flatwounds vs. roundwounds on a Golden Eagle??

[jazzalicious]

Have any of you archtop owners ever tried roundwounds on your guitar? I have a Golden Eagle, and once discussed string choice with a very knowledgeable dealer who stated that flatwounds don't compliment the natural acoustics of an archtop. He was fairly adament about his choice of roundwounds for archtops. I noticed that there are a few "dead" notes on my Eagle, wherein there is little tone.

Any ideas? Any of you experience the same thing with the flatwounds?

Jazzalicious

[NewHeritageowner]

What are on yours now? I just bought and received a Golden Eagle that was special ordered with a humbucker in the neck position. The original owner added a professionally installed bridge PUP. It now has flatwounds and sounds great. The bass notes sound a lot like an upright bass which is real nice. Plugged in it has a rich warm sound. I was going to put on a new set of round wound 11's, daddarios, and see which I prefer. I am after a T Bone Walker jump blues tone not a standard jazz Johnny Smith tone and this model semed to have it all thanks to my predecesor. I will post again after the string change if you want.

[tsgv575]

I can't say about the Golden Eagle, but on my 575 Custom I really like D'Addarrio half-rounds best. They are somewhat brighter sounding than flats with none of those dull tones that you hear sometimes. The guitar came with rounds which I used for awhile but didn't care for- too bright- and experimented until I discovered the half-rounds.  BTW, my teacher studied with Johnny Smith for awhile and says the master used flats on A thru hi E with a round wound low E.

[Dick Seacup]

I'm a flatwound fanatic, so you don't want my biased input.

[VJonathan]

Jazzalicious, you have brought up an interesting topic.  I have played my archtops and have found both roundwounds and flatwounds suitable. It depends on the guitar and the acoustic properties of the wood.  For example, my Eagle Classic sounds wonderful with #13 DR flatwounds. It has one non floating Humbucker pickup.  Conversely, my non cutaway Heritage Sweet 16 is full of tone with the roundwounds, and it has no pickup.  Also, most D'Angelicos, D'Aquistos and Montelone archtops are the same way.  I have found that most archtops (without pickups) sound better with roundwounds strings.  If you're looking for a warm sound the flatwounds are the best choice. Especially with an archtop guitar that is fitted with a pickup.   

[Andy R]

In my mind, it depends on how you use the guitar. For a traditional Jazz electric sound (like Kenny Burrel, Kessel etc), you need flats. I do a lot of Freddie Green stuff as well, and for a fully acoustic arch top, you need round wound acoustic strings- the heavier the better! But on my Golden Eagle, I use La Bella tape wound strings with an old DeArmond floater. Works really well!

[NewHeritageowner]

I want to do some T Bone Walker bends on my Super Eagle anyone suggest a decent string and guage that you can still do a bend, get the tone, and avoid  the onset of carpal t.s. thanks

[VJonathan]

Try DR Strings.  Test drive the "True Blues" #11s .  They work well on my H535 and H550.  They're a little heavier than 10s but they sure sound good!

[Gitfiddler]

The Flats vs Rounds on an archtop debate rages in some circles.  One Heritage dealer I know, is a roundwound zealot for all archtops.  He frowns when customers insist on using flats.  He claims they deaden the acoustic properties and tone.  When I inquired about the 'best' flatwounds for my Golden Eagle, he huffed and said to try Tomastik Intfelds...but that some people either love'em or hate'em.

 

I keep a flats on my archtops.  That's the sound I want for the way I play.  To each his/her own. 

[Dick Seacup]

I think your certain dealer is probably right, to an extent.  The flatwounds take some of the mid-highs off, I think, and make the highs less edgy.  Overall I think they're more "round" sounding than roundwounds (yeah, I know that almost makes sense).  I like 'em, but hey, different strokes.

[Windstring]

Hello Folks, String selection - as others have aptly pointed out - is truly an individual preference thing. However, I must say that I align myself with the "flatwound crowd" (some might say the "flat earth crowd" :-[). They seem better suited (IMO) to acoustic archtop guitars, that have a natural tendency to a mellow, slightly compressed and midrangey sound. It is also very instructive to differentiate between the sound of the guitar to the player and to the person listening at a distance - many archtops project their sound very "directionally" - and a player can gain a quite deceptive impression of the guitar's sound to others, specifically an audience. Try recording yourself playing your guitar with different strings on it, and you may get a sense of what I'm saying. Of course, if the guitar is mainly for your personal enjoyment, you need to make it sound good to your ears only. But if you are a performer, you should take the projected sound into account. Finally, other benefits of flatwounds are that they tend to cause less fret wear, not to make that unpleasant "grating/whistling sound" when you slide up and down them, and often are stainless steel (thereby improving their resistance to corrosion). Cheers.