Question regarding flat wound strings

[GreenKnee]

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

Jaguars

[mgeek]

How long are they exactly? Could you not trim them as much and just have a bit more wrapped around the post?

[GreenKnee]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/c0hntvrw6hpa8 ... 7.jpg?dl=0

This much too long, this is the Low E. The others I can get away with, but I feel there would be too much string wrapped round the post on the low E

[JVG]

Hi there,

I’ve used those exact strings, and they are fine. As with all round-core strings, you need to bend them sharply before cutting to length, otherwise they will unravel or sound dead. If you follow that simple step while installing, you will be fine.

By the way, you will notice a big difference in feel and sound between the Chromes and the Thomastik. Chromes are stainless steel wrapped and have a brighter tone than the Thomastik, which are wrapped in pure nickel. The Chromes are also a bit smoother under the fingers. I wouldn’t say one is better than the other, just different.

Cheers!
J.

[jorri]

I'm not sure silk ends really hold the winding, I always assumed it was to protect hardware and look fancy or even for simple identification of brand on violins. The amount of windings is quite standard so don't know why they aren't longer silk ends.

Do you follow the Fender rule of pulling the low E to the 4th string tuner? I often go longer, like maybe to 2nd tuner. As long as you don't have windings on top of windings...

I do remember the chrome's looking like that at the peg, seems just how flats would go. If you look at rounds they do separate but it's less obvious since flats are a smooth continuous surface when straight.

I found the Thomastik very high quality. Would be perfect for jazz. Less metallic zing (which I like about chrome's) but a lot richer and nuanced.

[GreenKnee]

Hi there,

I’ve used those exact strings, and they are fine. As with all round-core strings, you need to bend them sharply before cutting to length, otherwise they will unravel or sound dead. If you follow that simple step while installing, you will be fine.

By the way, you will notice a big difference in feel and sound between the Chromes and the Thomastik. Chromes are stainless steel wrapped and have a brighter tone than the Thomastik, which are wrapped in pure nickel. The Chromes are also a bit smoother under the fingers. I wouldn’t say one is better than the other, just different.

Cheers!
J.

Thanks very much for the peace of mind. So you would do the usual 2 posts past to get the length of the string, sharp bend and cut? Regardless of whether there is silk or not? I'm excited to try them out and compare to chromes

[GreenKnee]

I'm not sure silk ends really hold the winding, I always assumed it was to protect hardware and look fancy or even for simple identification of brand on violins. The amount of windings is quite standard so don't know why they aren't longer silk ends.

Do you follow the Fender rule of pulling the low E to the 4th string tuner? I often go longer, like maybe to 2nd tuner. As long as you don't have windings on top of windings...

I do remember the chrome's looking like that at the peg, seems just how flats would go. If you look at rounds they do separate but it's less obvious since flats are a smooth continuous surface when straight.

I found the Thomastik very high quality. Would be perfect for jazz. Less metallic zing (which I like about chrome's) but a lot richer and nuanced.

Yep, that's generally how I restrung, 2 tuners past the one I'm going in. Thanks for the advice, I'll get them on this evening once I'm doing playing for the day

[JVG]

[/quote]
Thanks very much for the peace of mind. So you would do the usual 2 posts past to get the length of the string, sharp bend and cut? Regardless of whether there is silk or not? I'm excited to try them out and compare to chromes
[/quote]

Yep, that’s how i do it. I installed them on a Strat, which resulted in most strings having the silk section completely chopped off. Provided you do the sharp bend first, it’s totally fine. If you are really worried, you could leave a tiny amount of the silk section just to be safe, but i don’t think it’s necessary.

After reading your initial post last night, i got out my strat with the Thomastiks,, which i hadn’t played for a while. For about the first 5 seconds i thought “these strings are a bit dull”, but then you start hearing all these great subtleties and harmonics in the sound. I think you will enjoy them, but be prepared for a more mellow string than the Chromes.

Cheers!
J.

[jorri]

Thomas tik are prodeominantly a bowed string manufacturer, so these definitely share some cello string qualities but still not as expensive of course.

Might explain the silks. On a cello some say its just to identify what brand is there because people leave strings on for years and tone varies a lot between brands.

And when you wind them you end up with metal on the peg... Maybe it's for reducing overtones behind the bridge a bit but guitar strings don't have that end silked

[s11141827]

I'm experimenting w/ putting Thomastik JS110 Flatwounds on my Jasmine S35 (they're Currently tuned down a Fourth to Bb Standard from Eb Standard as I'm worried the Wound Strings would pop as I might have wound too much onto the tuners), I was tuning it to pitch & the Low E String just snapped. Thomastik is sending me a replacement. Maybe these strings might be designed for a different type of Electric Guitar (Archtop Guitar w/ Tailpiece) & for them to work on a Solid Body Electric Guitar & Acoustic Guitar, they would have to be made shorter.

[s11141827]

Prim in Sweden makes Nyckelharpa Strings which are basically Cello Strings designed Shorter so what if Thomastik Infeld made Solid Body Electric Guitar versions of their Jazz Swing Strings like Jazz Swing Solid Body/Flattop Acoustic Strings, which are basically Jazz Swing Strings designed shorter.

[GreenKnee]

I'm experimenting w/ putting Thomastik JS110 Flatwounds on my Jasmine S35 (they're Currently tuned down a Fourth to Bb Standard from Eb Standard as I'm worried the Wound Strings would pop as I might have wound too much onto the tuners), I was tuning it to pitch & the Low E String just snapped. Thomastik is sending me a replacement. Maybe these strings might be designed for a different type of Electric Guitar (Archtop Guitar w/ Tailpiece) & for them to work on a Solid Body Electric Guitar & Acoustic Guitar, they would have to be made shorter.

They work fine. Since this original post I have used them on 2 of my Jags and they work perfectly without issue. Out of personal preference I actually prefer the D'addario Chromes but with a plain G, but the Thomastik strings work perfectly on a Jag.

[s11141827]

Flatwound strings were originally mad for Bowed Stringed instruments to replace the Gut strings.

[s11141827]

I'm experimenting w/ putting Thomastik JS110 Flatwounds on my Jasmine S35 (they're Currently tuned down a Fourth to Bb Standard from Eb Standard as I'm worried the Wound Strings would pop as I might have wound too much onto the tuners), I was tuning it to pitch & the Low E String just snapped. Thomastik is sending me a replacement. Maybe these strings might be designed for a different type of Electric Guitar (Archtop Guitar w/ Tailpiece) & for them to work on a Solid Body Electric Guitar & Acoustic Guitar, they would have to be made shorter.

They work fine. Since this original post I have used them on 2 of my Jags and they work perfectly without issue. Out of personal preference I actually prefer the D'addario Chromes but with a plain G, but the Thomastik strings work perfectly on a Jag.

A Wound G would be easier to bend but I'd have to cut the scale length down to only 19 inches