I Might Do The Flatwounds-On-A-Tele Thing

[Brent Hutto]

I've been playing (or playing around with) electric guitars for a year and a half and I've had my Telecaster for nearly a year. Honestly, for the basic stuff I'm capable of playing the 9-42 Fender set (that's what came on my Tele) sound fine and are easy on the fingers. I think I remember swapping a 10ga high-E string in because the 9ga one sounded a bit wimpy compared to the B string.

Anyway, in a guitar lesson last week my teacher made some offhand comment about having had flatwounds on his Telecaster for a while, years ago. I think nowadays he uses some fairly heavy roundwounds (11's or 12's) because he mostly plays an acoustic dreadnought and says, "I need the strings to fight back a little".

Sorry, that's all beside the point. My point is, somehow that offhand comment planted a seed in my mind and now I'm convinced that I'm missing out on some very important experience by never having played flatwound. I have used the T-I flatwounds on my mandolin and I instantly loved them from the first time I strung them up and ran through Lonesome John a couple times.

So I just ordered two sets of T-I Jazz flats, the 10-44 Extra Light and 11-47 Light. What say ye all? Did I just spend a large amount of money for nothing? Or is there any chance one of those will open new sonic horizons on my Player Telecaster?

Even the 10ga flatwound set has a wound G string (must be one dainty little wound string) so I'm hoping that set will suffice for getting the flatwound experience. My fingers might find the 11's a little stressful.

I'm also wondering if I ought to try them first on one of my other guitars. Either the little 25" scale Strat-like Ibanez or my big flat-fingerboard "shredder" Ibanez with the humbuckers (which I never play because the hot humbuckers sound awful to me).

 

[Boreas]

I have half-rounds on a P90 equipped Thinline and they are working fairly well. My flatwounds are on an old Silvertone hollowbody, which also work well. Although I like them both, I wouldn't say either knocked my socks off. The flatwounds are hard to justify the expense, at least on the guitar they are installed. A Tele may be different.

 

[OldTelePlayer]

I've been using flatwounds on all my electrics since the 90's.... 12's on the hollow body jazzer, 10's on everything else.

They are certainly worth a try. They do add a bit of warmth to the sound and I find them easier on my fingers than the round-wound. Much smoother... I like them.

As to which guitar, I'd go with one you are the most familiar with the sound. That way you'll be able to better hear any difference in the tone.

 

[Trenchant63]

I tried flats in order to get a fuller jazz tone (on both Fender and Gibson guitars) and it didn’t work for me. Too dull and thumpy. I’ve gone back to 10-46 rounds but have done basically two things in my Warmoth Strat .. . (1) Went to a THINNER pick (.73 to .60 Ultex) and went to humbuckers. Believe it or not the .60 pick has a warmer sound due to its softer attack and flex (slightly less volume on the strings so adjust amp volume and EQ accordingly) . It pairs really well with my Gibson 490 pickups and I get a very sweet warm tone. The other benefit is the much better rhythm chops I get out of the pick while still getting great single note body and articulation - especially on low notes - without the dull thump. Everyone is different though so let us know how it goes!

 

[Dutch Treat]

New sounds, new feeling under the fingertips,
completely reversible: there's really no downside! I'd try it first on the tele and see how it goes. If you like it try some on the shredder. You may find a new sound that transforms that guitar!

 

[Dan German]

I switched my baritone to flat-wounds, and now I’m eyeballing my other guitars… probably not the tele, but the hollow-body? Hmmm…

 

[pixeljammer]

I've been using flatwounds on all my electrics since the 90's.... 12's on the hollow body jazzer, 10's on everything else.

They are certainly worth a try. They do add a bit of warmth to the sound and I find them easier on my fingers than the round-wound. Much smoother... I like them.

As to which guitar, I'd go with one you are the most familiar with the sound. That way you'll be able to better hear any difference in the tone.

Which ones do you like? Are you using a wound G?
I have TI 12s on my jazzbox and 11s on my Gretsches.
Spendy, but they last forever, so not actually more expensive.

