The Steel Guitar Forum

Does anyone use flat wound strings on their lap steel? I purchase a used Rick last year and it came with these strings and I couldn't figure out why it was so easy to play. How do you buy these strings?

I just bought a set to try out. I had noticed that the regular round strings were chewing up my black rajah bar, and that my other bars tended to wear the windings flat on one side...so the obvious conclusion was to try flat wounds. You can get them at most regular guitar stores (I got mine at Starving Musician in berkeley).

I remember talking to a steel player after a show and he said that flat-wounds had much less sustain than round-wounds. So, I've never tried them.

I believe there was a discussion about this recently. SIT makes semi-flat strings that are pretty quiet and sound good.

I have flats on every Hawaiian/Spanish guitar I own and love the tone/sound and am wary of trying semi flats/ground wounds, even tho most players I know use them and sound great.
Only a couple of stores on Oahu carry them now days.

Can't imagine using wounds on steel.

Good luck, Kris!<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Ron Whitfield on 05 October 2006 at 05:05 PM.]</p></FONT>

I've used flat wound strings before, but I don't care for them. They certainly do cut down on the amount of extraneous string noise, but the tradeoff is a "duller" tone than you'd get from regular strings.

------------------
Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

Never played them on a lap, but I love flats on a starchtop for jazz, and you can get some weird effects on solid bodies.

The best place I've found for buying strings is juststrings.com. Widest selection and lowest prices.

------------------
"And if we obey God, we must disobey ourselves." --Father Mapple

Thanks all for your help. I guess you can buy flat wound strings in the same gauges for C6 tuning.

For Hawaiian music flat wound is the only way to go. IMHO

Flat wounds may give you a more subdued sound than the wound strings, but you need it for smoothness and eliminating "gritty" string sound.

Sustain is dependent on the steel as well as the strings. On my D-8 Excel, there is plenty of sustain with the flat wound strings.

Aloha,
Don

I use flatwounds on all my steels .. acoustic or electric.

Always have ...

I like D'Addario Electric Chromes ...

They are available in just about any gauge ... as single strings ... at www.juststrings.com



------------------

<font size=1>Dustpans LTD.
The Casteels
HSGA </font>

I used SIT flat wounds for about five years until this past spring when I tried D'Addario Electric Chromes at Rick Aiello's Steel Guitar Summit.

The D'Addario's are all I use now. You have to assemble the sets individually at JustStrings.com and each set costs about $7 but what-the-hell, steel guitar strings last forever and the $2 or more a set really doesn't matter over time.

------------------
Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'



CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

I went to juststrings.com and I don't can't find any individual D'Addario Electric Chromes. Looks like they are already assembled as sets for $7.95

Nevermind, I found them.

I stand corrected. To assemble this set (C6 Electric) of D'Addario Chromes will be about $12. Still worth it in my book.

.16 (plain, any generic plain metal string)
.18 (plain, any generic plain metal string)
.24 Chromes
.26 Chromes
.30 Chromes
.35 Chromes

------------------
Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'



CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 06 October 2006 at 07:38 AM.]</p></FONT>

These are interesting and a bit cheaper, and you are supporting a Michigan based company.
http://www.juststrings.com/precisionflatwoundghsguitarsinglestrings.html
http://www.juststrings.com/briteflatsghsguitarsinglestrings.html

------------------
Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'



CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

They tend to backorder them on me ... cause I buy 5 of each gauge at a time (I gotta lotta steels) ... no biggie

But I'm a six string player ... and use plains up thru the 4th ... so cost isn't an issue ...

Since I use ... what I call the "Half Montee" ... ... buying "sets" isn't even considered ...

Short Scale

0.017 E
0.018 C
0.020 A
0.022 G
0.032 E (Chromes)
0.038 C# (Chromes)

Long Scale (25.5")

0.016 E
0.017 C
0.018 A
0.020 G
0.030 E (Chromes)
0.036 C# (Chromes)

I change them Chromes ... once a year .... whether they need it or not.

