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I have heard that flatwounds work well on JMs. I have never used flats before.

Which do you like?

Well, I've just strung my 59 with D'addario Cromes 11 - 50 last week. To be fair I just restrung the lower 3 strings only and left the Elixirs for the top 3 (not to crazy about a wound G). I freaking love it! I had used flatwounds before but never on a Jazzmaster. It's an amazing sound and feel. I play clean a lot and the guitar sound is more mellow and better balanced. It has overall a more pure tone, flatwounds get rid of a lot of buzzing and zinging .Thinking of going this way with some of my other Jazzmasters.

Regardng strings, I've heard great things about Thomastik so I guess I'll be buying a couple of sets in the near future. Looking forward to hear other options.

I am totally happy with D'Addario Chromes XL (12's)

I use the Chromes 12’s too. No complaints here.

I put a set of 10 gauge D'Addario Half Rounds on my VMJM recently. l'm liking them a lot. Very smooth and quiet but not as thuddy as the Curt Mangan flat wounds I have on my hollow body. They still have a fair amount of zing. They have a plain 3rd up to 11 gauge. 12 and up has a wound 3rd.

Cheers..................................Todd

I use the chromes shown above, but lots of folks (I think) prefer pyramid or thomastik strings

I had an issue with Chromes coming undone at the ball end. (It could have just been a bad set). I put Pyramids on after that and like them just fine. I agree that flats sound great on a Jazzmaster, especially for a vintage thumpy sound.

I put a set of 10 gauge D'Addario Half Rounds on my VMJM recently. l'm liking them a lot. Very smooth and quiet but not as thuddy as the Curt Mangan flat wounds I have on my hollow body. They still have a fair amount of zing. They have a plain 3rd up to 11 gauge. 12 and up has a wound 3rd.

I'll second this. Flat wounds are great, but if they don't work out for you I strongly recommend trying half-rounds. I have them on a jazzmaster and jaguar, and in my view they are unbeatable for vintage sounds.

Cheers!
J

Today I put on a set of D'Addario Chromes XL (ECG25: 12-52) as well.

My first set of flats for guitar. They're brighter than I had expected, but I like them so far.

I put them on a Sq VM JM, which was still way too crisp/new to my liking with rounds, and I'd say the flats seems to help here.

Thomastik Infield - best flatwounds period! They are unlike any other out there.

I've been obsessed with all things strings for almost 3 decades - trust me, try a set!

http://www.thomastik-infeld.com/family- ... ZZ%20Swing

^ ^ I bet Pyramid Golds would give them a run for their money. Excellent strings.

I use Picato Flatwounds on my Jag and Mustang. No problems in the 3 years? I've been using them.
I used D'addarios for a while but found they unwound or snapped at the ball end.

I bought a few sets of the Pyramid flats for my guitars and I did not like them at all, beyond feel. Sound-wise they were OK but the wound strings had less output than the plain strings and made all of my guitars sound weak and soft by comparison. This is something I have never experienced with LaBella or D'Addario. With that said, I love the Pyramid strings on my Danelectro bass. They sound and feel fantastic.

I use Thomastik on my Magnatone Mark IV and love them a lot, but I never tried on the JM.

I use Thomastiks on almost all my guitars. They're oddly bright for flatwounds.