Flatwound VS. Roundwound Strings - Gretsch 6120 Nashville
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- Опубліковано 24 січ 2019
- In this week's video, Rey explores the tonal differences between traditional round wound strings and their cousin flat wound strings!
Demo'd through a 2001 Gretsch 6120 Nashville, and played through a two-rock type 3 driving a matchless 4x10, and a fulton-webb 31 watt custom driving a matchless 2x10. Minimal effects were utilized.
To hear the Two-Rock, pan right. To hear the Fulton-Webb, pan left.
Please let us know which strings YOU prefer in the comments!
Thanks for sharing ! Love the sounds and your chord formations ! You have Awakened that Gretsch !
The BIG advantage of flat 11s and heavier -- is a Gretsch will FINALLY stay in tune. Thomastik 11s flat swings kick arse.
Thank you for sharing, love the sound with the flat wounds!
I'm noticing a way bigger change in tone from flat flatwounds than string gauge, and I didn't expect that. Thanks for a really helpful video!
M Bell thanks so much for watching!
Excellent tones, production and playing. Awesome.
Thanks so much for the kind words and watching!
Soulful playing🙏🏼
thanks so much!
I finally made the switch to flat wound strings yesterday. All I can say is: WOW, what a difference! Until now , I had been using D'Addario NYXL 10-46. I switched to D'Addario Chrome Light Jazz 11-50. The difference is night and day. The smoothness, richness of sound, and playability of these strings are nothing short of amazing. The sound coming out of my amps is so much fuller and defined. I am indebted to you for opening my eyes up to new possibilities. Gratitude!!!
Buffalo Lodge thanks so much for watching and your kind words!!
Yeah i switched twice the first time was on my acoustic. I had one flat wound for the bass e string on my 12 and it was dull and i took them off. But i set up an electric 12 with flats and have been playing it for seven years there great i love it
your playing is touching my man. And the Guitar... is just magnificent. Everything about it basically haha
Wow, thank you so much!
+1 for your playing of "Nocturne." Beautifully played.
All sound great ! Great instrument and great musician ! =)
Just ordered some for my Duesenberg Starplayer. Thanks for the video!
absolutely fantastic tone and sound quality...great playing too
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for that. I've always ran flats on my basses but never pulled the trigger for flats on the Gretsch. Getting some today. 🤙🏽🤙🏽
yes! i love the D'addario Chromes! So silky smooth! and thanks for watching!
excellent, really cool to ear some julian lage in your test
I’m a big fan of flat-wounds. Thomastic-Infeld makes flat-wound sets in these gauges: .010-.044, .011-.047, .012-.050, .013--.053. Great, long-lasting and toneful strings which are on my Gretsch Duo-Jet (Dynasonics) and T.V. Jones Spectrasonic (Filtertrons). Your 6120 really came alive with the flats.
Your playing is wonderful
That means so much. Thank you thank you!
I put D'Addario Half rounds (EHR370) on my 6120 and they are amazing. I love the sound and versatility of this guitar now.
I put flatwounds on my Fender Stringmaster lap steel yesterday and I'm in love! Might have to try on my other guitars soon.
I just began my adventure with flatwounds (on an Epiphone Granada - circa 1967). Great experience so far. I will try some flatwounds on my PRS SE Korina next. Thanks for your video!!!
Have fun!
@@kinsmenmusicofficial Will do!!!
I expected the sound to be way darker than it actually turned out. I'm going to try this on my Fat Strat.
You won't be disappointed, I have flat 10s, D'Addario, on my HSS Strat. They play so smooth and the sound is great!
Flatwound strings have been a part of my repertoire for a long time. Ever since I bought a Historic Series Gretsch Streamliner when I was about 16 (33 now), I've always loved the way they sound. After I played on them for a long time, I got used to their thumpy timbre and not hearing those scratches from my fingers moving around. Love 'em! Nice playing BTW; a little _Nocturne_ in there was a nice touch.
thanks so much for the kind words and story!
Can you do pickscrapes? I'd love a thumpier mellower sound and don't like the sound of my fingers moving around too much but I kind of need pickscrapes for rock
Thanks for this demonstration.
I have an orange Brian Setzer 6120 and it has a lot of mid-range bite. I bought flat wounds to try out.
no prob at all thanks for watching!
Great. Thanks. I use 13 in 5420 and flats to in my acoustic guitar!!!!
I appreciate the comparison, thanks.
I love flat wounds you can put much more soul into your playing with them.