------------------

<font size=1>Dustpans LTD.
The Casteels
HSGA </font>



<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Rick Aiello on 06 October 2006 at 07:59 AM.]</p></FONT>

On my electric steels (or should I say steel?), I use SIT Power Flats: http://www.juststrings.com/powerflatsitguitarsinglestrings.html

On my electric guitars, I most often use D'Addario Chromes and have for about 10 years.

------------------
www.mikeneer.com

Mike Neer on MySpace

Opps, I jumped the gun and ordered D'Aquisto Stainless Steel Flats from juststrings.com. Now I'll have to go back and put a set of D'Addario Chromes together. Is there a material difference between Stainless Steel and Chrome strings? Huh?

I find this thread most interesting
Whilst I was in Ireland It was like living in a wilderness that had only a handful of music shops, strings were at a premium and mail order from the 'States' was not really a runner, so we had to make do with whatever WAS available locally.
I say locally jokingly because most of the music shops that stocked gauged strings like Ernie Ball nickel round-wound, were 50 or so miles away at the very least.

I've never wanted to change from the 'Normal' and consider the "Extraneous Noise" issue to be down to bad technique.
My heroes in the Hawaiian steel guitar world never had the 'luxury' of semi or flat-wound strings, and yet still sound good to me. Jules, Barney, Billy and those of the late Hawaii Calls era definitely HAD the opportunity to use tape-wound strings but didn't.

Earlier players like Sol, Andy Eddie Bush et al. only had the round-wound, and not even varied gauges, just mainly plec. Gt. sets or sets of given tunings for electric steel.

What did Jerry Byrd use ?
What does Buddy Emmons use ?
I think that their choice (were I beginning again) would be my yardstick.

But pay no attention to me I'm only a Grumpy old fart who'd argue just for the fun of it !


------------------

<SMALL>What did Jerry Byrd use ?</SMALL>

Flatwounds ... he's the one who initially recommended them to me.

He described their tone as "haunting" ...

<SMALL>Earlier players like Sol, Andy Eddie Bush et al. only had the round-wound, and not even varied gauges, just mainly plec. Gt. sets or sets of given tunings for electric steel.</SMALL>

I've read that Andy Iona used piano wire for all his strings ... plain (unwound) piano wire.

<SMALL>I've never wanted to change from the 'Normal' and consider the "Extraneous Noise" issue to be down to bad technique.</SMALL>

Well, if you enjoy little to no vibrato ... or use a rolling style vibrato ... then there isn't much problem with rounds.

But some of us like the old style vibrato ...

Hal Smith and I talked alot about that very topic at Joliet '04 ... and he said that the bakelite bars are his favorite for that very reason.

I noticed Dirk Vogel also used a plastic bar ... because of his liberal use of vibrato (I loved it).

Many players opted for bakelite/plastic bars to deal with "string scraping" ... ie the Black Rajah ...

I personal use a bar that "pre-dates" those ... new-fangled bullet ones ... and choose flatwounds to help cut down on scraping ... which occurs when I apply my wide vibrato.

<SMALL>argue just for the fun of it</SMALL>

I hate to argue ... find no amusement in it what so ever.

Strings, bars, etc are tools ... just tools.

I hear that some folks even use tools ... like pedals ... to change tunings during a song.

I hear some folks use "reverb" ...

I hear some people use 8 strings ... even up to 12 sometimes.

For me ... 6 strings, no pedals, no reverb and a flat bar is "just right" ...

But if tools like extra strings, bullet bars, reverb, etc ... works for someone ...

Who am I to judge ... or belittle.

------------------

<font size=1>Dustpans LTD.
The Casteels
HSGA </font>

<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Rick Aiello on 07 October 2006 at 05:23 AM.]</p></FONT>

I have semi-flat SIT's on my lap steel. Like them a lot.

.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Jesse Pearson on 07 October 2006 at 09:02 AM.]</p></FONT>

I'm with Charlie,I'm using SIT semi-flats. Bobby Ingano put me onto them a couple of years ago, although he uses GHS brand which are available in Honolulu.

Does anyone know the difference bwtween stainless steel flat wound and Electric chromes? Chrome, as in chrome plated strings?