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I like the flat wound sound for the style I play which is instrumental Surf. It gives it that extra punch on the tank reverb.

I love flatwounds. I use them on everything; Tele, Les Paul, flattop acoustic, archtop acoustic. I Chromes on all of them.

I used flats for 20 years till Tim told me "I never use flats! Harmonic content is a terrible thing to waste!" about 2 years ago. I put rounds on my '50 L-7C and I'm really enjoying them. I miss the zero squeaks with the flats, but playing the guitar unplugged (which is how I often practice on this guitar) is a real joy now. Plugged in, flats sound fine, and feel great. For now, Tim created a round wound monster out of me, despite the occasional squeak.

I have flats on a tele and it is amazing. Also use them on all my lap steels in various tunings and on a short scale guitar tuned to E for slide.

I’m amazed how much I like that sound! I have flats on a 335 style guitar and have it tuned B to B. Gives me a fun and different voice to play around with. I never would’ve guessed they’d sound so good on a Tele. With headphones I hear a clear distinction when you switch to the other Tele.

My guitar teacher, who had often played with Barney Kessel, used Black Nylon Tape Wound Electric Guitar Strings. Now THAT's mellow squared.

I describe flats as a physical compressor. I've got a parts Tele I keep in D standard with a Filtertron in the neck and blues special in the bridge. I've added a thicker, high density steel neck plate and it has a Mastery bridge. I always have flats on it. Currently I have 12 gauge Chromes on it now. Considering using Pyramids next time after trying them on a 70s Telecaster at Carter's Vintage. I was blown away by the evenness of tone and super smooth finish. It has medium/medium high action, similar to Carol Kaye's style. You can really bite into the strings and don't have to worry about buzz. With the tone knob rolled off a bit, I can use it for a really convincing bass tone through a '67 Ampeg Gemini. I've used it to record a few tracks with a friend for both the guitar and bass parts and it does the trick great. With the neck pickup, you can get super smooth, flat tones. Despite being flats, a bright guitar and amp leave plenty of natural high end in the sound. If anyone has a a bolt on neck guitar and likes the sound of it, but wants just a bit more of everything, the heavier neck plates are something to consider. I use the Greer Super Mass version and absolutely love it. My stock screws also work just fine. It's been on the guitar for about 6-7 years now and I've never had a problem with it. You have to like the existing sound, but it adds just enough sustain and low end that it's worth it if you want a cheap, easy to do or swap mod that can be undone with no harm.

When I'm playing jazzy stuff I always use flats. Love that traditional tone. Less string noise esp. when recording the quieter stuff. When I'm rocking or country it always rounds. I want the twang.

Beautiful sound Tim!!! I’m also with you, I learned my lesson not to try to convince anyone about anything in this world unless asked. I use to never tell but only suggest but people don’t take it as educational they take offense. I’m one of those people that are always open to suggestions to make me a better person, player or what ever! Thanks so much for your suggestions and wonderful videos that I truly enjoy! Keep up the great work! 😊

Lovely playing, as always. I bought my first set of flat wounds recently and I’ve been hesitant to put them on my instrument, but you’re giving me courage with this.

I have the same gauge 12to 53 but what I did because I like bending, I threw it away the 53, and move them all down E -42. A-32 D24. G 16 B-12. And put a 10 for the High E it worked for me

Tim, Thomastiks and Pyramids cost a lot more but they are worth it. They are round core which makes them feel a lot better than hex core Chromes. If you can spend more but Thomastik or Pyramids. They feel and tone make a big difference. Also they are pure nickle.

I tried flatwounds after watching a Jimmie Vaughan rig rundown and never looked back. Completely sold now. For that old skool blues, country and R&B tone it’s the answer. T-Bone Walker, Ry Cooder, Luther Perkins

I have used flat wounds on my Tele and Strat for the last 25 years. Have tried them on my PRS Hollowbody but as yet can not afford the bridge to enable setup and tuning. (One day I'll get totally sacraligeous and get a Bigsby fitted to it.) Totally prefer the sound of your playing with the flat wounds and it reminds me of the strings I use on my acoustics. I use Rotosound pure bronze rather than phosphor bronze for much the same reason. The emphasis on the fundamental rather than harmonic. I found your explanation of that enlightening. I always just knew I preferred them. Never gave much thought to why. So thank you. I play mainly solo guitar/vocals from jazz to country. The owner of my local music shop thinks I'm whaco because I use 12's on my electrics and 11's on my acoustics. For me it just works. Not into string bending on electric.

