The "Flat wound" strings thing

craviola990 · Post by **craviola990** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 5:39 pm

Hi Guys- Can anybody get me up to date on why everyone prefers the flat wounds on their 12 string's? They by nature have a creamier jazzier tone than rounds (I understand that flats were all that was available in the '60's?) I know that Roger has been recommending them, etc. And the Pyramid compressed rounds are mentioned and recommended. I had always used rounds for that "Sugary bite", and always got, at least to my ears a good Byrds sound with just a tinge of chorus, reverb, & delay (I have yet to try Steve Lasko's wonder machine) Anyway, I surely would appreciate some straightening out on this subject. Thanks guys! Christian

budrocket · Post by **budrocket** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 2:30 am

Flatwound strings have a duller sound, but don't have as much extraneous noise, like "squeaking" caused by finger noise on the windings when changing chords. Roundwounds tend to lose their brightness after a short period of time, flatwound strings tend to maintain a more constant tone, though they are much less bright tonally, which bothers some players. Lennon got a great rhythm sound from flatwounds, but personally I don't care for the sound on lead guitar.

In terms of getting the "McGuinn" sound, he used a treble booster in conjunction with a LOT of compression, so finger noise on the wound strings can get amplified by the sustain you get from compression & the treble boost, producing a strange, really unpleasant "shrieking" kind of sound & accompanying feedback. Flatwounds seem to minimize this effect.

As always...your mileage may vary, but give flatwounds a try you might like 'em (I did!), especially if you're using a lot of compression like McGuinn.

bw

craviola990 · Post by **craviola990** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:27 am

Thanks Buddy, much obliged! Christian

budrocket · Post by **budrocket** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:43 am

Entirely my pleasure.

bw

the_tonebender · Post by **the_tonebender** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:28 am

Funny...Just last night, for the first time in my life, I put a set of Rickenbacker Rounds on my 370/12. Tonight I'll be replacing them with my fave Pyramids. The sound, to me at least, isn't even close. If you want 60's, Beatles, Byrds/McGuinn, it's Pyramids all the way. I've always wanted to try the rounds on there. But, they just don't deliver "that sound". Flats are it for me on all my Rickenbackers and Gretsches.

craviola990 · Post by **craviola990** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:43 am

Thanks for the input John! Chris

the_tonebender · Post by **the_tonebender** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 3:40 am

Ahhh, all is back to normal. The Pyramids went back on the the 370/12 last night. That coupled with the Janglebox through the Vox AC30 and, well, nirvana once again. That sound is so distinct. Jingle, jangle, ping!!!

firstbassman · Post by **firstbassman** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 4:45 am

This is SLIGHTLY off topic, but I found a great compromise for my basses between the "creamier" or "duller" sound of flatwounds and the "brighter" with the "squeaky finger noise" of roundwounds --- groundwounds. They are roundwounds that are, as the name implies, with part of the outer edge grounded off. They work very well. Wonder if they make them for guitars.

Speaking of Vox, took my wife to see Queen last night. Brian May had a stack of eight Vox amps behind him. (Maybe AD120VT?)

the_tonebender · Post by **the_tonebender** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 8:03 am

Brian May usually plays AC30's. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he was playing a couple of the new Brian May Limited Edition AC30's that were introduced at NAMM.

firstbassman · Post by **firstbassman** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 10:25 am

Don't know, maybe.
Don't take this the wrong way, but all Vox amps look the same (to me).
You know what I mean. They all have the same design in the front.
And from 150 feet away, it's very hard to tell.

BTW, Queen did a very nice job. Good show. I didn't know if Paul Rodgers' voice would work with their material but it did. Plus May sang three songs solo and the drummer sang a couple of songs.

the_tonebender · Post by **the_tonebender** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 10:29 am

No prob Mark. Vox ad120vt modeling amps, and most other Vox modelers usually have blue diamond grill cloth unless the cabs were customized by someone like Dr. Vox at Northcoast Music. Then they'd probably have the traditional brown weave grill cloth.

craviola990 · Post by **craviola990** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:38 pm

Thanks for all the great info guys, I think you've straightened me out! Best, Christian

markos · Post by **markos** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:44 pm

There's even more reason to use flats on a 12-string: if you have a 12-stringer that only has the original 6 saddles you might not be able to intonate the guitar with the Ric strings. With Pyramids or Thomastiks (if you make up your own sets) will intonate correctly.

fatcat · Post by **fatcat** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 2:53 pm

In my case, playing a Mc Guinn ltd. model, round wound strings just don't sound right, best described as a nasaly tone, using the onboard compressor. Flat wounds sound right with it.Very right.

johnashfield · Post by **johnashfield** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:55 pm

I tried the pyramids but they just sounded so mid rangey and were super stiff! The stiffness was ridiculous!

Are pyramids usually that stiff or were mine an anamoly?