back in the 60's, i used flatwound strings on my strat. i liked them mostly because there was no noise when sliding up and down. after hardly playing for 20 years, i got back into playing a lot in the last 5 years. every guitar i gotten since then comes with roundwound.

is anybody using flatwounds? are they a dinosaur? give us your opinions please

I've been meaning to try them out for some time now...

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I tried flat-wound strings back in the day, but I didn't like 'em too much. They were a little too smooth and just made my tendency to overshoot frets during lead parts even more of problem. By now I'm pretty used to super slinkies and that's what I'm most comfortable with.

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+1 Same Here.

Flatwounds can be nasty on the fingers. If there's any inconsistency at all in the thickness of the flat winding or the core wire or a spec of dust on the core wire prior to winding there can be a slightly raised sharp edge which can chew up fingers pretty quick. Even a half a thousandth can be nasty. It's especially noticable on bass guitars on the right hand where your thumb and fingers don't just push on the string like fretting but actually slide and rub over the surface of the string as you pluck notes. Haven't used flats in at least 25 years. Sure hope they're more consistent now.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

What's nice about an active forum, is someone will eventually post a thread that fits your situation to a tee. Phreddybee, I have the same story as you as far as time with and away from the guitar. I put flatwounds on my Guild and I like the feel though they don't have the sparkle that round wounds do. I don't like the strings on my new strat because they are 9 gauge and feel like spaghetti to me. I use 11 gauge on the Guild. Anyway, I'm going to change to a 10 gauge on the strat and I haven't decided yet whether to go flat or round on this next set. Eventually I'll try both and then pick my favorite. Right now I just know I don't like 9's though I'm trying to get used to them. They bend when I'm not trying to bend. May be a problem with defective fingers. I'll let you know.

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Ive got flat wounds on 1 acoustic... tone seems good, but to me they do have a bit of a "slick" feel, Im not sure if I will continue with them

Bill

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[quote="bill948"]Ive got flat wounds on 1 acoustic... tone seems good, but to me they do have a bit of a "slick" feel, Im not sure if I will continue with them

Bill[/quote

+1 My Gretsch 5120 has D'Addario Lite Jazz flatwound 11s, the rest of the ladies are testing various mfgrs. roundwound 10s.

So many string makers, so little time,
John.E

I have Dean Markley Flatwounds on 4 electric guitars. I like them.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

My black Squire tele has Fender flatwounds on it.
My sunburst Nashville Telecaster has Ernie Ball Super Slinkys.
So I voted both.

I can't play flat wounds--they feel uncomfortable, and their sound doesn't suit my playing.

But then, you aren't me--so maybe they suit your playing, fingers or whatever--But I have tried them so I know I don't like them

And I have no problem advising people to try them to see what their preference is.

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

Flatwounds sound flat, after using them on my Telecaster bass guitar for a couple of years trying to like them, I switched back to roundwounds. IMHO YMMV

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It really depends on what kind of tone you are after and what kind of music you're playing.

Currently I am using Tomastik-Infeld flats for my fretless, and La Bella flats on my Precision. For my Jazzbass and my Warwick FNA Jazzman I am using DR lo-rider nickel roundwound strings. I think this gives me versatility tonewise, so I can decide what kind of bass (and strings) I use for the given musical situation.

I use roundwounds on all of my electric six-strings. I use flatwound on both of my bass guitars to save my fingers.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

I used to use flatwounds when I was around 14 or 15 under the misconception that smoother strings would be easier to bend then I discovered roundwound 8-38s and haven't looked back.I still prefer flatwound on my basses though-my old Vox still has the originals from '66 and they still sound great.

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