Flatwound strings on acoustic?
 

I tried flatwound strings on my semi-hollowbody and loved them.
Are there any flatwound strings for acoustic guitars?

This might be closer to what you are looking for than an actual flatwound string set:

D'Addario EFT Flat Top Phosphor Bronze Acoustic Guitar Strings

Normally, flatwound strings are meant for archtop, concert guitars, mandolas, basses, or electric guitars, and usually for playing jazz. Most are silver-plated copper, chrome steel, or nickel.

I don't think I've ever heard of anyone using them on acoustic guitar and liking the sound. I recall trying them once, many years ago, and had them on the guitar less than a day.

Your semi-hollow body guitar probably has a carved top, which is not the same as the kind of lightly-braced, thinner tops used on acoustics. With your guitars, the pickups are producing the majority of the sound, and that's really not the case with an acoustic.

You can try it out, but I'd be very surprised if you liked them.

Others can chime in with more details on the subject, if you wish, I am quite sure.

... JT

I can remember once, when I was in the Army, I had an old Jumbo Kay arch top acoustic and needed new strings. All our PX had at the time were flat wound strings.......so, I bought a set of them and put 'em on that old Kay. Since that Kay sounded off like a cannon anyway, the flat wounds didn't really sound all that bad to my ears. Pretty sure I left them on until they were completely worn out. They were definitely quiet......no string "squeek" at all. Not badl, really. But, that was back in the 60s and I really didn't know the difference anyway. Don't think I'd do it today.

Re: JT's reply:

I'm currently using a light set of EFT16's on a flattop. I don't really like flatwounds, but I wanted the extra tension (these are ~10 lbs more tension than say regular phosphor bronze in the same gauges.) to exercise my hand a bit more than usual.

The odd thing is that I really like them on a 'short' scale guitar. The sound, to me, is like EJ16's that are a couple days old. Not bad at all.

I tried flatwounds on my acoustic guitar once, for less than half an hour. I hated them, and pulled them off and replaced them with regular acoustic strings.

I've also tried the D'Addario "flat tops" once as well, and while I didn't loathe them with same intensity as I had the flatwounds, I still didn't keep them on the guitar for very long (a few days, maybe,) and never tried them again.

For some folks, they're great, but they're not for those who want some sparkle and liveliness from their guitars.


Wade Hampton Miller

I had a set of flatwounds on my electric and liked them so I thought I would try them on my acoustic. I removed them within hours of putting them on. The guitar just sounded dead.

Darrel

I bought a 30's L00 that came with flat wounds and I hated it. Reduced the projection something awful and what little of the crisp highs the guitar offered..

Interesting. It's an unusual thing, I think, to find someone that likes 'em on an acoustic. Never tried to use them on a short-scale guitar, though.

As for building strength in your hand; do you really think they make a difference? For instance, in my case, I have to be careful not to inflame the tendons, as I am prone to carpal tunnel, and because of it, I use low-tension strings, and primarily work on flexibility, speed, and fretting as lightly as possible. I adhere to this regimen, and feel that strength will come as an end result. Like doing a lot of reps with light weights, instead of aiming for increased mass with heavy weights.

So far, it's been working well. Little to no swelling and pain, increased speed, better dynamic control, and my hands are stronger than they've ever been. And you?

... JT

D'Add EFT16s
 

Put them on my Gibson for two reasons, mellow the tone and finger ease/noise.
While I love the way they feel, the sustain of the Low E and A strings and to a lesser extent the D & G is about non-existent which mellowed the tone far to much. So next string change I'm switching back to EXP16's

I have electric flatwounds (12's) on one of my acoustics and it has kind of a nice sound. Probably depends on the guitar.

Sorry for the 4-year bump.

What kind of strings are used for playing slide on an acoustic, if not flatwound?

Slide
 

You can use any string for slide. You can't have action too low. Most people wort more about the slide material and which finger to put it on. It goes on the 4th for most, but you can put it in the pinky. Some like glass but copper and steel are popular.

Mostly it's all in the fingers. Gotta practice and try it out. Plenty of Youtube vids can teach you the basics.

You're gonna need alternate tuning like open G or Drop D tuning -- regular tuning won't work for side.

Oh, I was concerned about the buzzing/grinding sound that came off of the strings.

Figured it out
 

Magma makes Flatwound Acoustic Guitar Strings.