Half round strings?

ThePrettyDamned

Going to be stringing the jazzmaster up soon, and wondering if a set of 11-50s tuned to open e would give me something very different to play with.

How are half wound strings? Do they sound good? D'addario is my choice.

If not good, I'll stick with regular strings. Also, anyone recommend some tips for open e?

ICBM

It depends how they're done - if they're ground-wound, they sound very similar to roundwounds but feel smoother. If they're rolled-wound, they sound more compressed and thick, not as thick as flatwounds but in a similar direction. I really like them for some things - in particular I think Rickenbacker 12-strings need them - the proper Rick ones which are rolled - to get that distinctive compressed sound. (Not the same as a compressor pedal.) Apparently Hendrix liked the old Fender Rock'n'Roll strings, which were also rolled-wound but are sadly not made any more.

Bear in mind that the gauges look a bit odd at first because the wound strings are much smaller gauges than you normally expect for the same 'weight' - especially with rolled-wounds, where thicker strings are literally squashed into a smaller outer diameter. So a set of 10s typically goes 10-38 rather than 10-46, but it doesn't mean the low strings are lighter.

ThePrettyDamned

Cool, cheers. I'm thinking it'll help give it a totally different feel to my other guitars and maybe encourage different playing styles.

I might five them a go. I may even try flatwound strings.

Richardj

I love the feel of half rounds, but haven't had a good experience with them. I fitted a couple of sets of D'Addarios to both of my Parker Nitefys to try to reduce finger noise when using the piezos. Felt great and sounded nice initially but went 'dead' really quickly, seemed to lose their zing in only a week or so. I would be interested in your experiences of them in case I just got a couple of rogue sets.