Strings for semi hollow - monels, flatwounds, etc?

[Jimi2]

Hey, so I’m trying out different strings on my new to me eastman t486 and just yesterday put some daddario flatwound 10s on there....haven’t used flatwounds in years, but so far I’m pretty pleased. I’m using the guitar for fingerstyle stuff primarily, and with the darker bass strings, the bass seems to get out of the way of finger picked melodies rather than turning in to an overly bright but soupy mess that I was getting with Ernie ball round wounds. Flatpicked leads sound cool too - definitely getting some good jazz tones. So, I’m wondering what to try next. The bass with the flatwounds is perhaps a little TOO dark/flat on the 5th and 6th strings....Id like just a little more brightness/punch if possible. I was going to try some Martin retro monels on there- any other ideas of what to try out?

[BoneDigger]

I used flats on my archtop Guild x175b for about a year. Decided to sell the guitar as it just seemed lifeless. On a whim I went back to standard round wound electric guitar strings and it really brought it back to life. If you like good tone but don't want to lose the sparkle and twang, grab a set of round wound .11s and enjoy. I would just buy a few packs in different gauges and types and see what floats your boat. Right now, I am mostly using D'addario EXL 115s, but not the ones with the wound G.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Jimi2

...haven’t used flatwounds in years, but so far I’m pretty pleased. I’m using the guitar for fingerstyle stuff primarily, and with the darker bass strings, the bass seems to get out of the way of fingerpicked melodies rather than turning in to an overly bright but soupy mess that I was getting with Ernie Ball roundwounds. Flatpicked leads sound cool too - definitely getting some good jazz tones. So, I’m wondering what to try next. The bass with the flatwounds is perhaps a little TOO dark/flat on the 5th and 6th strings....I'd like just a little more brightness/punch if possible. I was going to try some Martin retro monels on there - any other ideas of what to try out?

Got my first electric in 1964 (and still own it) - a couple things I've learned over the last 56 years:

• The "conventional wisdom" isn't always wise,
  and the corollary:
• The guitar will tell you what it likes, rather than vice versa

You seem to be pleased with flatwounds for your technique/style(s) of playing (with one exception - a Yamaha SSC-500 that likes the now-discontinued GHS 1810 compound-wound set - I use nothing else, only varying the gauge) so I wouldn't necessarily be too quick to change them out, at least until I've played around with pickup height/polepiece fine-tuning, guitar/amp tone controls and - if you're making your first dive into the deep end from the acoustic world - subtle variations in technique. Personally, I'd stick with a wound G regardless of which set you use: if your influences include jazz, older country, postwar blues, rockabilly, surf, '50s/60s R&B, and/or first-wave British Invasion (as do my own) you'll find a smoother transition between bass and treble register versus the often raw and edgy tone of an unwound G, as well as a more period-authentic tonality (particularly with a low-/mid-powered tube combo amp); although I use them in the interest of easy availability and relatively low cost, D'A flats can be inconsistent when it comes to the A and E strings (not their sole domain, BTW; ask any Hofner bass owner - including Sir Paulie Mac himself - why LaBella has become the go-to string rather than Pyramid) - I'd experiment with a couple other brands before swearing off completely...

That said, the Martin Monel 10-47 set might be a good choice if you like the feel of roundwounds, but want a more jazz-oriented tone - keep in mind that monels were the go-to strings for the first generation of electric guitarists until LaBella introduced flatwounds in 1940; there are also several companies that offer a ground-wound string, where the outer wrap of a roundwound string is ground down to produce a flatwound-style surface while retaining the brightness of roundwounds - the only caveat here being that most of the lighter gauges use a plain G. FYI one of my former students used to substitute a roundwound .018 in the D'A EHR310 10-46 half-round set, with good results on his circa-2K Korean-made Epiphone Sheraton; since you have a similar semi-hollow, you might want to give this a try if you really need the extra brightness but with a smoother feel - be advised that you may need to wipe then down thoroughly before installing them (the older sets used a polishing compound that would turn your fingers black if you didn't remove it completely), and they'll feel a bit strange under your fingertips until you've played them in for a week or so...

[Jimi2]

Cool, thanks for the replies. I went ahead and ordered some monels to try and will see how that works out. I’m actually pretty surprised at how much I like the flatwounds. I may try using the bottom half of a set of 11s I have and go with tens on top, maybe even substituting a plain g. Might not be balanced, but could work. I’m not new to electrics, but have never been down this particular string rabbit hole before/

[mergus]

I've been using Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Swing flat wounds for years. They're a little pricey but they last forever.

