toddinjax Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Hi all, I was liking my 575 special but not LOVING it; a bit too bottom heavy and a little light/thin on the top two strings, using Daddario .12 chromes. I noticed that the wound strings of Thomastik strings are quite a bit lighter in gauge than the D's, even with .13 on top. I tried the TI's and it's all just perfectly balanced now! The total lbs of tension between the two sets D'addario.12 and TI .13 is almost exaclty the same (@155 & 156lbs). Something to think about before selling off any guitar you are perfectly happy with. Same goes for trying a different pick; another pick can make a guitar come alive or send it too sleep. Just thought I'd share.
MacDoggie Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Hi Todd, I had a similar experience with my 535 when I received it. I was really getting bummed. Way too much bottom and the sound just wasn't what I was looking for. So I reset the pups by ear rather than by ruler, and switched to pure nickel strings (kept the same gauge). Now it sounds exactly like I expected and as you said, it was a lot cheaper than getting a different guitar or pickups. Sometimes the little things can make a big difference...
Dick Seacup Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 I have heard a lot of good things about the TIs, but have never tried them (that I recall). I'm waiting on my recent GHS Burnished Nickel order to arrive from just strings. I thought I ordered them once before but apparently never clicked all the way through to complete it. Can't wait to find out what they do to my guitars, considering I've been stuck on flatwounds for a long time.
SouthpawGuy Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Hi Todd, all, .... Just my 2 cents on this subject. I bought a 575 about 3 months ago now. I found the neck pickup to be way too loud compared to the bridge pickup, the guitar was second hand though maybe the previous owner had jacked it up closer to the strings ... Anyway I found that this made the middle pickup selector position sound way too muddy and it lacked that certain tone. I decreased the neck pickup height and increased the bridge pickup height by ear until they matched in volume and hey presto the middle selector position sounds bang on. It also made the instrument more useable for other styles of music apart from jazz, in particular it sounds real good now for rock'n'roll and rockabilly sounds especially with a little slap echo added. As for strings I don't know what brand are on it at the moment but they have a fairly high tension, they are 12's and they don't sound bright enough too my ear. Are the D'Addario or Thomastiks 12's a medium or high tenson ?, which has the brighter tone ? Thanks ...
GuitArtMan Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Hi Todd, I had a similar experience with my 535 when I received it. I was really getting bummed. Way too much bottom and the sound just wasn't what I was looking for. So I reset the pups by ear rather than by ruler, and switched to pure nickel strings (kept the same gauge). Now it sounds exactly like I expected and as you said, it was a lot cheaper than getting a different guitar or pickups. Sometimes the little things can make a big difference... Why wouldn't you set the pickups by ear? I used a ruler to get in the ballpark but then let my ear take over. Glad you made that discovery.
slider313 Posted March 21, 2008 Posted March 21, 2008 When I got my 555 it had DR .010's on it. It felt very stiff to me but I felt I had to give them a chance due to all the good raves they get. After about an hour, I couldn't take it anymore and put a set of trusty D'Addario .010's. Different playing and sounding guitar. I've always gone back to these after trying the newest "flavor of the month".
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