Flatwound vs Round with Seth Lovers

[tsp17]

I put Seths and new pots in my new (to me ) Millie chambered.    I play flat 12s on all my other guitars so I had my tech put on flatwound 11s on this one.  They sound pretty great.  

He was telling me that to get the most out of Seths- go round wound.  I can imagine that rounds give it a little more presence and harmonic complexity, but haven’t tried it yet. 

Easy enough for me to do a string swap….I’ll try rounds when i change strings, but now I’m super curious and thinking about doing it sooner rather than wait till the current strings get tired.  

 

Your thoughts and experience?

 

thanks.

 

Tad

 

[TalismanRich]

You might also try a set of half rounds.   You get much of the ringing of a round wound but the smoothness of a flatwound.      I have a set on my 535.   I got them after I tried half rounds on my bass.   No more finger squeaks, but it sounded more like an old broken in set of roundwounds than the typical dullness of flatwounds.

D'Addario makes them.   $10 a set, so it's not like there's a major investment.   9-42s thru 12-52s so you have options.    I tried them instead of using Elixers to quiet the finger noise.

GHS calls them "Bright Flats".   Same style as D'Addario.

 

Edited May 18 by TalismanRich

[tsp17]

I have a set of these….

 

 

[Spectrum13]

I strung up my 147 with half rounds.   

The worst of each type I say, but that is just my fingers and ears 

 

[rockabilly69]

You know what, I never considered flats on a Fender style guitar, but more and more I heard how great they sound with Jaguars. I just happened to have a set of flatwound .010 light Thomastik JAZZ strings, so I put them on one of my two Jags. That way I could compare the flats directly with a set of roundwounds. I was pleasantly surprised at how good they sounded. I thought they would be too dull sounding for a solidbody, but instead they had a great round sounding high end. It was like I just slightly rolled off the high end to where I liked it. And they felt great too!

Here's a demo from the day I put them on. Both guitar parts are the Jag with the flatwounds...

 

Edited May 18 by rockabilly69

[MartyGrass]

The old surf sounds seem to use flatwounds with single coils.

 

https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/35423/

[eljay]

Jags and Jazzmasters were designed for flatwounds . . . their whammy bar mechanisms like flats

[tsp17]

Very happy with the results with round wounds.  Definitely more of the pickup character comes out.  Especially with guitar volume at max or close. 

[greywolf66]

I have flats on my H575 and Country Gentleman, they work well for those .  My 575 has Seth's . 

 

[MartyGrass]

I can't estimate how many string choices there are out there, but it's a big number.

I listen to jazz players, especially the old school ones, who use flats.  Surf music commonly involves flats.  They sound great.  I tend to use the hybrids (Brite Flats and Half Wounds).  They get rid of the squeaks well enough and are brighter.

I am well stocked with different string gauges and windings.  I can't settle on anything really.  I've made peace with that realization.  

[tsp17]

3 hours ago, MartyGrass said:

I can't estimate how many string choices there are out there, but it's a big number.

I listen to jazz players, especially the old school ones, who use flats.  Surf music commonly involves flats.  They sound great.  I tend to use the hybrids (Brite Flats and Half Wounds).  They get rid of the squeaks well enough and are brighter.

I am well stocked with different string gauges and windings.  I can't settle on anything really.  I've made peace with that realization.  

Same here.  Different times I like different combinations. With this particular guitar and pickups - as of now I hear a more complex, dynamic and interesting sound with round wound strings.  
 

it feels a little presumptuous of me but I’m going to start bringing both my 575 (or550) and the chambered Millie to gigs for different vibes.  We typically do a mellower

classic jazz set then a more upbeat groove second set, so a move to the Millie between sets seems fun.