TI Flats Question - 360/12

[akpasta]

We all know the many benefits of Thomastik Infeld flatwound strings. But the .10 and .13 gauge strings of the set are plain unwound steel. TI plain steel strings are a gold color. Typical plain steel strings are a silver color. Is there any difference between the two?

I broke a few of my .10s and .13s during a lot of truss rod adjustment and work on my 360/12, so I just replaced them with generic plain steel strings from a different brand so I could continue. Suddenly I'm struck by how bright the replacement plain steel strings sound compared to the flats. It could be that the flats are all a year old and the new plain steels are brand new. Or, could it be that generic plain steel strings are brighter than those found on a set of TI flats? If so, I would want to purchase spare TI flats in .10 and .13 as those tend to be the strings that break by mistake if one is doing a lot of de-tuning and re-tuning during set up.

Anyone know?

[admin]

For Thomastik, the plating on the plain strings is brass or tin. From my experience I find the brass to be more mellow and the tin brighter. I have never done an A/B comparison to see if I could tell the difference between them while blindfolded.

[collin]

Not to knock them (if you like them), but I was so underwhelmed by TI Flats on a 12-string. Killed the sustain and tone, and were generally uncomfortable to play. And two of my plain strings broke in the first month.

For a $35 set of strings, I thought they were totally overhyped around here.

YMMV though!

[admin]

Colin: I am with you in this regard and prefer round wounds on my Rickenbacker 12 string.

[scotty]

Not to knock them (if you like them), but I was so underwhelmed by TI Flats on a 12-string. Killed the sustain and tone, and were generally uncomfortable to play. And two of my plain strings broke in the first month.

For a $35 set of strings, I thought they were totally overhyped around here.

YMMV though!

Yep me also.
They felt very tight and muted.
They last a long time but that's about it for me. I wouldn't buy them again for a 12er.

[mike_d]

I love ‘em! I have them on my 360/12c63 as well as a blonde Gretsch 6122-12 Country Gent. I also use the six string sets on most of my other Gretsches and a Ric 350v63. I ditched Pyramids long ago due to the higher tension, especially on 12 string guitars.

[iiipopes]

I use a custom set of D'Addario singles XL in
9 - 11 1/2 - 18w - 24w - 32w - 42w
9 - 11 1/2 - 8 - 10 - 13 - 22w
Because the cores of the wound strings have a similar diameter to the plain octave strings, they intonate on a six-saddle bridge just fine, except, of course, for the low E, which I purchased a blank saddle from RIC and filed it so the unison low E string intonates off the back of the saddle and the octave E string intonates off the front of the saddle. And yes, D'Addario make the "1/2" gauges in plain strings.

[teb]

I have TI flats on my 370/12 and 340/12, as well as my Hagstrom 8-string bass and my Hofner 500/1 V63 and I'm quite happy with all of them. I guess it all just depends upon what type of sound/tone you are after.

[jps]

I have TI flats on my 370/12 and 340/12, as well as my Hagstrom 8-string bass and my Hofner 500/1 V63 and I'm quite happy with all of them. I guess it all just depends upon what type of sound/tone you are after.

This is the key to it all.

[iiipopes]

One more thought on breaking strings: the saddles may need some burnishing to remove overly sharp edges or burrs, which are usually the culprit for broken strings at the bridge.