Roundwound vs Flatwound strings on a Gibson ES-335. What is your preferred choice?
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- Опубліковано 26 чер 2024
- I wanted to try out flat wound strings on my Gibson ES-335 to see if they could bring even more goodness to the tone from it.
#whatawonderfulworld #gibsones335 #tweeddeluxeamp #comparison #jazzguitar #jazzstandard
00:00 Round Wound noodling
02:00 Presentation of the task
03:34 What a woUnderful world - round wounds
06:48 Flat Wound noodling
08:00 What a woUnderful world - flat wounds
11:08 Closing words - conclusion
13:05 more round wounds playing
13:58 more flat wounds playing
Gear used:
2013 - 1963 Gibson ES-335 VOS with MHS humbuckers
Tweed deluxe amp (Grand)
Eminence Cannabis Rex 12" speaker
Mad Professor Ruby Red Booster
Neunaber Wet Reverb pedal
Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay
Strymon El-Capistan d'tape echo pedal
You are good musician and i like warm and mellow
The sound on the intro track is absolutely impeccable. Superb playing and gorgeous sound, fantastic work!
So smooth and soft.
I recently found you, and I’m so glad I did! Great playing and huge inspiration. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your kind words 😊 Cheers.
Dude I have a 335 and I have been thinking about this over the past little while so it's incredible that your video popped up now. I have tried using flat wounds in the past and I was absolutely shocked how different the sound was- and how cool it was in its own way. Great video and beautiful guitar. Thank you very much.
Hi thanks, I'm actually planning a new video on the topic because I just got a set of Thomastik-infeld Jazz Bebop roundwounds. Thomastik state that they are probably the only round wound guitar string that can truly be called a jazz strings. I'll hopefully get around to do that video in the next days. Cheers!
You’re right in your assessment of the flat wounds n yes you’re use to the rounds on that rig, mind I say you’re a very good guitarist 🎸🎸🎸❤️☮️👍🏻🍺
Great video Thor, I enjoyed that! Your playing tonight was particularly appealing to me as I love that “Jazz fused with blues” approach. Now, here’s my thoughts! I feel I’ve now completed my own 2 or 3 year journey into Flatwounds. Personally, I preferred your sound with the Flatwounds. The vibe with them was more Lo-fi and made your guitar sound old (in a good way). However, I do think you love that particular 335 so much that it should stay with roundwounds. And then, like you say, start trying them with other guitars in your stable. My own journey has led me to dedicate an entire guitar to flat-wounds. That guitar is my Jazzmaster. The journey to this point was very interesting though! I tried flats on almost all of my guitars. Some guitars really suited them, others not so much. And the results were very surprising. The guitars that really loved them were my Tele and my black Les Paul Custom. All of the others were surprisingly disappointing (Gretsch, Strat, LP Goldtop, LP Junior, LP Standard). Happy exploring Thor 👍
Jazz fused with blues approach sounds awesome to me. Thanks, if that is what you're hearing it means I'm getting closer to what I'm hoping to achieve. I know I still have quite a way to go, but hopefully I can sprinkle a little jazz influence as I manage to learn bit by bit. I feel it's going pretty slow but I'm enjoying the process of learning, so I will stay on track! You're observation on how I feel about my 335 is spot on and I think it will be interesting to test the Flatwounds on my Telecaster. Interesting to hear that you found they worked well with yours, although yours is a different animal than mine. Always a treat to see you've visited Paul. Cheers 😊
13 flats for me. That tone !!!!
A perfectly timed video ( for me) ...as it is time to restring my guitars. I listened thru my iPad and I couldn’t tell any difference, so I went and got my headphones.. I am still fairly inexperienced as a musician and sometimes I have difficulty finding the correct words to describe what I believe I’m hearing. So I’ll say it this way, the flat wounds said “ jazz” to me... and the rounds said “blues” ( blues/rock) .... both sound great , but I’m a blues/ rock guy . So I guess I’ll stick with rounds...... great video as always....