The flatwounds sound really good. If you have a few guitars, it's probably worth to have one strung with those. Secret weapon ;-)
One thing the flat wound strings eliminate is the sound of your fingers going across the strings. It makes it definitely more smooth!
wow, I will try flat next time for sure!
My dad was a huge Gretsch guitar fan. He played an original1956 Gretsch Electromatic Streamliner model 6189. Purchased in 1956 brand new. He didn't mind having roundwound bronze strings on his acoustic guitar. But when it came to his Gretsch, flatwounds all the way.
Flats sound really nice on that Gretsch, I would keep them too. I haven't tried flats on any of my guitars yet, but might have a go, now I heard this. I have them on my Fender Jazz Bass and they sound amazing, a very melowed out sound, and nice and thumpy. Thanks :)
GayCaballero we are the same person, nice to meet me
I just put daddario 10s on my center block and I loved them even before I plugged it in!
thanks for watching!
Nice bit of Julian Lage there, hell yeah!
Willie Stratton thanks for watching!
The flat strings sound great.
I put a pair of D'Addario XL CHROME 12-52 flatwounds on my Epiphone Broadway 17" Jazz Box. Sounds much better than roundwounds. Currently completely modifying the Epiphone Broadway to more of a Rockabilly tone with a set of Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Alnico V Staple P-90 pickups, Bigsby B6G, Tone Man Guitar Custom wiring harness with Paper & Oil caps, Graph Tech Tusq XL nut, Sperzel locking tuners and a Stew Mac locking roller bridge which I will pin. After the mods I am going to try a set Thomastik-Intfeld Jazz Swing JS113 , 13-53 Flatwounds. Hoping for killer Rockabilly Tone. GREAT VIDEO!!!
Thanks for watching Brandon!
Certainly the sounds of the GRETSCH guitars are unsurpassed, whatever the type of string used, naturally of good quality. Congratulations and greetings. *🚇PETER GUNN🚇* Music by *Henry Mancini* Gretsch Guitar cover by *Duane💚Eddy* on tenor sax (cover) *Jim💙Horn*
Hi thanks for awesome video. I bought mine and will definately put flatwound on it. It's sounds soulful as I mainly play nylon string. I don't like the chimy sound of electric but flatwound dose make it more compressed and focus.
Just want to ask have you modes the pick ups. Look a like missing some screw.
Thanks again
Heard that Julian Lage. Very nice!
thanks austin!
That Gretsch really has some beefy tone! 🙌🏻🎸
Thanks!!!
you should check out the sound now that the guts have been redone and pickups!
I’m loving flatwounds for everything from blues to metal lol
GIT IT!
Great video. I don’t like the sons of flat wounds on a lot of guitars, but they shine on that 6120.
Thanks for watching!
D'Adarrio offers flats in 10s. I have them on my Strat HSS. They are really great. I also use flats on my hollowbodies. Ibanez LGB30-11s; AF95-10s; and Epiphone Broadway. And don't forget about half-rounds, right in between flats and rounds. I have them on another hollowbody, Ibanez AF125 and my Eastman AR380ce. I have rounds on all my other guitars. I don't shred or play too heavy, I play mostly jazz/pop/soul blend of alt-rock and folk-rock, and I mostly play original tunes. The flats are great for my style. Thanks for the vid. you play great! :)
Sick demo songs. Nice to hear Last dance with Mary Jane
and Lenny! Mans got taste
one of our favorites!
Props for playing a Julian Lage song haha, didn't see that one coming
thanks for watching!
I'm interested to know what the pickups are together with the "funky stuff" you found under the hood. Beautiful playing and sweet tone!
GretschenMunch thanks for watching and the kind words! The pickups that are in there now are custom mcnelly’s. The original ones were normal filtertrons. The “funky stuff” was a nice way of saying that the wiring and pots were absolute garbage and had completely failed. After the new wiring and pickups, all is well...
Tone monster!
Las flatwound son las mejores 👍
From all that I heard I like them. Just notice bending is harder but I just put them on a 335 & love that it doesn't buzz as much 🤔 also got a new gretch & took it back cause it sounded nothing like my 72 country gent. Obviously fender is charging the big bucks but nothing compared to the real gretch 😏 totally different! Nice build but no cigar on the authentic tone of old 🙄
Now that’s proper tone.
thanks so much for watching!
