Flatwound Strings or Rounds - Your Preference?

[JMFan]

Wondering if you guys prefer wounds or flatwounds strung up on your reissue offsets or vintage as far as that goes. I have a reissue AV62 so that's why I ask here.

I know many of you all here play rock music on your offsets so flats are not the best on it and rounds are the preference for that style but for those of you who play surf music mostly rather than rock music do you prefer flats or rounds?

I prefer flats and I prefer Thomastiks.

[LanceLink]

Pyramid Gold flats...

[jakeisjake]

i had flats on my JM for a while and rounds on the jag. but i just switched and put flats on the jag and rounds on the JM. the flats mellow out the jag and i like that.

[Harrison]

I had flatwounds on my mustang for a while and they felt good to the touch,tamed string noise/scratchiness, and mellowed out the sound. But I've since gone to strictly round with a wound G, which I loved about the flatwound set.

[nateispro]

I know this is a really dumb question but is the difference between the two that noticeable?

[Harrison]

I know this is a really dumb question but is the difference between the two that noticeable?

To me, the feel is the most noticeable aspect. They tend to be stiffer, heavier feeling. Sound wise, it's similar to rolling off the tone knob and not such a dramatic change to my ears.

[nateispro]

I know this is a really dumb question but is the difference between the two that noticeable?

To me, the feel is the most noticeable aspect. They tend to be stiffer, heavier feeling. Sound wise, it's similar to rolling off the tone knob and not such a dramatic change to my ears.

oh ok! thanks a lot! and they have less string noise then roundwounds right?

[Harrison]

oh ok! thanks a lot! and they have less string noise then roundwounds right?

Yessir, in my experience much less squeal when sliding.

[nateispro]

oh ok! thanks a lot! and they have less string noise then roundwounds right?

Yessir, in my experience much less squeal when sliding.

I need to try some out!! my string noise comes through so much in my cleaner recordings

[Murph]

I know many of you all here play rock music on your offsets so flats are not the best on it and rounds are the preference for that style but for those of you who play surf music mostly rather than rock music do you prefer flats or rounds?

I play rock and I'm flats all the way lately! Don't think I'll ever go back, I like the sound and the feel better.

[nateispro]

I know many of you all here play rock music on your offsets so flats are not the best on it and rounds are the preference for that style but for those of you who play surf music mostly rather than rock music do you prefer flats or rounds?

I play rock and I'm flats all the way lately! Don't think I'll ever go back, I like the sound and the feel better.

how do they feel different? (sorry for the stupid questions I've never used flatwounds before)

[selectomatic]

I know this is a really dumb question but is the difference between the two that noticeable?

Not a dumb question at all, and I'll try and answer within the limits of my own experience: it's really noticeable. As a 'surfer' who uses flats on all but one guitar, I found the flats smoothed out my playing, gave me a great, surfy 'thwack' that sounds great with all that 'verb, and of course cuts out a lot of string noise.

I know Dick Dale and plenty of other surf players use rounds, and they sound awesome, but when I've tried to switch back to them on my own guitars I just can't live with the sound; it sounds like one of those saloon pianos from the old cowboy movies. I've never used rounds on my Jag. It would be an interesting experiment, but it's plenty bright and twangy already and it seems born to use heavy flatwounds anyway. (BTW, I've been using Fender stainless .012-.052 recently and have no complaints, but I found Thomasticks lasted longer and sounded better to me.)

Edit: Oh, just saw nate's last question about feel. Well, your fingers don't scrape along the string surface with flats. They don't feel abrasive, and there's less wear and tear on your fingertips. However, flats don't bend as easily, if that's important to you. They're also supposed to have more tension than rounds. This is an asset when you're doing a lot of tremolo picking, although to me the difference in string tension was not very noticeable.

[AndyTran]

I like string squeak

[Harrison]

I like string squeak

Me too, but I understand when people get annoyed by it. I use it for ambient effects/noise making.

[nateispro]

I like string squeak

Me too, but I understand when people get annoyed by it. I use it for ambient effects/noise making.

Which what i'm doing more or less thanks for all the info guys!