"The Kings New Clothes"??

[theonemanband]

After reading of various players love of flat wound strings on their Ricky 12 strings to create that "60's jangle", I decided to try a set of Pyramid 10-46 on my beloved 620/12. Although I have been happy with the guitar (which is my regular/favourite gigging instrument), I waited with excited anticipation for them to drop through the letterbox, to restringing and to this wonderful "new" sound I would get.

I have to say I was thoroughly and utterly disappointed!! To me, the wound strings sounded dull and lifeless, rather like having it strung with elastic bands!! I suspect the issue of flat wounds & this so called "60's jangle' is created ONLY by the dullness of the flat wounds making the plain strings appear more pronounced and bright.
Like the story of "the kings new clothes", is the "flat wound/jangle" purely a myth that few dare to disagree with; am I the only one who sees this or perhaps it's me. Am I wrong and missing something?

No worries though, after what was an expensive and time consuming experiment, I have "re-clothed" my Ric., with my favourite (Ric. round wounds 10-46) and we are back on the road, sounding great and...happy together!!

[strummersteve]

After reading of various players love of flat wound strings on their Ricky 12 strings to create that "60's jangle", I decided to try a set of Pyramid 10-46 on my beloved 620/12. Although I have been happy with the guitar (which is my regular/favourite gigging instrument), I waited with excited anticipation for them to drop through the letterbox, to restringing and to this wonderful "new" sound I would get.

I have to say I was thoroughly and utterly disappointed!! To me, the wound strings sounded dull and lifeless, rather like having it strung with elastic bands!! I suspect the issue of flat wounds & this so called "60's jangle' is created ONLY by the dullness of the flat wounds making the plain strings appear more pronounced and bright.
Like the story of "the kings new clothes", am I the only one who sees this; does anyone agree or am I missing something?

No worries though, after what was an expensive and time consuming experiment, I have "re-clothed" my Ric., with my favourite (Ric. round wounds 10-46) and we are back on the road, sounding great and...happy together!!

My experience was similar. I just was not happy with the sound of the Pyramid Strings. I have also tried the TI flats from Pick of the Ricks with great success. Those sound and feel great. You can never go wrong with the RIC round wounds 10-46. Jangle on.

Steve

[Folkie]

Well, I feel like I have the best of both worlds. I have a set of Thomastik Infeld Flatwounds on my 360/12c63, and a set of compressed roundwounds (Pick of the Ricks now calls them "Compressed Wounds") on my 330/12. If you do a search for "flatwound strings for 12-string," you'll find multiple threads recommending you stay away from Pyramids (because of their excess tension and stiffness), and extolling the virtues (low tension, great tone, amazing longevity) of TI Flats.

Yes, the difference in tone between regular roundwounds and flatwounds on a Rickenbacker 12-string does come from the contrast created between the dulled primary string and the thus accentuated octave string. The best explanation of this was given by Todd Bradshaw, in several of his posts on this subject. Some players prefer flats, some rounds and compressed rounds. If you want to try flats, TI Flats are vastly superior to anything else available. My only caveat is that they're a bit pricey. But when you figure that some members here have used the same set of TI's for three whole years, they don't seem so expensive.

[chronictown]

I have to agree...I was sucked in by the flatwound fanfare about 15 years ago when Pyramid strings were getting rave reviews. Quite disappointing. They made my guitar sound rather dead, and the strings were changed back to roundwounds within a month. To be fair, I haven't tried Thomastik Infeld flats, but I doubt I'll ever bother given that I'm happy with my current setup (D'Addario roundwound .11s).

[strummersteve]

I have to agree...I was sucked in by the flatwound fanfare about 15 years ago when Pyramid strings were getting rave reviews. Quite disappointing. They made my guitar sound rather dead, and the strings were changed back to roundwounds within a month. To be fair, I haven't tried Thomastik Infeld flats, but I doubt I'll ever bother given that I'm happy with my current setup (D'Addario roundwound .11s).

And Less Expensive!

[kennyhowes]

The Thomastik strings are they way to go.

EDIT: They are the way to go for flats. The stock Rick 95404 set (10-46) is best for roundwounds.

[squirebass]

I've used those Rick 96404 sets since I bought my Rick 12, apparently Roger Mcguinn uses them, so that's good enough for me.

[strummersteve]

The Thomastik strings are they way to go.

EDIT: They are the way to go for flats. The stock Rick 95404 set (10-46) is best for roundwounds.

I actually use both. I have the TI's on my 620/12 and the RIC strings on my 330/12. Both have great sound. I personally like the feel of the TI's as they are lower tension. The other plus about the TI's is that they last much longer. As sound is subjective, the decision is a personal one. Just my 2¢.
Steve