I'm a bassist , I do love flatwounds strings but I do have basses with both. There is an immense difference between brands , round wounds not nearly as much.

Variety is the spice of life…..but familiarity is golden when you know what you like. I’ve tried them to….didn’t like the feel but I like the way you tweaked it. I might follow your recipe for spice. Good to see you.

I like the flat wounds! Definitely a bit of a fatter and clearer sound. I also found the voice separation to be really pleasant, I feel I can appreciate the individual moving voices and their interplay all the more.

Over the last year I started stringing my electric guitars with flats and the improved difference is remarkable. I don't play "jazz" whatever that may be. I play rock, R&B, folk-rock, country, blues and stuff that has no name or needs one. Sure, I know how to play lots of chords with fancy names and even use them sometimes, but I don't call that playing "jazz". The pure, rich tone that I 'm getting, not a darker tone as some may think, and the great feel of the low flatwound strings is what I have come to think is he truest electric guitar sound and what was intended for them. I mean, all these classic guitars, Telecasters, Stratocasters, Duo-Jets, Les Pauls, etc. were designed when flatwound strings where what you used on an electric guitar. Contrary to the above, I've been using very light string sets (.008s). This is definitely not what these guitars were designed to be strung with, I know. But lighter strings have better tone to me, more mids and upper- mids, and less boomy lows which you have to get rid of anyway to avoid interfering with the bass, low keyboard parts, and sounding muddy and indistinct. That they are so effortless to play is also a great benefit as it has been my experience that a lighter, more nuanced, sensitive touch produces better guitar playing, at least or me, and touch is everything on the guitar or any instrument. Letting your guitar relax with lighter strings does it no harm at all, and it just may reward you with better response.

The figuring on the neck of your rounds-guitar swings it for me--beautiful!

I have Thomastik George Bensons (lovely bright flats) on my tele + my archtop :)) Love em!

Just ordered flat wounds for my newest guitar (a Brian May Red Special tribute) for playing surf music like I did in the '60s... So, thanks for this!

I greatly prefer the flat wounds in this video... thanks for the comparison

Every once in a blue moon I put flat wound strings on my guitar. I did this two days ago and took them off within 24 hours. I have used them briefly for jazz on a few guitars but ultimately they don’t work for me. They work great for Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Bruno. But even Barney Kessel and herb Ellis used nickel wrap round wound strings. It won’t hurt to try them. The early fender guitars came out of the factory with flat wound strings.

Flatwound strings were invented as early as 1874 by Hamilton. The Original Flatwound strings were originally designed to replace the Gut strings on Bowed stringed instruments cause they hold tune better, last many times as long, they're a fraction of the price, & the flat surface makes bowing on the string easier.

I honestly started using flats when I played fender bass. I always seemed to have noisy fingers and flats improved that! When I started playing guitar full time and stopped playing bass, the flats made the transition with me. I do play jazz and bluesy jazz and I do love the feel and sound and how quiet my fingers are with them. I have rounds on my Gibson explorer, it may get flats too! Lol

Thats the sound! Funny how the Tele just flowed into jazz, and the Strat sez OK but nope, except.

That was a really fascinating exploration of the implications of flats. I'm tempted.

The flats sound SO much better in these styles, imo! I'm a little biased, because I have flats on my jazzmaster and hollowbody, and I can't go back to rounds. The feel and sound is addicting. Try to get accustomed to the flat G if you can, if you're not bending, you get used to it pretty quickly. Another option to consider is half rounds, which, as the name suggests, are like half way between flats and rounds. I use those on 335s and it's like magic!

Ok, now I want to hear flats with the Charlie Christian pickup! You could make anything sound great!

I remember using black, tapewounds on a Japanese 335 way back in the day. Thanks..yes the flat wounds are fundamentally cool!

