I’m a fan of flat wound strings for jazz and even sometimes for blues. My second choice in electric guitar strings is pure nickel round wound strings. The question which prompted me to write this post is: Why do I like certain string brands and sets more than others?
My first choice for flat wound strings is the Jazz-Swing sets from Thomastik-Infeld (TI). The most popular brand of flat wound strings according to a survey at Jazz Guitar Online (jazzguitar.be) are D’Addario (DAD) Chromes. They are a quality string at a reasonable price but there are several things that make me prefer the TI strings.
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It’s difficult to do a side-by-side comparison of stings under the same conditions, on the same guitar. I’m not sure I could tell the difference between DAD Chromes and TI flat wounds in a blind listening test, but Chromes always seem to have a different tone than TI or La Bella flat wounds. It’s brighter, but I don’t care for it. I don’t have enough information to explain why this would be so, but one hypothesis is the composition of the stainless wrap is different for Chromes than TI strings. It could be that Chromes have more chrome in their alloy and TI has more Nickel.
There are other reasons why I think TI strings are one of the best flat wound strings available. For example, TI and La Bella both wrap the ends of their string in a thread which is a nice touch. D’Addario does not do this.
But the main reason I have arrived at to explain what I like best about TI strings is their set composition. Although I don’t see TI advertise this fact, their sets have a more balanced tension than their competitors. This affects both the feel and the tone.
If you look at the string gauges in a set of Chromes and compare them to a TI set having the same 1st string gauge, the bottom four strings of the TI are closer to the next lower set from DAD.
FW String Gauge Comparison
| Make&Cat | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TI JS112 | 12 | 16 | 20w | 27 | 37 | 50 |
| DAD ECG24 | 11 | 15 | 22w | 30 | 40 | 50 |
| DAD ECG25 | 12 | 16 | 24w | 32 | 42 | 52 |
Tension Comparison
| CatNo | E | B | G | D | A | E | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JS112 | 22.8 | 22.7 | 24.6 | 24.1 | 22.8 | 23.3 | 140.3 |
| ECG24 | 19.6 | 20.5 | 25.0 | 25.3 | 25.3 | 21.1 | 136.8 |
| ECG25 | 23.4 | 23.3 | 29.6 | 28.7 | 26.9 | 22.5 | 154.3 |
Three of six strings in the Chrome 11s (ECG24) set have a larger gauge than the corresponding TI 12s (JS112) set. Tensions shows the same thing.
Because I am a retired scientist, I did the math and calculated the coefficient of variation (CV%) for the string tensions. String tensions for each set were obtained from the manufacturers’ websites. If math puts you off, just know that the bigger the CV%, the greater the difference between each string’s tension. However, an easier calculation that gives a similar answer is to just subtract the minimum tension from the maximum.
Set variation in tension
| CatNo | CV% | max-min |
|---|---|---|
| JS112 | 3.4% | 1.9 lbs |
| ECG24 | 11.7% | 5.7 lbs |
| ECG25 | 11.8% | 7.0 lbs |
The gauges and tensions of most guitar string sets were arrived at through trial and error without much logic. The strings available when I began playing guitar in the early 1960s were all heavier than today’s choices. I had few choices in gauges, materials, or windings back then and no internet or even mail order to find the perfect string. Ernie Ball began selling offering his slinky strings in response to the rock guitarists who wanted something lighter in gauge so they could bend them more easily. Other guitarists asked for thicker low strings and we got sets with light tops and heavy bottoms. All of this was great if that’s what you wanted.
But I’ve found the low strings on some sets combined with certain guitars gave me overpowering bass. Although I love blues & rock, for playing jazz I don’t need to do more than 1/4 step bends. Less tension on the bass and more on the treble seems more balanced both in feel (easier to play difficult chords) and balanced in tone.
