Flatwound strings on acoustic guitar?

[burn]

Ever tried flatwound on acoustic? Will this give me an old school country guitar tone or will it just kill the tone?

Anyway I'll try it to see for myself but I'm curious if it's a common practice or not, I found nothing on the subject...

[leigh]

I've not tried flatwounds, but a producer friend strongly recommended trying non-phosphor bronze strings to get away from a modern bright string sound. So you might try that first, as a step away from standard strings, before jumping to flatwounds...

[heylow]

Word.

I've hated Phosphor Bronze strings on every guitar I have ever tried them on. I much prefer 80/20s. Plain old Martin brand mediums have been my favorite for feel and woody tone. To me 80/20s are way more of an old school tone.....logical since phosphor bronze wasn't up and popularized till much later (the 70's?).

That said....

I haven't tried flatwounds on my acoustics either...(love em on mandolin). I DON'T think it will give you an old school country tone since that was not what was being used. I have a friend who digs flats....haven't heard him play them since he lives in Germany right now.

Another thing to consider is the guitar. For instance, a Taylor or a Tacoma is just not likely going to get all that old school country sounding...they aren't designed to.

String gauge....light strings are not likely to net that tone either. Guys played em big and they played em in long.

So....in short....I'd try medium gauge 80/20s first. Secondly, if that was close but not getting it, I'd leave em on there and play em in for a few weeks.


By all means...try some flats for the hell of it. Another option I used to like on a particularly bright guitar I once owned was D'addario Flat Tops. They are "flattened" roundwounds....kind of an in between option.

Sorry if this seems like a string of random thoughts....it kinda is. Good luck!


[dt]

[segaface]

I've tried the Flattops per Heylow's suggestion, and I liked them. However, my string of choice (this is on a 000-sized guitar) lately has been the Martin Silk & Steel strings. They're nice and mellow.

Andy

[jckinnick]

Ever tried flatwound on acoustic? Will this give me an old school country guitar tone or will it just kill the tone?

Anyway I'll try it to see for myself but I'm curious if it's a common practice or not, I found nothing on the subject...

How old are we talking? Do you have a particular song to reference? I know George Jones guy in the 60's used Nashville tuning (High Strung).

[burn]

How old are we talking? Do you have a particular song to reference? I know George Jones guy in the 60's used Nashville tuning (High Strung).

I'm not aiming for a specific sound, I just want to stay away from the "modern" hi-fi acoustic guitar sound. I guess a good start is really heavy strings

[dennisjames]

I used to use them on one of my guitars. I've got a 1930's Slingerland May Bell archtop that I use primarily for lead playing. It accentuated the "punchy" element of the guitar and I recorded all my parts with them on our first album. I've since switched to EJ16's and I prefer the wound strings. I feel like I get a little more texture and sustain. If you're going for a vintage sound, the guitar itself will likely be the determing factor. I've had some success with mic placement and mic choice to highlight or downplay elements, but the guitar will be the "decider".

[@?,*???&?]

I've got an old Kalamazoo acoustic with no truss rod. Needs extra light gauge strings or the neck bends pretty drastically.

Anyhow, I've taken to stringing it with D'Addario Flat Tops. They are semi-flat top strings that offer up a very unique tone and feel for this instrument. They take the rounded edges off the windings. They'll likely be special order strings unless you go to a vintage string instrument or dedicated acoustic instrument shop.

[jckinnick]

I've got an old Kalamazoo acoustic with no truss rod. Needs extra light gauge strings or the neck bends pretty drastically.

Anyhow, I've taken to stringing it with D'Addario Flat Tops. They are semi-flat top strings that offer up a very unique tone and feel for this instrument. They take the rounded edges off the windings. They'll likely be special order strings unless you go to a vintage string instrument or dedicated acoustic instrument shop.

How thick are flatwounds? Could they damage a neck?

[@?,*???&?]

Flat wounds are fine. No problems. These Flat Tops are more like standard strings than flat wounds. I borrowed a Gretsch many years ago that had flat wounds for an improv class I had in college. Cool feel, dead tone though- which, if you want to sound like Grant Green, I guess is desirable!

[dsw]

Back the mic off. Go out about 2 feet or so. Try an omni if the room sounds ok.
My 2 cents.

[oldguitars]

Yeah, i really like "mostly" dead 80/20 martin marquis on my HD28 and my J200. On the martin it gives me that mcartney "mcartney" sound.

Flats would be ok on an archtop, but i wouldn't want them on a flat top...

[noon]

I used them exclusively on a Takamine acoustic for years. Loved it. Wouldn't call it an 'old country' sound, though. To me, it was more of a Jazz thing; kinda Mingus-like (but not, obviously). Or an abstract, hill people/mountain music sound (if that makes any sense).

[btswire]

Can anyone comment on the difference between the 80/20 and the Silk and Steel strings? Which are less bright? Also, any thoughts on warm/mellow strings for classical guitar?

[heylow]

80/20s likely to be far brighter than Silk and Steel just by manufacturing process alone....Silk and Steel usually have silk wrapped between the core and the winding of the strings if I am not mistaken. This makes them duller and mellower. 80/20s are just a different flavor of "traditional".

Classical strings as in nylon strings? I have only used D'Addario and liked them quite a bit. I remember them mellow but still nice and articulate.



[dt]