I played flats exclusively on my archtop for years. Decided to try rounds again a few years ago and I've never thought about touching flats again. It was so strange to hear how much better my guitar sounded with rounds, the benefits far outweigh a little string noise 😅

Hi Tim. I don't comment often but I sure visit you as much as i can and learn from your wonderful playing. The flat wounds sounds amazing under your fingers, specially the chords played with fingers! Knowing how skilful you are, I have no doubt you'd even get a rich jazz tone out of a stratocaster if you wanted to so definitely I want to hear more flat wound strings from you because you make them sound so unique and so better than anyone else. 🙂

Really interesting comparison! I play flats on my archtop, and really love them there, but haven't thought to put them on my one-and-only Tele (a G&L ASAT). Thanks so much for the judgement-free comparison here.

Interesting... I liked the one with the Lace Sesor Blue better. Sounded rounder/sweeter to my ear. Thanks for uploading.

Years ago someone gave me a set of heavy flat wounds. I put em on a guitar that I kept tuned for slide work. They sounded great. Glassy and smooth. And lasted forever before I had to change them.

I put them on everything.. mostly my acoustic guitars.. but also halfrounds on my Les Paul. finger feel improves. piezo pickups lose noise. taking out piezo on acoustics they actually retain high end.. I use a 7k a5 dual rail at the neck end on acoustics and love it. i add a 500k and I use the D'addario.. you want the Half rounds man

My first set of guitar strings I ever played were flat wound strings over 50 years ago, then I tried round wounds in the early 70’s. Flats are just great for all around strings.

Tim man I'm digging the flats! A tele with rounds always sounds a tad bit more like a fusion sort of thing to me with all those harmonics where the rounds sound very rooted in the tradition, especially when dealing with solo guitar standards which you do so well. Bonus is that rounds on a tele you still get that very clear articulate tone. Rounds on a jazz box often sound a bit too lifeless to my ears but in a tele it's best of both worlds for me. Thinking I'll put a set on mine and maybe rounds on my archtop for a change.

There is also such a thing as a half-round string. D'Addario makes them, and as you might expect, sonically sound right in between rounds and flats. I tried them and liked them, but went back to rounds mostly because they can be purchased so cheaply in bulk.

D'addario Chromes are perhaps the most popular flat wound strings in the affordable set range. As you play it, they do have a nice transition. Flats have a quicker decay than round wounds, I think. That may have something to do with your heavy gauge (those dimensions I use on my acoustics). If you tire of the flats, the next step is to use all nickel round wounds.

There is a difference and your description is spot on. I keep flats on my Gretsch hollowbody. May now try flats on some other guitars.

sounds great, I always wondered about flat wounds on a solid body. I'm gonna try it.

For my Gibson ES335, I went back and forth between the EXL Nickel wounds and the Chromes. I've finally settled on the half wounds, specifically the EHR340s. Light tops/Heavy bottoms, for me a great middle ground for feel and tone. Thick bass and light trebles. Plain Steel .010, .013, .017, Stainless Steel .030, .042, .052. No wound G. They're getting harder to find and I hope D'Addario continues this product line..

I play bottleneck and love my flatwound 12s.

I have flat wounds on my Epiphone Casino. I love the sound and the feel.

They sound phantastic under your fingers! Or is it the (fender)pickup...who knows, so many factors working together.

Yeah Man! Good Share..

In case anyone doesn't know there are also halfwounds. A mix of the two. I believe D'Addario makes some.

The blue Lace sensor sounds wonderful.

The Telecaster is the guitar, which works best with flatwounds, i think they work on a tele even better than on most archtops!

It sounded more interesting to me with the Lollars and regular strings. The extra top end was more noticeable around the fundamental than on the fundamental itself. But I am not sure that it was a wound in particular what made the difference because of the peculiar color and dynamics of Lace's pickups.

Flat wounds on a Tele sound great even when I'm playing mine. Also good for recording on your DAW. thanks for the tip about chromes/flat wound combo. Keep jamming!

Not wrong but change your mind.I love 13 flats but sometimes 12rounds will make the feel/tone.Love your music sir!

