Flatwounds on JM

[rhythmjones]

I kept breaking Chromes, so I switched to La Bella Jazz Flats, which to me have a thuddier sound and I've never broken one, even rocking out really hard.

I'll spring for Thomastiks on my jazzboxes, but not on my rock guitars, because I'd be afraid of breaking such an expensive string. But on a jazz guitar it's one set of strings for the life of the guitar, actually cheaper in the long run.

[Mondaysoutar]

I use TI flats, they aren’t that expensive where I am (Scotland), around 20 sheets a pack. Are they really expensive in America?

[Synchro]

I use TI flats, they aren’t that expensive where I am (Scotland), around 20 sheets a pack. Are they really expensive in America?

About $35 US per set. Given their lifespan, they are relatively inexpensive.

[bessieboporbach]

I use TI flats, they aren’t that expensive where I am (Scotland), around 20 sheets a pack. Are they really expensive in America?

They're not flats, but their George Benson signature set is about $60 here!

That being said, guitar strings are a bargain relative to bass strings.

[bessieboporbach]

I kept breaking Chromes, so I switched to La Bella Jazz Flats, which to me have a thuddier sound and I've never broken one, even rocking out really hard.

You're breaking the wound strings on a set of chromes??? What gauge?

You must play with a hell of a whack. Of course, the unwound strings are exactly the same in every D'addario pack.

[preservation]

I use flats on almost everything.
D’addario flat .11s on about 6 of 8 guitars, and LaBella Mustang flats on my newly acquired Squier rascal bass.

I love the way they feel on guitar and sound on bass. You do forego a bit of snap to my ears, unless you’ve got a Jag.

I think there’s nothing like some chunky flats on a Jaguar.

[rhythmjones]

You must play with a hell of a whack. Of course, the unwound strings are exactly the same in every D'addario pack.

Yeah, in my old band I attacked the guitar as much as "played" it. lol.

[Synchro]

I intend to try some Pyramid Fusion Flats on at least on Jaguar, and probably some Thomastik Jazz Swings, once I have the setup dialed in and don’t anticipate having to de-string them for setup work.

The Fusion Flats are weird! I currently have them on a Tele - they have a strange feel, not smooth like most flats, but very rough (especially at first). Initially they were too bright, but quickly mellowed and i really enjoy the sound of them.

I checked them out under magnification, and it seems that the wrap overlaps by a small amount each time around the core, rather than sitting flush like most flat wounds.

Just thought it worthy of mention, so you know they are not ‘normal’ flats.

I appreciate the information.

There are a set of Fusion Flats sitting here waiting to be installed and I looked at them and was puzzled, because they didn’t look all that flat. I don’t have much magnification available, so I couldn’t really get a handle on what was going on with the winds.. I have one fret on my Warmoth Jaguar build which is high, and I need to take care of that problem before I commit to using a set that cost over $20, but I hope to address that in a week or so, and then give them a try. I’ve read several posts, on various forums, where users of these strings were quite enthused about them, so I thought it’s worth investigating.

The Fusion Flats were installed on my Warmoth Jaguar last night and I found some answers. They are great sounding strings. I wouldn’t think of them as flat wounds, half rounds, or round wounds; they seem to live in a space, all their own. As closely as I can determine, they are round core strings wrapped in flattened pure nickel wire, which partially overlaps the prior wind, so the surface is not flat.

The initial attack is rapid, but the overall sound is warm. To my ear, they sound like high quality pure nickel wrapped, round core, round wounds. The wraps are such that I expect that these strings will not allow contaminants between the windings, so I would expect long string life.

They sound great on my Jaguar, and I’ll probably stick with these.

[sugarandopium]

The Fusion Flats are weird! I currently have them on a Tele - they have a strange feel, not smooth like most flats, but very rough (especially at first). Initially they were too bright, but quickly mellowed and i really enjoy the sound of them.

I checked them out under magnification, and it seems that the wrap overlaps by a small amount each time around the core, rather than sitting flush like most flat wounds.

Just thought it worthy of mention, so you know they are not ‘normal’ flats.

I appreciate the information.

There are a set of Fusion Flats sitting here waiting to be installed and I looked at them and was puzzled, because they didn’t look all that flat. I don’t have much magnification available, so I couldn’t really get a handle on what was going on with the winds.. I have one fret on my Warmoth Jaguar build which is high, and I need to take care of that problem before I commit to using a set that cost over $20, but I hope to address that in a week or so, and then give them a try. I’ve read several posts, on various forums, where users of these strings were quite enthused about them, so I thought it’s worth investigating.

The Fusion Flats were installed on my Warmoth Jaguar last night and I found some answers. They are great sounding strings. I wouldn’t think of them as flat wounds, half rounds, or round wounds; they seem to live in a space, all their own. As closely as I can determine, they are round core strings wrapped in flattened pure nickel wire, which partially overlaps the prior wind, so the surface is not flat.

The initial attack is rapid, but the overall sound is warm. To my ear, they sound like high quality pure nickel wrapped, round core, round wounds. The wraps are such that I expect that these strings will not allow contaminants between the windings, so I would expect long string life.

They sound great on my Jaguar, and I’ll probably stick with these.

These fusions sound great, first I’m hearing about them too!

I played flats exclusively for decades but recently in the past few years started using some TI rounds (absolutely love the blues sliders) and I also dig the pyramid pure nickel round core rounds.

Sounds like I will love these!