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

Flatwounds just do not appeal to me. A " dull & thumpy " sound
is the opposite of what i would want. I play mostly F-style guitars
through Fender type amps. I like bright.

 

[Filmosound 621]

there are "flatwounds" and there are Thomastik flatwounds from Austria.
well worth giving it a go.
Telecaster works fine with #11 strings and tuned to Eb.

 

[Killing Floor]

Have a set in my box waiting to install on my JM. No hurry for the Stringjoys to die but when they do I am trying them.

 

[LonglandPattern]

It's totally worth it, and as others point out, reversible. Telecasters of course have a lot of treble, so to my ears flat-wounds can tame an overly bright guitar. I like flats, but have been using GHS brite flats, which are like the half-flats others describe.

Personally I really don't like string noise and scrapes (tho I love tom morello) I want my notes clear and round. I just saw ernie ball came out with slinky flatwounds in 10-46, and am thinking of giving them a try.

 

[OldTelePlayer]

Which ones do you like? Are you using a wound G?
I have TI 12s on my jazzbox and 11s on my Gretsches.
Spendy, but they last forever, so not actually more expensive.

Which ones do you like? Are you using a wound G?
I have TI 12s on my jazzbox and 11s on my Gretsches.
Spendy, but they last forever, so not actually more expensive.

I am using D'Addario Chrome Flatwound

Light (012) for the jazzer and Extra Light (10s) for all the other electrics

Unwound G

I like them... they sound good, no string noise (scrapes, etc.) and last a decent amount of time.
They work well for me.

I thought of putting 11s on the Epi Riviera and may do so at the next string change. Remains to be seen.

 

[OldTelePlayer]

I switched my baritone to flat-wounds, and now I’m eyeballing my other guitars… probably not the tele, but the hollow-body? Hmmm…

I'd say definitely try the flats on the hollow-body. Those are somewhat warm sounding guitars to begin with and the flats will give you some added smoothness I think. I use 12s on my hollow-body but you may want to start with 10s or 11s depending on what's on your other guitars.

 

[Call Me Al]

I loved the tone and feel of flats on my Tele! (Daddario Chrome 11s.) But, that’s my “bendy” guitar and I found I really prefer 9s on it. If you don’t mind losing some flexibility try em on the Tele. If that’s important to you, try em on a different guitar.

 

[badscrew_projects]

Watch out for the wound G compensation, the optimal saddle position isn't the same as the plain G's.

 

[Brent Hutto]

Watch out for the wound G compensation, the optimal saddle position isn't the same as the plain G's.

Thanks for the reminder.

Hopefully the little six block saddle arrangement on my Player Tele will give me plenty of room to get a wound G to intonate.

 

[Brent Hutto]

I loved the tone and feel of flats on my Tele! (Daddario Chrome 11s.) But, that’s my “bendy” guitar and I found I really prefer 9s on it. If you don’t mind losing some flexibility try em on the Tele. If that’s important to you, try em on a different guitar.

I'm not much of a bender (at least not on purpose, ham-fisted fretting doesn't count). Or maybe I should say at most I'll experiment with a quick push just for emphasis here and there, it's not really part of what I think of as my "style".

P.S. I always feel like I ought to do "full disclosure" on threads like this to let everyone know my playing is pretty basic and I'm still in the just-starting-to-know-what-I'm doing phase. Not quite a beginner but not quite a player yet, either!

 

[AquariumRock]

Flats on a tele are nice. Some people feel they sound lifeless but that’s never been my experience. Flats also feel lighter, so 11s or 12s as flats will feel very similar to 9s with rounds. I haven’t swapped out my current set in a minute, might go back to the flats, they’re very comfortable.

 

[USian Pie]

I used flats for a while on an archtop. They did exactly what folks say they do. They felt really cool -- super slidey and a mellow sound.

Eventually, I started to miss that little extra bit of bite and zing from roundwounds and went back. It was just one of those things of "great place to visit but not sure I can live here".

As far as gauge, I don't want the strings to fight me any but I find more tension helps right-hand speed and accuracy. The trade off is left-hand fluidity. It's finding the right balance.

 

[ndcaster]

I love them, and they last a really long time.