lot of makers always put flats on, which I don't think works as well re acoustic tone. That's a good budget you have. I'd definitely look secondhand and something with a solid top. I wonder about an old Ibanez L5 copy?
Thanks Andy really appreciate your reply. I’ll get looking for that model from Ibanez as a second hander 🙏👍
What string model you use ? So warm
Thomastik bebops
Do you think if you put them on your tele they’d have warmth? Or just mainly on the archtop ?
Yes, I think they would
whats the difference between these and the ‘swing’ ones? Thinking of taking the plunge.
The swing ones are the flats John. Both are great strings. I prefer the Bebops.
Andy, just curious, how many brands of flatwounds have you tried? Have you tried the Dogal Expressive Jazz strings?
I’ve tried Chromes, Thomastik and another one I forget! I’ve not heard of Dogal. Would you recommend them?
@@jazzguitarwithandy I would recommend for sure. They tout that they are more "lively" than the typical full, traditional flatwounds and I agree. I'm not an accomplished player by any means, so take my opinion for what it is, but I have tried at least a handful of brands for fun and these are my favorite for sure. Feel great as well.
Hope that didnt scare you off!
@@darrenmcgowen2705 just investigating them further. They sound pretty interesting, made in Italy too. I certainly like the description of the sound. Going to see if anyone's posted a demo..
@@jazzguitarwithandy not sure you ended up trying the Dogals but I purchased a set because Ed Cherry who is pretty much my favorite living jazz guitarists uses them. They should be brighter than TI flats because they are steel wound.
Im thinking of putting lubella flatwounds on my D'angelico. They are 13's. Do they effect the neck?
I'd always get a set up done when changing gauge of strings.
@@jazzguitarwithandy Thank you sir
What do you prefer to use? Flats or
rounds?
I use a D'ddario flat wound 10s set for playing some jazz blues stuff, the g string is wound but it broke some time ago and I replaced with a regular unwound string. This hybrid situation allows some string bending as well ! There are also halfrounds but I am not sure how they play.
What about Pyramid strings ?( I switch between Pyramids & Thomastik!)
I've not tried them Bernard. I'll investigate...
d'addario EXL110W & earvana compensated nut. adj pickup pole pieces & pickup angle to strings to fine tune volume.
Some folks swear by Thomastiks for all their string needs. For me, even their Bebop set sounds dull. D'addario Pro Steels are oddly my favorite. I do an odd hybrid set. 52 42 32 for the heaviest strings, those are from a John Pearse #2700 Bronze set. 26W, 17, and a single 14 for the G, B, and E strings--those are from a set of D'Addario. Unfortunately, D'Addario stopped making a 13 set of their Pro Steel XL set. Now I have to buy individually. All that customization is STILL cheaper than a set of Thomastiks. All a matter of preference. That said, D'Addarios sound brighter and fuller to my ears. Worth experimenting. Swapping out the high E and creating a mixed set was the best idea I discovered. Peter Bernstein and Barry Greene are a few of the many jazz guitarists that play mixed gauge set strings. Try it!
I like the flat wounds less finger squeak noise but i play mostly solo if i was with a band the slight squeak may not be as noticeable and the brighter more alive sound would help cut above the drums and piano and horns.
Yes, that's what I figure too. I can see how flats for solo playing make sense for that reason.
Beautiful music
I mostly use D'Addario Pure Nickel round wounds. EPN21s (12 on top string, wound G) on an archtop and EXL115s on a Tele style (11 on top string, unwound G). For me the EPN21s work great on an archtop that is played acoustically or toward acoustically. They are marked as warm/bright on the packaging and I think that is pretty accurate. To my ear they are very balanced. They are also easy on the hands and on the wallet. I've been experimenting for the best electric jazz sound on an archtop (again, to my ear as this is so subjective). There, I'd like to get a hair warmer than the EPN21s. I've tried the D'Addario Chromes and they certainly are darker. But I get some unpleasant sounds on them now and then with the picks I use (I know, pick selection is a whole other thing). I use V-Picks because they are easy to hold and sound very good for acoustic jazz, but they are very dense/brittle in texture and can get a bit scratchy on the flat-wound strings. The low end strings sound good and warm electric, but to my ear are dead acoustically. I've got a set of Bebops on hand with a 13 at the top that I'll try. Will also look at what some of the other folks responding here are using. I'm also familiar with the Labella black tapewounds, but seem to remember the 12 set as being overly slinky on the wound strings, and the 14 a little more tension than I like on the high E.
Thanks for the comment James. I've not used those. I've been using EJ21s on my L7. I like those, cheap and nice balanced tone. The Bebops are still my go to on my main archtop though. Gave up on Chromes a long time ago.
Suena fantástico. ¿Qué opinas? Se debe usar un gauge alto para sonar jazz?
Creo que las cuerdas de guague más altas pueden ofrecer un tono más gordo y jazzero, pero lo más importante es sentirse cómodo con la guitarra. Uso 12s en mi archtop acústico, pero 11s en mi archtop eléctrico.