best strings for jazz hollowbody
 

looking for light sh strings. much more of an acoustic player if that helps, but have a jazz hollowbody similar to a gibson 335. would appreciate string suggestions! thx

I like flat wounds on Jazz stuff, but that's just me.

I'm not sure what " light sh strings " are, so I can't be more helpful.

more light gauge - .like as in .10s or .11s.. i've in the past liked the feeling of elixir's but not sure how they'd be on the hollowbody.

I have flatwounds on mine now currently, and not too happy with them.

I use GHS Doyle Dykes signature lights. PB and start at 11.5 gauge so rather light which I wanted for my vintage (1936) hollow body. Take it a little easy on the old gal. They sound great, nice and warm. Maybe give them a try.

If I understand you right you have a thin semi-hollow body and your guitar is a Gibson 335 electric guitar type, and you've tried flat wound strings and didn't care for them. I'm not much of flat wound electric guitar string user myself (use flats on about half my electric bass guitar though). Do you know what set of flat wound strings you tried/don't like? Maybe someone here who plays flats may have another set of flat to suggest.

If you're looking for less string noise but don't dig the flat wound sound, try Elixir nano-web electric strings. A little less string squeak. I wouldn't put acoustic guitar pb strings on an 335 type guitar myself, including Elixirs. I read some here using Monel (like Martin Retros) on full hollow bodies that have magnetic pickups with success though.

I like TI round-wound jazz strings on one of hollow body electrics. Lower tension than then you'd expect per their gauges, nice mellower tone. Pricey, but unique. Of course there are lots of nice electric guitar strings out there to try. For mellower tone you could try one of the pure nickel sets (not just nickel plated). DR Pure Blues come to mind.

I went through a long period where I only used flatwounds on my electrics, and the best by far IMO is Thomastik Infield's Jazz Swing Series.

They have round cores so they are not as rigid/stuff as, say, D'Addario Chromes, so they are very comfortable strings. They sound wonderful and last forever too.

Yes to these! Not cheap but great sound and feel great too.

Not cheap, but not all that expensive either when you consider that a set can last 6-12+ months!

Since you're more of an acoustic player, a couple of suggestions:

• Martin Monel MM11: A few guys around here use the heavier gauges on their full-hollow guitars and acoustic archtops, and if you're looking to get a little bit of "wood" into your electric tone these might be a good way to go; FYI these were the strings used by the first generation of electric players until the development of flatwound strings in the early-40's (unlike PB and 80/20 monel has magnetic properties), and a surprisingly slinky feel that makes you think you're playing a full gauge lighter
• D'Addario EHR350: Perhaps a little heavier than you might like (12-52, similar to an acoustic light-gauge set), but if you want a flatwound-type feel with a brighter tone these are a relatively-inexpensive, easy-to-find way to go; FWIW these were my go-to set for years (until I went over completely to flatwounds), and I still use them on occasion when I need a brighter sound for a specific gig

+1 on Thomastik-Infeld round-wounds. I've been using TI Jazz BeBop BB112 round-wounds for all of my solid and semi hollow electrics for a while now. TI also make a lighter version BB111 which are .011 to .047. TI's really seem to ring out and they also seem to have a little longer life than most other brands that I've used.

As Frank Hudson pointed out, Thomastik-Infeld are pretty pricey. I recently tried D'Addario NYXL1149's and NYXL1150BT's. I don't know the nuances of nickel vs. nickel plated, but I will say that I thought the NYXL's wound strings had a very nice ringing tone to them and at half the price of the TI's.

Good luck in your search, and let us know which strings you end up liking on your semi-hollow guitar.

I don't quite remember how I got my hands on these (...eBay I think!) but they're currently strung on my Godin 5th avenue. The acoustic tone is fantastic and the electric sound is well...'lively'. I've never heard a jazz tone quite like it.

https://s.yimg.com/aah/stringsandbey...2-medium-1.gif


The Newtones are double-wound with finer wrap wires for a smooth(er) feel and more output.

Newtone Archtop double wound string...

https://jazzguitarscene.files.wordpr...=577&h=&zoom=2


Normal string...

https://jazzguitarscene.files.wordpr...=577&h=&zoom=2

They take around 10 hours to 'darken' and they are LOUD!

As you would expect from Newtone they're round core, low tension strings. Hence you may want to go up a gauge.

Sound samples:

https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guit...p-strings.html