I love what you're doing with the strings and the different guitars. It definitely changes the output soundwise of both.

Well, I certainly prefer the flats for a clean jazz sound. The attack on the rounds with the pick gives back a little more metallic sound. Of course, it all depends on what the player expects from his own sound. And also on the intensity of the attack with the pick or with fingers instead.

May I recommend SIT flatwound strings. They don't lose their new flatwound brightness as fast as chromes. I think there is some magic in them. I was so thrilled I bought 5 sets

I put some flat wounds on a tele to try and differentiate it from my other teles. Love them. Flat wounds and tuned down to D hits the spot for me. They ain’t cheap, so I better like them 😊

I've got a set I've been staring at for years now. Thought I'd bequeath them to my nephew when I die...in 30 or 40 years God willing. Maybe I'll give them a whirl.

Flats on one Strat I buy a heavy set move them up and put a 9 on the E and a Maton DC545 firstly because it has a bigsby on a wooden bridge and then found it responded better harmonically especially with regard to feedback. Always on all basses. as a guitarist it's so much nicer to play and I like the mellow attack/lack zxing They're just different, I'd highly recommend trying. Also the definitely last way longer. offsets the initial cost.

Sounds great to me! Definitely agree about the separation.

I like flat wound strings when I’m using a flat pick but I find them difficult to play finger style.

Sounds great, as usual... Flat wounds have more mass for the same diameter, so a little more tension, which with round wounds would result in a brighter sound. The overtone structure is obviously the difference, stronger mid harmonics, and less high harmonics than round wounds. What you might call a woody tone, rather than the metallic tone of round wounds.

I put a set of half wounds on a jazz box and found them to be a real nice meeting point. Less finger noise and just a little bit of that harmonic control. Going to try them on a Tele next . Love your playing, thanks

There's something about jazz (traditional jazz, not prog rock, shred jazz, etc.) that just seems to not be jazz without flats. I'm sure there will be others who will disagree. But hey, that's ok. This is the first time I've heard a Tele (and I've had mine since I bought it new in 1965) with flats and while I've heard players play jazz with rounds on a Tele, using flats just makes the Tele more of a jazz box to my ear.

I keep one Tele with the bottom strings of D’Adarrio Chromes. The flatwound G string always breaks anyway because the core has to be so thin to alow flat windings. Besides the fundamental, the mids and decay are different too. I still dial the guitar in bright so it’s not like the strings sound dead as is often their reputation. Also, 10’s sound great if you usually use lighter gauge sets of strings.

Hey! that's a good idea! slap on a set on a 'spare' guitar. I've got one in mind.

Love flats. Always have. But I like the smaller sizes. 11’s or even sometimes 10’s. But I don’t tune down. Everything sounds nice in your hands. Always. Even if chose to use barbed wire. Shally

It's all i have used for years, but hey, i play bass. Not all bass players use flats. I love that sound. It sound correct to my ears. Sounds amazing on a Tele for sure!

Very interesting points Tim. I think I may try a set on one of my Teles

I have been running flatwound 11's on my 2003 Highway One for many years.

Flats vs round is like Rhodes vs Steinway. different. Cutting down on the harmonic content of the individual notes allows the player to add harmonic content in a controlled way with chord voicings. It's one of the reasons traditional jazz players like clean amps and darker tones.

Excellent video! There is a difference between the two, although for the 'normal' listener it might be marginal. I found the best compromise with GHS Rollerwounds (aka Halfrounds) called Nickel Rockers, oddly enough. They come in many gauges, with or without wound G. Another factor is that round wounds don't last as long as flat/halfwounds. Loved your playing on both guitars, I preferred the flats though. Kudos, Tim 👏

Your True Fire channel is really interesting and certainly helpful 👌🏼

Always fun Tim!

I have flat wound strings on 3 of my guitars. They have a unique sound and you can still get bite out of them with the proper settings.

You're right about there being more separation between the strings with the flat wounds. Also you can hear more of the pick on the round wounds. Both are not necessarily bad or good things in my opinion. Both sound great.