Thank you! I agree wth your description. And it's not that easy to hear the difference from the recordings. My feeling with playing them combined with the sound in the room was that the flat wounds seems duller in a way. 😊 Cheers!
0) Thank you for sharing this experiment and your nice playing! :-)
1) You switched strings while I looked away. I hadn't heard the difference. I blame that on the settings that match your style of playing.
2) I now have two copies of the Harley Benton HB-35Plus, an ES-335 imitation. It comes with "your" D'Addario EXL110 round-wounds fitted.
I have replaced those on one with Thomastik JS110 (not your JS111) flat-wounds, and I'll eventually replace the EXL110 with D'Addario NYXL (for an even brighter sound).
Trivia: the second HB-35Plus is also intended to prevent me from buying a real hollowbody (likely the Harley Benton Big Tone). - You string set changers, be aware that at least on these Harley Benton models the bridge is not firmly attached to the body, so don't take off all strings before replacing them...
3) My impression [not yet opinion] is, that flat-wound strings are instrumental(!) in achieving a tone as desired in jazz, whereas round-wounds are instrumental in achieving a richer tone, as desired in other genres. Without excluding the use of the one type of strings for the other music.
4) I'm gearing toward flat-wound strings for bass guitars (5 out of 8) and (at least as slightly) toward round-wound strings for steel-string guitars. - If you're not satisfied with the timbral range of your [bass] guitar, consider trying the other type of strings. You may find helpful videos (like the current one) here on UA-cam.
5) Disclaimers: I have no experience (yet) with half-wound strings. I have counted an acoustic bass guitar with tape-wound strings under "flat-wound".
I have an epiphone 335 and 355 (BB King). I use flatwounds on the 335 to get a solid jazz tone, and use roundwounds on the 355 to get those BB King and Albert King blues tones. Remarkable how much difference the string construction makes! I prefer D'addarios, but also use TI flatwounds. That tonal flexibility is the beauty of the 335 design, to my mind.
They are both beautiful. The wound wounds seem to be a little more dynamic to me. The flats are pristine. I would have to try 10-46 flats before I made up my mind. Lovely picking on both!
Thank you 😊
It depends: comping I would definitely do with flats, but single line playing, soloing, round wounds do better. Especially with this guitar and the way you play.Thanks for your interesting video.
On my semi-hollow, I now swear by round wounds. So much more sound!
Now I also put round wounds on the hollow. Thomastik Bebop. They have a lot less tension then the flat wounds (same gauge). Had to get the guitar set up right. Highs are a bit thin. But mids and lows are a lot clearer. And these strings are so comfortable to play. It really makes me play differently, more musically I think, and using the mids and lows more.
Hi, thanks for the heads up on the Thomastik Bebop Round wounds. I wasn't aware of them and they look to be just what I'll be wanting. I will order a set and try them out. Cheers 😊
Round strings seem to cut thru better. Flat seems too warm and not enough overtone and clarity but I love the flat wound on feel and sliding my fingers thru them
What is the backing track on your playing ? Great playing. Thanks
Thank you! It is my version of "What a wonderful world".
Fiat or round, it doesn't really matter to me because you always have your amp and pedal tones dialed in so nicely Thor. I guess it comes down to personal preference.
Thank you 😊
Roundwounds for more sustain.
Have you tried half rounds?
Hi, not so far, but it is something I would like to try. Thanks for reminding me 😊
Rounds. Definitely rounds.
I don't see a jazz chorus amp anywhere, sup? 😊
Way much better with flats
flats do feel nicer.
FLATWOUND
You're picking too hard. You're causing the sound to distort. What's with all of that shaking ? There's too much distortion. You can't hear what the strings sound like.
Harsh but true.
Nice video, love your playing! I have a brand new Ibanez AM153QA semi-hollow being shipped out to me tomorrow and an Ibanez AF85TDG (with Bigsby) jazz box I customized with a set of Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers. I'm planning on putting D'Addario ECG23 XL Chromes flatwounds on the hollow and Ernie Ball Slinky 10 roundwounds on the semi-hollow.