[3notes]

Originally Posted by Jimi2

Cool, thanks for the replies. I went ahead and ordered some monels to try and will see how that works out. I’m actually pretty surprised at how much I like the flatwounds. I may try using the bottom half of a set of 11s I have and go with tens on top, maybe even substituting a plain g. Might not be balanced, but could work. I’m not new to electrics, but have never been down this particular string rabbit hole before/

Let us know how those Monels play out. Thanks.

[jseth]

I've taken to stringing my '74 Gibson ES-345 with 11's... for the past decade or so, I've used Elixir Electric strings... I don't play electric all that often, not being in a band for some time, so I really appreciate HOW LONG those Elixirs hold their tone!

When I do finally pickup my electric to play, it's always nice to have the strings feel and sound good, no matter how much time has elapsed since the last time!

Disclaimer: Don't think you'll put these on and change them, anytime soon... I had a set on my Gibson for nearly 7 years!!! After all that time, they still looked great, felt great, held tune and sounded great to me...

I have a set of the Optima Elixir strings, but probably won't put them on for another couple years!

[Jimi2]

Originally Posted by 3notes

Let us know how those Monels play out. Thanks.

I will! Actually, was just noticing that daddario lists both their pure nickel and half wound strings as being a little brighter than their flatwounds, but not as bright as their regular round wounds. So I’m probably going to give each of those a try as well. It’s just a little having to wait so long to have strings shipped now. Strings by mail is running a couple weeks behind. Maybe I’ll try Sweetwater....

[Jimi2]

Originally Posted by jseth

I've taken to stringing my '74 Gibson ES-345 with 11's... for the past decade or so, I've used Elixir Electric strings... I don't play electric all that often, not being in a band for some time, so I really appreciate HOW LONG those Elixirs hold their tone!

When I do finally pickup my electric to play, it's always nice to have the strings feel and sound good, no matter how much time has elapsed since the last time!

Disclaimer: Don't think you'll put these on and change them, anytime soon... I had a set on my Gibson for nearly 7 years!!! After all that time, they still looked great, felt great, held tune and sounded great to me...

I have a set of the Optima Elixir strings, but probably won't put them on for another couple years!

Last time I tried elixirs on an electric I hated them, despite loving their acoustic strings....they do indeed last forever though!

[Jimi2]

Stupid question of the day - are the plain treble strings from a given manufacturer, say daddario, going to be the same across all of their different lines? Only the wound strings will differ right? I can’t find the exact gauges I want in half round and pure nickel, so I’m thinking of mixing and matching with some plain steel strings to get light trebles and slightly heavier basses.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Jimi2

...I can’t find the exact gauges I want in half round...so I’m thinking of mixing and matching with some plain steel strings to get light trebles and slightly heavier basses.

These might work:



https://www.daddario.com/products/gu...-bottom-10-52/

[Jimi2]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

These might work:



https://www.daddario.com/products/gu...-bottom-10-52/

Yeah I’m looking for like 10-48 or 10-50 at most. I did try a set of EB 10-52s and the bass strings are way unbalanced with the trebles.

[3notes]

Originally Posted by jseth

I've taken to stringing my '74 Gibson ES-345 with 11's... for the past decade or so, I've used Elixir Electric strings... I don't play electric all that often, not being in a band for some time, so I really appreciate HOW LONG those Elixirs hold their tone!

When I do finally pickup my electric to play, it's always nice to have the strings feel and sound good, no matter how much time has elapsed since the last time!

Disclaimer: Don't think you'll put these on and change them, anytime soon... I had a set on my Gibson for nearly 7 years!!! After all that time, they still looked great, felt great, held tune and sounded great to me...

I have a set of the Optima Elixir strings, but probably won't put them on for another couple years!

That is amazing.!!^^^^^^^^^^^^ I was playing Elixir strings about 10 years ago. I know I've had them on an acoustic guitar for over a year with no issues. That was on a nice rosewood guitar and I loved the woody sound of old strings and a humidity soaked guitar in the summertime.!!

[Jimi2]

So I got a set of Martin Retro monels, a set of Daddario pure nickels, and one of the daddario half rounds this week. Monels went on first, and were underwhelming. Definitely did have kinda an acoustic feel to them, in a way I didn’t like. Next up were the pure nickels, and I’m super pleased with them. Daddarios plotting of the brightness of the strings is accurate- the nickels are a bit brighter than their flatwounds, but not as bright as their normal roundwounds. I think they’re perfect for fingerstyle as the trebles stand out over the basses in a good way. I may try the half rounds when the nickels wear out, but for now the nickels are staying on.

[Ray175]

If your flatwound 5th and 6th strings are too dark/flat, maybe adjust pickup hight on the bass side, ditto for pole pieces on those strings....