Great video. The flat wound strings were surprisingly bright and full sounding. How do they respond for blues bends and do they return to pitch? Thanks.
hey Scott, thanks for watching, as for bends, they are a little stiff, I believe they were 11's, but def fought you back a bit. hope that helps.
kinsmen -thanks for your reply. I use 11’s and they seem to be the “magic gauge” for a Gretsch guitars. Great playing and informative video, thanks again, my best to you.
At the 3 min mark going on for about 30 seconds was my favorite sound, great playing 👏🏾👏🏾
...what gauge are those strings?
thanks for the kind words! I believe they are 12's!
Gretsch 6120 is my dream guitar but I want the Reverend Horton Heat model with the clear pick guard!
that Rev model is SICK! Jim actually went to the high school i teach at now, pretty small world huh!?
Hope u were able to pull the trigger on the guitar… I have one and it is MAGIC
What am I going to do now with all spare rounds I have laying around?
Does the guitar need any adjustment to go from roundwond to flatwound of the same gauge?
No sir, no adjustment at all!
As I see it, Roundwounds are better for that 80s rockabilly revival sound a la Brian Setzer while Flatwounds are better for more of that authentic 50s rockabilly sound a la Sun Records.
8 month later, Do you still like/prefer the flat one? I found it good for Jazz, but for this kind of song at 1:37 of your video, I personally prefer the Roundwounds strings. it sounds much brighter with more low and high frequencies. am I wrong? Cheers and Thanks for the video!
i'm actually still playing the flats! def a diff sound than the rounds, i did have to make some adjustments to amps/pedals to work well with them, but they feel so good!
@@kinsmenmusicofficial ok, Thank you :)
I just had all frets replaced on my Gretsch G5420/LH (lefty) the guitar has not played well since I bought it 10 plus years ago. I've always preferred light gauge strings now I'm advice that I may need to go with heavier gauge to avoid some of the buzzing and that archtop guitars play better, my question is this fact? does anyone have an opinion on this? I love this guitar I wish I could be enjoying it like my D'angelico every note on, every fret rings clean like a bell.
I tried flatwounds on a Fender Jaguar long ago (my first and still main electric) and never went back. Got round wounds on my 335.......do I want to try flats on that? I mean maybe I should just give it a shot. Anyway, big fan of flatwounds, not for everyone obviously. If you play a lot of rhythm and aren't going for big heavy distorted tones, they could be great for a lot of people but it's just something to try and see if you like it.
Puts on flatwounds and kinda doesn't play the wound srtings...
@@RustyMadd Yeah! That's 16% of the strings!
@@clarencevickrot3531 I think the low E, A, D strings are flatwound and if the G is too then thats 66 percent.
Very sweet sounding! I think you just convinced me to tryout some flatwounds on all of my guitars. I think the change will make a big difference in way my '57 Gretsch Penguin and '62 Duo Jet sound. By the way, the Nashville that you have in your hands is stunning! I bought the same guitar in 1989. I think that's when Gretsch guitars started to be manufactured in Japan. I loved that guitar. Sad;y, it was stolen a few years later. I really appreciate the video!
wow, thanks so much for watching, and sharing the story of your gretsch! Super glad you liked the video, and please let us know how the flatwounds go!
@@kinsmenmusicofficial I will keep you posted.
I just discovered gretsch after a lifetime of metal playing.
What pickups did you switch to.
Its sounds fantastic.
For this video, it was a custom set of mcnelly's, but i really didn't like them so i went back to Lollartrons!
They sound AMAZINGLY better!
It would have been nice to know what gauge of strings you are using specifically, I am learning hybrid picking, (Rockabilly) and I am wondering what a good gauge for a 6120 is. I think smaller gauges are not as good as heavier gauges, but I'm not sure.
the thumbnail has the picture of the set... d'addario chromes 11-50
What choone were you ripping in to at 5:04? Feels very familiar. Very tidy playing mate👌
billy lawson thanks for the kind words! That was Lenny, by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Thanks for watching!
Thinking about flats on my baritone for less string noise.
looks like I'm going to my local guitar shop for some flatwounds for my 5420
Hi, nice guitar, I have one too, I wanted to know what strings you put together because I also have flatwounds but I can't do much bending, especially with the G
Read the description
That julian lage playing was nice 👍👍
Thanks!
This was a great video! Out of curiosity could you get away with 10s on that guitar?
thanks so much for watching! I think the 10's would work, maybe just experiment with a clean boost if it isn't giving you the fatness you need at first ya know?
@@kinsmenmusicofficial Ok I’ll have to try that for sure! And also do you think tuning stability would be a problem with 10’s?
