The Steel Guitar Forum

I recently got a new steel that came with flatwounds. Anyone using them? Obviously, they would have less string noise but how's the tone and sustain?

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Dan Sawyer
Carvin D8, Rickenbacher B6, Fender Deluxe 8® (stringmaster), Fender Deluxe 8 (trap), Gibson EH-150, Wayne Lap Steel, Fender "White" 6-string w legs, Carvin steel w HiseTri-plex.

On my Ricks I use GHS semi-flats and I am very happy with the sound and feel. You have to assemble the sets yourself from singles. Here is a link.
http://www.juststrings.com/purenickelghsguitarsinglestrings.html

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

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 21 November 2004 at 05:54 AM.]</p></FONT>

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

In my opinion ...

Aside from the obvious noise reduction ... they produce a certain ... hard to describe ... haunting tone.

Thomastik-Infeld nickel flatwounds are the best ... but I also like D'Addario "Electric Chromes" and GHS "Percision Flatwounds".

A variety can be found under "Single Strings" ... using the link that Gerald provided.



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<font size=1> Aiello's House of Gauss</font>

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My wife and I don't think alike. She donates money to the homeless and I donate money to the topless! ... R. Dangerfield</font>

Personal preference, of course, but I don't like the flatwound strings. I don't like the tone.

-Travis

Flatwounds can't be beat for surf-sound 6-string or hawaiian lapsteel IMHO. YMMV but I really like them the best

I use semi-flat on one lap, round style on the others. Both sound good, but different. You do lose a little top-end with the semiflats, but they have a pleasing sound all their own.

It may depend on the steel too. My Rick Academny definitely sounds better with semi-flats. Don't know why.