[sugarandopium]

Sômewhat off topic but are pyramid maximum performance strings discontinued !?

[sugarandopium]

Nevermind, just new packaging ! Sorry

[Synchro]

I appreciate the information.

There are a set of Fusion Flats sitting here waiting to be installed and I looked at them and was puzzled, because they didn’t look all that flat. I don’t have much magnification available, so I couldn’t really get a handle on what was going on with the winds.. I have one fret on my Warmoth Jaguar build which is high, and I need to take care of that problem before I commit to using a set that cost over $20, but I hope to address that in a week or so, and then give them a try. I’ve read several posts, on various forums, where users of these strings were quite enthused about them, so I thought it’s worth investigating.

The Fusion Flats were installed on my Warmoth Jaguar last night and I found some answers. They are great sounding strings. I wouldn’t think of them as flat wounds, half rounds, or round wounds; they seem to live in a space, all their own. As closely as I can determine, they are round core strings wrapped in flattened pure nickel wire, which partially overlaps the prior wind, so the surface is not flat.

The initial attack is rapid, but the overall sound is warm. To my ear, they sound like high quality pure nickel wrapped, round core, round wounds. The wraps are such that I expect that these strings will not allow contaminants between the windings, so I would expect long string life.

They sound great on my Jaguar, and I’ll probably stick with these.

These fusions sound great, first I’m hearing about them too!

I played flats exclusively for decades but recently in the past few years started using some TI rounds (absolutely love the blues sliders) and I also dig the pyramid pure nickel round core rounds.

Sounds like I will love these!

I definitely think that they are worth trying out. It’s a good sound, and may have a broad appeal.

I use flats on most of my guitars, up to and including Telecasters. But I also use TI Jazz BeBop roundwounds on some guitars, and love the sound of those as a source of sonic variety. I have two Jaguars, a Squier, and a Warmoth parts build. Both sound good, and play well, and at least as of today, neither has flatwounds. I’m probably going to try some Jazz Swings on the Squier at some point, but there’s no hurry.

[ManFromMars]

I have a J Mascis set up with 0.13 flatwounds. Struggled with intonation, buzz, and tuning stability with regular strings that completely disappeared with heavy flats, even with heavy trem use.

The guitar is tuned to DADGAD, so the dark, woody tone of the strings + the P90ish JMJM pickups is a good combination. They're also very comfortable with the JMJM neck. No bending though!

[Synchro]

I intend to try some Pyramid Fusion Flats on at least on Jaguar, and probably some Thomastik Jazz Swings, once I have the setup dialed in and don’t anticipate having to de-string them for setup work.

The Fusion Flats are weird! I currently have them on a Tele - they have a strange feel, not smooth like most flats, but very rough (especially at first). Initially they were too bright, but quickly mellowed and i really enjoy the sound of them.

I checked them out under magnification, and it seems that the wrap overlaps by a small amount each time around the core, rather than sitting flush like most flat wounds.

Just thought it worthy of mention, so you know they are not ‘normal’ flats.

I put a set on the War-Jag’, earlier this week, and they have met with my approval. Unique sounding, and unique feeling. I must’ve liked them, because I just bought two more sets.

I like them, nice way of mellowing highs. I don't think they do anything for setup issues.
There's more of a percussive sound and if they are the bright type like daddarios then a bit of a clang that's just very different to rounds.
They are more concise and could potentially be clearer for discerning chords depending on the situation for lack of chimy harmonics and growl, although thus lack the agressiveness to really 'rawk' even with fuzz to me.
Ah, i need another guitar to put some on, because i feel like i need both sometimes, but i play louder things atm.
Again, i have some jazz background, as in its the style i learned, i don't blues, everything is a weird voiced chord etc. so i am in that /phylum/ of guitarists even though i am a shoegazer haha, that's just the foundation of my technique i think though.

I’m from a Jazz background, too. One thing I like about these strings is the clarity and articulation of the lower strings. If I plan and octave/5th, it doesn’t get muddy. I spent considerable time, yesterday, sorting out some issues with a Gretsch I own, strung with Thomastik Jazz Swings on the bottom, 47, 35, 25, and plain 17, 13, 10s up top. With Gretsch Supertron pickups, it sounds good, and there’s a hint of twanginess when the note develops out from the initial attack. It’s a great sound, and versatile; I’ve used this axe for every thing from Jim Hall to some fairly Rockin’ sounds.

By comparison to the TI flats, the attack is more abrupt on the Pyramids, and the development of the note after the attack is more subtle than, f’rinstance, a set of D’Addario EXLs, but it’s still capable of being bright. I dissected the discarded portion of a 44/1000” Pyramid, and it uses the same sort of outer layer as most flat wounds, but it’s slightly overwound, so they overlap like shingles on a roof.

They aren’t flatwounds in the conventional sense of the word, but they are not roundwounds, either. I would say that there is a new species of string, neither fish nor fowl, neither flat nor round.

[JVG]

With the Pyramid Fusion set, I found that the initial attack you speak about disappeared fairly quickly, and they became a fairly mellow string. I’m not suggesting that's either a good or bad thing.

Your description of the wrap winding style was spot on. Maybe they should call these ‘angular flats’ or something!

Anyway, I’m about 10 months into my set, and after some initial uncertainty (mainly due to the rough feel) I have grown to really like them.

I also found them to be incredibly stable - they don’t seem to go out of tune at all.