Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

kennyhowes wrote:I like 'em too.

+1, great strings for 12'ers and basses. Looking forward to trying out a 6-string set.

I really want to string up the 660/12 with some. How do flats sound with a solid?

They should be good on a 660/12. I tried a stock 6-string set on my Epiphone EA-255 (hollow body, kind of like a Casino with humbuckers) and found them to sound awfully dull. They might be fine if you wanted something really smooth for real jazz guitar playing, but it didn't sound like they would be very good for rock and roll music. I eventually took the extra set I had and used the low four as the octaves on my Hagstrom 8-string, where they work really well along with a set of their jazz flat bass strings for the primary strings.

I know John Biscuti tried them on his 660/12 before he sold it. John, what did you think of the flats with a solid body sound?

Once I get that dream Ric (a 6-string full-scale RoMo RI), I'm buying a 6-string set for it. I want to have the ULTIMATE sound that will make me satisfied.

Here's a (stupid) question I have: If a Ric neck is set up for roundwound 10s, but is strung up for flatwound 11s, will the neck break?

What gauge is better for a Ric hollowbody...10s or 11s?

JakeK wrote:I know John Biscuti tried them on his 660/12 before he sold it. John, what did you think of the flats with a solid body sound?

Sounded great. Check the Youtube video I did a few months back for a sample.

Edit:

Here's a (stupid) question I have: If a Ric neck is set up for roundwound 10s, but is strung up for flatwound 11s, will the neck break?

No.

sloop_john_b wrote:

JakeK wrote:I know John Biscuti tried them on his 660/12 before he sold it. John, what did you think of the flats with a solid body sound?

Sounded great. Check the Youtube video I did a few months back for a sample.

Yeah, I did see that. It sounded cool, and with the right amount of compression with the hot toasters in my 660/12, everything should go swimmingly.

No.

Just checking...

Putting 11's on a guitar set up for 10's won't break the neck, but it will raise your action a little bit. I recommend just sticking with 10's, especially for Ricks. On other brands of guitar like Epi's I usually use 11's, but the only non-Rick I'm devoting any amount of time to these days is a PRS EG3, and I use 10's on that too.

jdogric12aolcom wrote:I recommend just sticking with 10's, especially for Ricks.

Really? Anything less than 11's on Ricks drive me nuts.

I do like my action on the higher side instead of the lower side, incase I want to try slide or even go all Townshend and slide my guitar along a mike stand.

I must once again sing the praises of this fine product, having just strung up my old 370/12 with 'em. Mmm mmm mmm.

Just put a set on my V64 when the Bowie 366 arrives ive a spare set to try on it.

I have a set on my 360/12c63 and I love 'em!

I had Chris Clayton at POTR set up my 2010 360/12 with TI Flats, and I immediately noticed an increase in chime and shimmer in comparison to my 1991 330/12, which has always been strung with roundwounds. As Todd Bradshaw has repeatedly explained, the TI's dull the sound of the lower courses and accentuate the chime of the octave strings. They work nicely with scatterwound pickups in terms of nailing the vintage sixties tone so many of us are looking for, and they respond particularly well to JangleBox compressors. To reinforce what others on this thread have said, TI Flats are low-tension and very comfortable to play. And they have incredible longevity (a single set lasts me well over a year, and many here have gone two or three years without changing strings!!!). If you like the vintage tone of flatwounds on a twelve-string then TI's are the only way to go.

Five years. With regular gigs.