Photo of D'Addario Chrome Low E
I've been using D'Addario Chromes for a couple of years on my Jaguars, but I have recently purchased some Thomastik JS110 to try out for a change after hearing great things about them. I'm a little concerned as I have read that they can be quite fragile when restringing due to their round core as opposed to a hexagonal core. They come with silk wrapped round the end of the windings in order to keep the winding to the core, but on the Jaguar the string has to be cut down to length short of this silk starting. As you can see from the attached photo, the Chromes that are currently on my Jag have split at the tuner, but the string still holds itself together fine. I'm concerned about this with the Thomastiks as this might cause them to break. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, thanks
And as a bonus as I haven't posted for a while, here is a pic of my current Jaguars:
Left - right:
Late 90's CIJ (this one I keep tuned to drop C#) with AVRI Jaguar pickups
1962 Jaguar, refinished in Olympic White some time in its past,and I've just had it refretted due to ugly jumbos, but other than that it is stock.
2018 American Original Jaguar - all stock
I DON'T KNOW HOW TO POST PHOTOS ANYMORE /ROBROE
Question regarding flat wound strings
Moderated By: mods
ive been using Chromes for 15 years now. they routinely do what you have photoed when winding on a slot head tuner.
not sure about this new brand.
how much do they cost ?
if you are only out 10 bucks give it a go. not the end of the world.
if they are like 30 bucks a set they can get fucked anyways. hahahaha
the nice thing about Chromes is you never have to replace them, they never sound worn out, because they sound worn out the first time you string them up. I've got some guitars with the same strings on there for over 10 years.
not sure about this new brand.
how much do they cost ?
if you are only out 10 bucks give it a go. not the end of the world.
if they are like 30 bucks a set they can get fucked anyways. hahahaha
the nice thing about Chromes is you never have to replace them, they never sound worn out, because they sound worn out the first time you string them up. I've got some guitars with the same strings on there for over 10 years.
dots wrote:incesticide
I have two basses that both have the first flatwound sets I put on them when I got them in 2003 and 2010. They last forever if you need them to.GreenKnee wrote:Bloody hell 10 years is impressive!
I use Fenders for bass, could never personally get on with flats for guitar though, I tried Chromes 11s on an SG once.
Aug wrote:which one of you bastards sent me an ebay question asking if you can get teh kurdtz with that 64 mustang?
robertOG wrote:fran & paul are some of the original gangstas of the JS days when you'd have to say "phuck"
I found they were great if you aren't bending notes, but a pain if you are. I only have a couple of electrics now so I can't have a guitar with that narrow a use.paul_ wrote:I have two basses that both have the first flatwound sets I put on them when I got them in 2003 and 2010. They last forever if you need them to.GreenKnee wrote:Bloody hell 10 years is impressive!
I use Fenders for bass, could never personally get on with flats for guitar though, I tried Chromes 11s on an SG once.
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mondaysoutar
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hi, Im wondering if when going over to flat wound strings you have to adjust the truss rod? Its an American Original Jazzmaster I'm considering putting them onto, obviously not short scale, but hopefully cool for me to get involved! I only got the guitar the middle of last year and went for gauge 11 pure nickel D'Addarios. It would either be Chromes or Thomastik's in the same gauge I'd go to.
I had a CIJ Jag and had thomastik flats on it, but it was years and years ago, so can't quite remember if I had to tweak the truss or not.
Im new here, so hopefully its cool for me to ask away, etc.
I had a CIJ Jag and had thomastik flats on it, but it was years and years ago, so can't quite remember if I had to tweak the truss or not.
Im new here, so hopefully its cool for me to ask away, etc.
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mondaysoutar
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Got a few sets of Thomastik Jazz Swings on the way (12's and 11's) to try out.
I read you could give them a knick/sharp bend before the cut to secure the core before you cut off the ends.
Like with pliers or something, fold/press them...but i need them to arrive to see if it can be done on the heavier gauges and they still fit in the split kluson style posts, probably not an issue.
Might make a post when i'm changing to a set.
I read you could give them a knick/sharp bend before the cut to secure the core before you cut off the ends.
Like with pliers or something, fold/press them...but i need them to arrive to see if it can be done on the heavier gauges and they still fit in the split kluson style posts, probably not an issue.
Might make a post when i'm changing to a set.
To completely contradict myself, I have had flatwounds on my Jazzmaster for a couple of months now and I'm enjoying them on there, especially for legato playing.NickD wrote:I found they were great if you aren't bending notes, but a pain if you are. I only have a couple of electrics now so I can't have a guitar with that narrow a use.paul_ wrote:I have two basses that both have the first flatwound sets I put on them when I got them in 2003 and 2010. They last forever if you need them to.GreenKnee wrote:Bloody hell 10 years is impressive!
I use Fenders for bass, could never personally get on with flats for guitar though, I tried Chromes 11s on an SG once.
