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Hey guys. So i see threads all the time comparing and contrasting the two types of strings for BASS, but what about guitar? I've always used either .10s or .11s roundwounds, never tried flatwounds before but I'm interested. From what i know, rounds are brighter, but they die quicker and do significant damage to frets and the fretboard. My concern about damaging my frets and fretboard is also a reason I'm considering converting to flats. Any thoughts or info? How do flats handle fuzz in comparison to rounds?

MLC loves his flatwounds. A lot.

i've tried flatwounds, but didn't get along with them; people who like them, however, are utterly married to them. the people i've talked to/read posts on forums who use flats are mainly clean-tone Chet Atkins/Merle Travis types. in my experience, the advantage to flats on guitar other than reduced fret/fingerboard wear is reduced finger/string noise. the drawbacks of flats on guitar are as follows:

1.) it's more difficult to bend the wound strings
2.) the tone of the wound strings is more different to the plain strings, which makes it harder to set the guitar up for a balanced tone
3.) the tone and sustain characteristics of flatwound strings are different, with a thumpier, less ringing attack and less sustain than roundwound guitar strings. thus, they're inherently less suited to post-1960 guitar styles which generally call for more CLANG than THUD.

however, some of these drawbacks might make flatwounds great for fuzz, which i didn't try when i experimented with flats because i was going for a Big Warm Jazzy Tone. the overly bassy nature would combat the tendency of most distortion circuits to kill the low end, the relative deadness of the bass strings would combat feedback, and the lack of treble ZING on the pick attacks would round off the notes almost as effectively as a peak limiter. it'd certainly be worth a try. i'd go deep, though, and get a set of really good flats, Pyramids or Thomastik-Infelds or such...they're expensive, but it's better to try a good example.

Only ever used them on my Jazzmasters and Jaguars. Perfect for you if you want bassy warm tone on a guitar that is traditionally quite bright. I wouldn't bother if you tend to bend notes quite a lot. They also make overall EQ'ing a bit of a pain as they somewhat change the inherent character of a guitar.

I agree with what everyone else has said, they're harder to bend, darker in sound with less harmonics, have less sustain, don't have as strong an attack, don't ring out as much, and the difference between the wound and plain strings is a bit annoying. But there's less string noise, they feel cool to play and they sound great for jazz or Chet Atkins type stuff, the thumpy dark sound really works for those styles (and probably others). I found they worked great with fuzz on my bass, really smoothed it out, but I've never tried them with fuzz on guitar.

I like bright tone and playing aggressively so I'm not too into them, but try a set out, YMMV.

I love the way they feel and would have 'em on a guitar if I had two. I think they'd shine with baritones. They are hard to bend, but after awhile you get use to it and bend fine. Build those fingers. They sound like strings already broken in ready to go.

I honestly dont even know what flatwound strings are......

I use the TI Nickel Flatwounds = 11-47.

Like them a lot and they last forever.

SPACERITUAL wrote:I honestly dont even know what flatwound strings are......

top is roundwound, bottom is flatwound.

jrmy wrote:MLC loves his flatwounds. A lot.

yes i do jrmz!!!

di'addario chromes all day!!!

you get WAY WAY WAY MORE harmonics with flats than you do rounds. i have flats on the fatboy and the zebrawood les paul. i am going to put them on the firebird but i cant find my lemon oil and i really want to do up that fretboard...

yes, there is more string mass so bending the wound strings are a bit tougher but you get pretty used to it pretty quick. similar to if you ever went up a gage in string sets. you also get a much fuller richer toan. more bass and mids. less twangy zing...

they also last way longer than rounds do especially if you wipe them down. not having the roundwound valleys to trap skin, sweet, blood whatever makes the strings easier to clean and more resistant to corrosion...

as far as handling fuzz the last several and the majority of my youtube vids are done with flats!

grab a set of chromes in your favorite size and slap them on! only way to tell if you like them is to try them! i only say chromes as those are the only ones i have used. they are around 8 bucks a set so if you really hate them its not that big of an investment. i work with a guy that loves the thomistik infelds (however that is spelled) but i have never played them and as they cost so much more i am not sure if i will try them but maybe...

so yeah, FLATS!!!

One problem with flats is you are a little more limited on choice of string guages...

My main guitar is a Jaguar Special with a PAF Pro in the neck and Super Dist in the bridge. It's already a warm guitar (especially since the other guitar I use has Tex Mex single coils in it...so much brighterr). So from a couple posts I think I'm gonna give em a try. Like MLC said, if I tried them I was planning on getting the MUCH cheaper D'Addario strings anyways. And if string bending is really such a monumental issue (from most posts I see lol) then I guess it's $9 down the drain. Like I said, I switch from .10s and .11s and have no problem adjusting so I don't expect an issue with finger stwength

Traditionaly flats on guitar are for jazz. I've played a few guitars with flats on them and they're really nice, but you can't bend as well with them and the sound is less in your face and more mellow. I have fender 9's on my guitars one is standard tuning the other is tuned to an "E" chord for slide guitar. I like 9's on electric, 11's or 12's on acoustic, and I just checked and the strings on my mandolin are 0.011's. My rhythm guitarist puts 10's on all of his guitars, I don't like them, at all. This being siad I have 45's on my basses so...

They'd certainly feel a lot more... can't think of a word... solid? Flats do suit short-scale guitars

Don't forget that with flats you can't pick slide for the metulz