Caevan O’Shite Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 I just put a set of Thomastik-Infeld JS113 'Swing' flat-wounds, gauged .013" - .053" with a wound .021" 3rd/"G", on my hollow-body arched-top Ibanez AG95. Round-core flat-wounds, with brass-plated plain 1st/"E" and 2nd/"B" strings... Man, these are some fine strings, and exactly the perfect match for this guitar- unless I might try an even heavier-gauge set of the same brand and type, like .014" - .056" or so... They are so smooth in tone AND feel, warm and round and full; and without even touching the saddle-screws yet, the intonation is almost perfect- having just switched from a set of .012" - .050" Thomastik-Infeld BB112 'BeBop' "Jazz Wound" round-core/round-wound strings with a plain 3rd/"G". I did slighty tighten the truss-rod after I'd loosened the old set of lighter-gauge round-wounds. I wanted a guitar and strings that are different from my Les Paul and DR Pure Blues .011" - .050" strings; this guitar and these strings seem to live up to that desire very well... I haven't even plugged this guitar into an amp with these new strings yet, just my tuner so far! I'll post back again in a little while... or maybe a long while... Quote Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 Great choice Caevan...I would also give the JS 112's a try in 12-50. The nickel windings cause less fret wear than the cheaper stainless flats on the market. Only downside is the price. But if you have a guitar where you won't be changing strings more than once a year, they are worth the money. The 112's have a 20 gauge wound 3rd. I like to bend 3rd strings a little and like a lighter gauge. Keep us posted after you plug-in (if you can stop playing long enough)! ps. I no longer use flats, but when I did, I loved the Thomastik-Infeld. Very nice and smooth quality strings! Quote Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted October 19, 2019 Author Share Posted October 19, 2019 Great choice Caevan...I would also give the JS 112's a try in 12-50. The nickel windings cause less fret wear than the cheaper stainless flats on the market. Only downside is the price. But if you have a guitar where you won't be changing strings more than once a year, they are worth the money. The 112's have a 20 gauge wound 3rd. I like to bend 3rd strings a little and like a lighter gauge. Keep us posted after you plug-in (if you can stop playing long enough)! On this particular guitar, a completely hollow-body Ibanez AG95 (looks like the photo below, only mine has even better looking grain and figure), I really like the 13's, and might even go even heavier, to something like .014" through .056" or so. For the styles I will mostly be playing on this guitar, I can do what bending I want and need to with these 13's; whole-step bends are do-able, maybe sometimes up a minor or maybe even up a Major 3rd. I'll also even grab and pull on a string behind the bridge for quick little bends. If I want to do a lot of REALLY BIG bends, my Les Paul with the DR Pure Blues 11's (.011" - .050") is my go-to Rock and Blues machine. Man, those round-wound 11's feel like 9's after these flat-wound 13's! (And I don't tune-down with either guitar, I tune 'em both to Standard Pitch, A=440hz.) I agree, I also think that they're worth the price, especially as they seem like they'll last a long time between needing changes. A nice bonus- these flat-wound strings are also really cool for slide! They get a great retro, vintage lap-steel tone and purring, smoothly gliding feel under the slide. I think that it's no accident that my three very favorite electric guitar strings (and my favorite flat-top acoustic guitar strings) all use round core-wire under their wrap-wire on their wound-strings, instead of the much more common hexagonal core-wire. That is, the DR Pure Blues, Thomastik-Infeld BeBop (round-wound), Thomastik-Infeld Swing (flat-wound), and DR Sunbeam (phosphor-bronze acoustic) strings. With the exception of the Sunbeam acoustic strings, they also all use pure/solid-nickel for the winding-wrap on the wound-strings. The Thomastik-Infeld BeBop and Swing strings have brass-plated plain-trebles, as well. Very smooth feel and warm, smooth, round tone. Rrrrreeeaally niiiiiiiiice... On my Les Paul, I'm even going to switch to mixed/hybrid sets of Thomastik-Infeld brass-plated 1st/E, 2nd/B, and 3rd/G strings with DR Pure Blues 4th/D, 5th/A, and 6th/E strings; .011", .014", .018", and .028", .038", .050", respectively. http://resources.ibanez.com/resourceservicehost/images/Ibanez/web/hollow/products/AG95DBS.gif Quote Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 I have to order singles from JustStrings.com to get the set the way I want them (i.e. 10-50 Rollerwound GHS). The plain Elixir strings are plated for anti-rust and are only a 1.15 apiece while the Thomastick are 2.30 each. The GHS are plated on the 1st and 2nd strings which would only add 2.30 per set to have the 10 and 13 that I want. Next time I order singles I'll upgrade on these two as the GHS plain singles are not plated. They do last a long time though. I have acid hands and want the plain strings to be coated/plated. The nickel rollerwounds hold up very well...I like a 10, 13, 18 for bending even though I only do half bends. The heavier strings and tension on the flats put a little more work than I need on me at my old age... ps. nice Ibby! Quote Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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