Very cool to hear you playing flats. I remember when I asked you about strings a few years ago and you said you didn't play flat wound. I like the sound of the set you have on that Tele. I'd enjoy hearing you play flats on your Tele with the CC pickups. Nice video.

I use them also for years for high gain Metal. Perfekt

It seems a lesser player might be helped by flats in reaching a jazz sound on a Tele. In Tim's hands, nothing matters--he is pure jazz and taste!

35 years of guitar abuse and I've never tried flats. Maybe I'll throw a set on my semi hollow.

I have flatwounds on my Ibanez 125 Custom with 12s...love the smoothness going up and down the neck noiseless.the lower strings with flatwounds sound more like an upright bass tonally to me which is wonderful..no squeaks at all. The Ibanez is a full hollowbody and the pickups are bright to begin with so it's got plenty of high end. I'm thinking of trying them on my Epiphone Casino which I string with 10s....I have a set of 10 flatwounds and keep thinking they might suit that guitar with the P90s..my ES 335 has round wound 10s on it which I think sound great with a stop tailpiece.

I really like my flat rounds and how they feel as well as sound. You demo showed what you described and I heard the separation although as you said, the pickups are different. I’d love to hear a comparison with the same pickup.

I have flats on a Strat ... and I like it.

The flat wounds sound a little more hi fi to me if that makes sense. Thanks for the video Tim.

I like / and also use both. On your comparison, to me the flats sounds more jazzyer, the rounds sound more blusey. 🤝

Ive been using Monel nickel on my acoustic guitar because they tend to have less overtones and tend to be more fundamental centered. I’m only playing solo guitar these days.

My instinct says that jazz boxes have a more complex sound than solid bodies, thus flats work better on the semi-acoustics. I guess it needs to judged on a case by case basis though. I did like both sounds here. 🤷‍♂️😎👍

In my opinion flatwounds are really good on archtop guitars, cutting a little bit the low frequencies still mantaining the brightness at the top. I'm not a fan of the feeling under the fingers, I prefer the black nylon strings.

Flats make a nicer sound for that style of playing. I have flats on my Tele thin-line, enables rushing up and down the fretboard with impunity; smooth and no squeaking.

Great vid. I love the sound of flats and need to get a set for my Gretsch.

I think if I just had one guitar I'd stick with rounds for versatility, but I have a few telecasters and l like to keep one strung with flats. I haven't used them in a while, but I've migrated to a just fingers right hand technique, and I'm about to put a flat set on my thinline to see how they work pickless. They sure aren't cheap these days, and I think they may be more labor intensive to produce a good set. This video definitely gets across the percussive fundamental emphasis I love about flats. I really like they way they sound for distorted tones too, not just clean jazz tones.

I just switched from flats to D'addario rounds after watching your videos. I was trying to get a jazz sound out of my tele, but despite changing pickup height, string gauge, picks, technique, etc, it sounded dead. Coming from this end, I can tell you the rounds definitely sound better to my ears. I tried both chromes and TI flats. I think the flats might work better if you have humbuckers or find a set that is on the brighter side.

Man you have killer feel!

Sounds fantastic Tim!

I've been playing flats for a while now,on my archtops(one Gretsch,one Guild).They seem to suit the guitars themselves a lot better and are far easier to play-I don't bend strings much. It's lovely not hearing that squeak as I change position fast and they feel luxuriuos on my fingertips -recommended.Two interesting discoveries I made for myself ; although they take longer to stretch,they also seem to last a long time.Also, they seem to have an extra 40 Lbs string tension (in total)compared to an average set of (.10s)roundwounds......if I was bending a lot more I might consider going to 9s !

You just planted a seed in my brain. Hmm - I may try flatwounds on my Telecaster now.

Hello Tim, very interesting ! Love your way of playing !

I’ve been playing GHS NICKEL ROCKERS for 30 years … 12/52 on everything

I might be getting a new (to me) T-shaped instrument and it's very early-50's in style, dimensions, and electronics. I'll be trying strings that are more of the era, thicker, flats and pure nickle round core. I've used those on different guitars, and they're cool, but I really want to hear flats with Broadcaster pickups.