Noirie. wrote:I’ve got a set of .011 D’addario flats on my Jaguar atm. Tuned to E flat and no issues with tryna play leads. Only feel slightly heavier than a normal set.
Tried .013s on it years ago and the low E from that set broke the nut.
did you file it out a little first or were you just like fuck it let the string grind the shit out of it and make its own hole?
(ive done both)
dots wrote:incesticide
Odd, had a 62 gauge string for a while on my mustang and Knurdtz jag and no nut issues (tuned to B standard). My Ernie ball Mammoth phase...
120 gauge on my p bass now. Tuned to D standard but going back to 110 soon.
Was just experimenting with b standard tuning but back to e standard now.
I put thomastik jazz swing 12-50 on my classic vibe jazzmaster.
I thought they were the 11-47 set I got... I only realized about 30mins after playing I put on the 'wrong' set (got 12s for my KC jag).
Went from factory 9s (bah) to 10-46s (OK..low E too thin) and now a big jump to 12-50s but I like. Can really dig in. The top strings need a bit more power in chording.
The lighter gauge strings felt like 'wow this is effortlessl!' but I couldn't dig in and though chording was 'easier', less room for error in finger position. Just because it was so 'effortless'.
120 gauge on my p bass now. Tuned to D standard but going back to 110 soon.
Was just experimenting with b standard tuning but back to e standard now.
I put thomastik jazz swing 12-50 on my classic vibe jazzmaster.
I thought they were the 11-47 set I got... I only realized about 30mins after playing I put on the 'wrong' set (got 12s for my KC jag).
Went from factory 9s (bah) to 10-46s (OK..low E too thin) and now a big jump to 12-50s but I like. Can really dig in. The top strings need a bit more power in chording.
The lighter gauge strings felt like 'wow this is effortlessl!' but I couldn't dig in and though chording was 'easier', less room for error in finger position. Just because it was so 'effortless'.
Perhaps its because its a new thing that cost 18 quid...but I am loving these new thomastik-infeld flatwounds.
I have never tried flatwounds before so have nothing to compare them to. But everything about them I love.
They are super loud unplugged, this seems to transfer through the pickups too, they certainly don't sound dull. But are more full sounding. The other weird thing is each switch on the jaguar seems to change the sound more noticeably. So the tone cut for example really cuts. I think I have more sustain too. They feel nice. I don't play enough these days to have super hard finger ends so roundwounds hurt. There is enough bite to them though that you have control.
The 13s were under a bit too much tension for me in E standard. So I have dropped down to D. That has sorted tension. 12s would of been ideal.
I really encourage anyone to try them. I did have adust the neck relief I also shimmed a bit more. But I had 10s on beforehand.
I had a slightly buzzy G when played open as the nut probably needs recuting, the wound G has sorted it. No more buzz.
Oh and I haven't stretched the strings like I normally do and tuning is still amazing!
I have never tried flatwounds before so have nothing to compare them to. But everything about them I love.
They are super loud unplugged, this seems to transfer through the pickups too, they certainly don't sound dull. But are more full sounding. The other weird thing is each switch on the jaguar seems to change the sound more noticeably. So the tone cut for example really cuts. I think I have more sustain too. They feel nice. I don't play enough these days to have super hard finger ends so roundwounds hurt. There is enough bite to them though that you have control.
The 13s were under a bit too much tension for me in E standard. So I have dropped down to D. That has sorted tension. 12s would of been ideal.
I really encourage anyone to try them. I did have adust the neck relief I also shimmed a bit more. But I had 10s on beforehand.
I had a slightly buzzy G when played open as the nut probably needs recuting, the wound G has sorted it. No more buzz.
Oh and I haven't stretched the strings like I normally do and tuning is still amazing!
I strongly disagree with Rob about truss rod adjustment. In both bass and guitar, flatwounds have increased tension, it might not be obvious at first but over time it will usually bow the neck unless maybe you’re going from a very heavy roundwound to a very light flat wound.
You might not need to adjust at all depending on the individual guitar, but you should keep watch over the neck bow over the next few minutes, hours and days, and make adjustments accordingly in 8th turn increments. A little goes a long way.
You might not need to adjust at all depending on the individual guitar, but you should keep watch over the neck bow over the next few minutes, hours and days, and make adjustments accordingly in 8th turn increments. A little goes a long way.
Yeah 100%Nick wrote:I strongly disagree with Rob about truss rod adjustment. In both bass and guitar, flatwounds have increased tension, it might not be obvious at first but over time it will usually bow the neck unless maybe you’re going from a very heavy roundwound to a very light flat wound.
You might not need to adjust at all depending on the individual guitar, but you should keep watch over the neck bow over the next few minutes, hours and days, and make adjustments accordingly in 8th turn increments. A little goes a long way.