Offset with flatwound strings ?

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Ftoronado
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Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by Ftoronado » Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:12 pm

Hello,

I know I surely will be charged of heresy, but I wonder...
Did anyone try offset single coil guitars, like mustangs, with flatwound strings ?
How did it go ?

It would be for alternative rock...

Tanx !

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JVG
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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by JVG » Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:21 pm

Not heresy at all :)

Many of us here enjoy flatwounds on Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Mustangs, etc etc.
It’s personal opinion really - i love them although it does take a little while for your ears to adjust if you’ve been accustomed to hearing ‘normal’ strings.

In a band context you might want to adjust the eq a bit to cut some bass and project the mids a bit more, or it can get a bit lost.
They sound great with fuzz.

I reckon you should go for it. Stainless steel ones like Daddario for a brighter sound, or nickel like Thomastik for a mellow woodier sound.

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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by Beebe » Thu Apr 22, 2021 7:24 pm

I haven't yet, but I did just order some to try out. I liked the way they sounded in the comparisons I listened to. I did struggle to find gauges that match your typical set of 10s.
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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by javier-san » Thu Apr 22, 2021 7:51 pm

I have some flatwounds (11s) on my Jaguar. It mellowed it out, but I really like it!

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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by MrFingers » Fri Apr 23, 2021 3:56 am

Flatwound strings (especially older ones) will make for a more articulate sound (more emphasis on the root, less on the harmonics), which gives a rather woody, thuddy & barky sound. Strings are rather cheap, you can always experiment with it. I like flatwounds on a Jazzmaster, but it doesn't work for everything, especially with drive/distortion I find it lacking... Ah well, perfect excuse for two guitars of the same kind...

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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by Beebe » Fri Apr 23, 2021 5:48 am

The dude from Khruangbin gets some pretty interesting tones with flatwounds on his strat. He explains/demos his unique string setup here at 5:50... Where he gets a set of heavy strings and throws out the heaviest, shifts the rest towards the top, and puts a ten on for the high E.

https://youtu.be/hr7ScpVj1QY
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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by SmoggyTwinkles » Fri Apr 23, 2021 2:36 pm

Ftoronado wrote:
Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:12 pm
Hello,

I know I surely will be charged of heresy, but I wonder...
Did anyone try offset single coil guitars, like mustangs, with flatwound strings ?
How did it go ?

It would be for alternative rock...

Tanx !
It's a match made in heaven, no heresy about it.

Flatwounds on a Jag are fantastic and solve a lot of problems too. I can't speak for Jazzmaster or Mustangs etc.

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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by JVG » Fri Apr 23, 2021 6:38 pm

Whenever the flatwound string question raises its head on this forum, i will recommend checking out this thread:

https://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/v ... s#p1589447

:)

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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by ohm-men » Sat Apr 24, 2021 2:32 am

I played my offsets with flatwounds for years.
They are very well suited for these, especially for the Jaguar as flatwounds kind of boost it's percusiviness is a very nice way. This combined with a lot of reverb, delay, etc... is one of my prefered guitar sounds... This is where I find that the Jaguar sounds perfect, not ice picky of overtrebly, but just right. It also adds some bottom to the overal sound. Far less sustain, but sustain ain't something the Jag is known for....
They give you that instant 60's sound. But work great with higher gain settings as well. (specially fuzz)

I would suggest not to use d'addario chrome flats, they don't sound particulary nice, have pretty high string tension and kind of eat your frets.
I much prefer Pyramid (from Germany) or any non chrome set of flatwounds.

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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by Ftoronado » Sat Apr 24, 2021 7:52 am

Thank you all for your feedbacks.
'Gonna give it a try. :)

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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by N0_Camping4U » Sun Apr 25, 2021 9:28 am

I ONLY use flatwounds on all instruments: Bass VI, Jaguar, Fender XII, P bass, Jazz bass. A lot of mid 60's and prior Fender tone is flatwound strings (plus studio compression, saturation, etc). I've got a Strat with big custom made 16 gauge flatwound strings on it. Jaguar has 14's. As Dick Dale said: big strings = big tone.
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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by mcbrandt » Tue Apr 27, 2021 1:50 pm

I use thomastikk jazz swing 11s on my jazzmaster, and love them. Wound G for the win, but YMMV.

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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by RocknRollShakeUp » Tue Apr 27, 2021 5:20 pm

I’ve got rounds on one JM, and 11 g Thomastik Flats on the other. I use the round wounds 95% of the time.. and I sort of feel like I should just put rounds on both.. until... I need THAT retro JM w flats tone! And then I’m glad I kept one w the flats! Especially for recording!

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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by prospect » Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:38 am

+1 here. Flatwounds on all my guitars.

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Re: Offset with flatwound strings ?

Post by Singlebladepickup » Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:50 am

It is rounds which are heresy. I have spoken.

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