Quote:
Originally Posted by Willie Voltaire
I get a more than passable "early British Invasion" tone from flatwounds, as well -- would be better on a Gretsch or Rickenbacker, of course!
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The Beatles
definitely used flatwounds on their electric instruments in the early days (most likely the Pyramid brand fitted as OEM on German-made Hofner instruments to this day), as did all the other first-wave British Invasion acts - the sound is unmistakable, and if you've been looking to cop that vibe with roundwounds it's not going to happen, period. Speaking as both a Gretsch and Rick owner (the former since 1964) who has been using flats since back in the day, don't sell them short on P-90 electrics - the boys used Epi Casinos from mid-1965, and not only can I get those
Help/Rubber Soul era tones from my Godin CW II, but a very convincing approximation of George Harrison's Cavern Club single-cut Duo-Jet from my P-90 LP Studio; needless to say, if you own one of the Beatle guitars and an EL84 amp you owe it to yourself to try a set of flats - one of the iconic tones of rock, and greatly underappreciated in an era when tube amps are too often thought of in terms of massive amounts of gain and distortion...