@@isaacaddie7615 I think the stability really depends on the guitar... I've had super cheap guitars with bigsby's stay in tune longer than some gretschs i've experimented with. just depends on if the line is straight from trem to nut. As far as just the string, i think you'll be fine!
Flats sound great with that Tom Petty!!!
Thanks for watching!
Sounds Great
thanks Jarrett!
With flatwound, are all six strings wound, or just the thicker three (like with standard roundwound)?
it would just be the low 3 strings.
thanks for commenting!
@@kinsmenmusicofficial Thanks!
Oooooo Nocturne :)
3:30 flats
Good review! Nice to know how the flatwounds FEEL as well as sound. Most reviewers only talk about sound. Like that Guitar Maxx douchebag.
Hmm...I did a flats vs rounds comparison video just like this three months ago, only with a Tele. Damn you...what with your better guitar, awesome playing and superior video quality and all... ;)
Flat wounds dont "start at 12". There are FW in all "standard" gauges such as 9-42 and 10-46. Check out D'addario Chromes, Mangan and GHS, and you will see a very wide variety from very light to very heavy.
I once had a Pat Martino set of flat wounds that went up to 15 on the high E. It was like a G string thickness on the E! I thought it might thicken up the sound but it really didn’t do all that and was unnecessary. Now I’m at either 11 or 12 max for flat wounds lol
Love the tone of the flat wounds, What's the name of the first song played on the flats? (Time - 3:58)
that's nocturne by julian lage
@@kinsmenmusicofficial that’s awesome thank you
Nice sound. Is the first string of the flatwound 0.1 or heavier one ?
I believe that the sizes are 11, 15, 22W, 30, 40, 50
@@kinsmenmusicofficial Thank you.
Flat wound for life,can’t and won’t go back . All my gretschs have flatwounds .
Nice guitar. Nice beard.
It would help if you played the same songs so we can compare probably but i prefer the round wound better tone
what roundwounds are you using?
They were d’addarii exl 11-46
Thanks for watching!
Great tunes election
thanks for watchin!
Maybe someone can tell me if I go from 9's to 12-52's, will the extra tension change the intonation and neck relief?
Just use 9’s…yes you will have to do a setup change if you go from 9 to 12.
What's that riff at 1:34 ? It's killing me. I just can't place it...
Wicked Game by Chris Isaak! thanks for watching!
3:55 I was really hoping for a Lord of the Rings meddley on guitar. You disappoint me, sir. I would not let you pass.
If you could hear butter it would sound like those flats.
I've allways favoured flats. I hate the squeek when you move up and down the strings with rounds. Some would argue that the sound is worse, I'd rather say that it's different. And lets be honest... how bad must the sound be, not to be possible to fix with an equlizer...? If you go pure aqustic you still have that option, if you're lined out. For that matter I rather like the rounder, richer and fatter sound the give.... and no f**king squeeks....! And the feel.... smooth like butter....simply wonderful. I wish there were superlights ('007) avaible in flatwound, but I've never found lighter than .009, so I'll make do with them for now.
thanks for watching!
what song is that at 4:00?
thats Nocture by Julian Lage
thanks for watching!
@@kinsmenmusicofficial thanks. It has some similarities to another song I know.
Hello, what flatwounds this strings are, Tomastik, addario, and gauge?
These are D'addario's I believe they are called Chromes and are 11-65
@@kinsmenmusicofficial 11 65 or 11 56?
wow that is an awesome guitar - ok IMO the flats make a better tone but i actually prefer the rounds.
certainly on my tele & strat i prefer ernie ball slinky round wounds.
Can you plAy slide with flats ?
haven't actually tried it, but i'm sure you could!
I'd say it may be a little weird, but def can play w/ a slide!
Definitely, slide works well with flatwounds. It's a different feel and sound overall, but still works quite nicely.
All i want is flat that sounded almost like round without the string noise really.
Use elixir nanoweb roundwound. No noise whatsoever.
Try D'addario Half Rounds. Pretty much exactly what it sounds like you're looking for.
Wasn’t an Orange Gretsch 6120 Pete Townshend’s secret weapon on Who’s Next?
your guess is as good as ours... but it does really do well on recordings for us
That is one beautiful guitar. Sounds better than it looks
What Gage ????
11-49
Roundwound strings sound much deeper, with a lot of character. Going for round.....
That's what amps are for.
Guy can play guitar for sure. The weirdest possible position to play guitar though. 45 degrees from the body.
Thanks for watching!
Flatwound wins.
Flat wound.
flatwounds all day long...