Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankHudson
Do you have a favorite set of flat-wounds for electric guitars? I think I tried the Chromes on that Jaguar that didn't "take." I like the TI's fine, but they are pricey and it's made me hesitant to get back to trying flat-wounds.
|
Truth be told I've been pretty successful with D'A Chromes - relatively cheap, available in a variety of gauges, and since they went to the little plastic baggie in the package I haven't had any dead string issues (YMMV). As far as gauges are concerned, one thing I've learned over 58 years of playing is that more often than not, the guitar will tell
you what it likes rather than the other way around: with the two exceptions detailed previously the jazzboxes get 13's, everything else gets 10/11/12's...
That duly noted, IME there's also been a certain counter-intuitive element in the mix -
or not. My '86 MIJ Fender/Squier Strat -
a candidate for roundwound/plain-G 10's if there ever was one - sounds thin and edgy with anything other than flatwound 12's (the old surfer dudes' setup and Leo-era factory spec); good news is that, thanks to a first-class fret level and setup job by MandoBros back in the late-80's (I miss those guys
) it plays better than most of the USA stuff with lighter strings - trills/hammers/pulls and moderate bends are no problem, and thanks to the early-60's style neck it's shredder-fast (I often used it to impress upon my former students the importance of a good professional setup, as opposed to simply installing lighter strings). Conversely my '62 White Falcon RI, a trestle-braced full-hollow thinline that shipped with 12's back in the day (as did the '64 Double Anniversary I bought brand-new as a kid), sounded dead and lackluster with the vintage-spec setup (or even with the 11's I use on my go-to 3-PU 5622T-CB) - a set of 10's completely opened up the acoustic tone, which translated into that classic Gretsch hollowbody liveliness and "chime" when plugged in. I've also been told I'm batpoop-crazy for putting 13's on my Rick 360 6-string (my wife's favorite electric rhythm guitar) -
until the scoffers have heard/played it...
Finally, in view of the above I'd give that Squier Classic Vibe Jag another chance or two, with different string gauges. I've A/B'd a few of them against the Mexi/USA versions over the years, played some '60s originals back when, and while the CV's can be nice guitars in their own right there are fundamental differences in construction/hardware (the bridge/tailpiece in particular) that IME create a very different feel/response from the mid-/high-end stuff: you might need to go with 13's for the added downforce (not unheard of back in the day) and to get some "wood" into your tone, or all the way down to 10's to loosen up a "tight" instrument and provide some natural resonance. As I'm sure you're aware Jags can also be finicky beasts (like their vintage British automotive counterparts), and if you haven't already/don't intend to swap out the bridge/tailpiece for better-quality components make sure everything (including the neck bolts BTW - as I discovered on both my Tele and Strat) is as tight internally/externally as possible...
Good luck...