Regarding tone, one of the big questions guitarists often debate is whether heavier strings give a better tone. I think it does give a better clean tone on the plain strings. I saw a response on a forum thread claiming Billy Gibbons gets a thick tone using light gauge strings. I love ZZ Top, but I would describe the cleanest I’ve heard him play as heavy overdrive. If you compare the high strings on his typical 7-38 set (7, 9, 11, 20, 30, 38) to a 12 gauge jazz set and play through an amp with NO distortion (gain somewhere between 9 and 10 O’clock), those 7s will sound thinner. Once you increase the gain, and play through a fuzz-face and other distortion pedals, the differences won’t matter.
Some string makers are now offering balanced tension sets. E.g., D’Addario and StringJoy both have Nickel-plated steel sets in balanced tension. As I’ve described, Thomastik-Infeld’s Jazz-Swing Flat wound sets have balanced tension as do their pure Nickel round wound BeBop sets. As much as I love TI’s strings, they are among the most expensive strings I’ve tried. This leads me to explore custom sets for balanced tension. StringJoy Broadway pure Nickel strings are available in customized gauges for no extra cost. GHS also sells individual pure Nickel strings through online merchants as does D’Addario (and also Thomastik-Infeld). You won’t get all of the advantages of TI strings this way, but you can create a set with the tensions you want at a savings of perhaps more than 50% (depending on when and where you get your strings).
Here are GHS and StringJoy round wound custom gauges I’ve picked compared to stock catalog sets. My goal was to match the tension of the TI BB112 set as closely as possible.
Custom vs Stock Cat gauges
| Make | CatNo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GHS | custom | 11.5 | 15 | 20p | 26 | 36 | 48 |
| SJ | custom | 11.5 | 15 | 19p | 28 | 38 | 50 |
| GHS | 1400 | 12.0 | 15 | 22w | 28 | 42 | 54 |
| SJ | BW12 | 12.0 | 16 | 24w | 32 | 42 | 52 |
| TI | BB112 | 12.0 | 16 | 20p | 28 | 36 | 50 |
Custom vs Stock Cat tensions
| Make | E | B | G | D | A | E | Total | CV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GHS c | 22.5 | 21.7 | 21.7 | 22.1 | 22.7 | 22.8 | 133.5 | 2.2% |
| SJ c | 23.6 | 22.5 | 22.8 | 23.1 | 22.8 | 21.8 | 136.6 | 2.6% |
| GHS s | 24.9 | 21.7 | 26.5 | 24.5 | 30.1 | 27.5 | 155.2 | 11.1% |
| SJ s | 25.7 | 25.6 | 29.5 | 30.1 | 28.1 | 23.1 | 162.1 | 9.9% |
| TI s | 22.8 | 22.7 | 24.0 | 23.8 | 22.0 | 22.5 | 137.8 | 3.4% |
So, what do I have on my guitars right now? I have two archtop hollow jazz guitars, both with 12s, one with TI JS112 flat wound strings and one with DR PHR-12 Pure Nickel round wound strings. I have TI BB112 ordered to try.
I also have two Telecasters, both with 11s, one with Webstrings.com 11-48 New York Flat wound strings (The least expensive flat wounds I’ve found). The other has StringJoy Broadway 11s, a pure Nickel set.
As you can see, there are still many combinations to try. If I like the TI Bebop set, I may try a custom set when I change them. I also plan to try a balanced set of round wound pure Nickel strings on a Telecaster though I haven’t decided whether to go with StringJoy or GHS strings.
Note: All strings compared above, except the D’Addario Chromes, have round core wires.
Tension data can be found on each maker’s website. GHS provides a downloadable PDF. Thomastik-Infeld has a page for each type of string: Bebop round wounds or Jazz-Swing flat wounds. D’Addario has a pop-out table for each string set type & size, e.g. ECG24 Chromes 11s. StringJoy has a tension calculator page where you can enter the scale length and type (e.g. Broadways) and see the tensions for custom gauge sets.
