Converting to Half/Flatwounds on electric because my technique is shoddy and I am lazy

stylesforfree

I have a relatively crap technique and I have sat for hours on end trying to work on it to eliminate finger noise/squeak when sliding from one barre chord to the next but when recording either acoustically or through my amps I can't eliminate the finger squeak noise.
Sometimes it happens by accident where there will be no noise as I slide up and I go back to the chord progression I played and try angling my fingers in different ways thinking I got it but alas..the squeaky noise continues.

I like sliding from one chord to the next a lot, it's part of my style (very lazy and sloppy) I have had D'addario half rounds on my archtop for a while now but they're not particularly bright, still very mellow compared to standard round wound.

Last night I put elixir polyweb 10's on my tele, I haven't recorded anything with it yet but they seem to be a lot quieter thanks to the coating.

I am currently looking at GHS brite flats and Thomastik flat wounds, I did have a pair of the GHS a long time ago on another archtop I sold but can't remember how bright they were, I have watched a couple of videos comparing them to standard roundwounds and they seem to do the job well.

Thomastik and GHS strings are expensive as are the D'addario Half rounds, from £15 for the GHS and D'Addario and £23 fro the thomastik.

Anyone got any insight on some decent strings that greatly reduce finger noise but still have brightness/pop to them?

And does anyone use flat or half round strings exclusively?

pluckbuddy

I tried them and for a while was in love. I've gone back to normal roundwound. I tried Daddarios and then Thomastik.

Great feel and quality and I liked the sound for a while, but in the end I missed the clarity and snap in the lower registers. 

Mr_Claw

I used to use Thomastik flats for the EAD and then plain strings for the GBe.

Sounded ace with fuzz, but waaaay too expensive a way of doing things.

Also, here in NZ Thomastiks are hard to come by and even more expensive than in the UK. So no more of that. 

Tannin

Galli Jazz Flat. The complete lack of left-hand fingering noise is downright spooky.

Get them from Lord of the Strings (good prices, good service, huge range - all things considered my favourite string retailer). Being 80/20 brass rather than nickel or phosphor bronze they have a natural brightness to them which helps offset the loss of brightness you always get with flats and semi-flats. Lovely feel and a nice, rounded tone. Not a great strumming string, but flats never are. https://lordofthestrings.com/en/guitar/acoustic/6-string/galli-ajf1252-bronze-80-20-flat-wound-medium-light.html

ALR

Tannin said:

Galli Jazz Flat. The complete lack of left-hand fingering noise is downright spooky.

Get them from Lord of the Strings (good prices, good service, huge range - all things considered my favourite string retailer). Being 80/20 brass rather than nickel or phosphor bronze they have a natural brightness to them which helps offset the loss of brightness you always get with flats and semi-flats. Lovely feel and a nice, rounded tone. Not a great strumming string, but flats never are. https://lordofthestrings.com/en/guitar/acoustic/6-string/galli-ajf1252-bronze-80-20-flat-wound-medium-light.html

I fitted these to my arch top a year ago on your recommendation and I’m still using them. Very pleased.

stylesforfree

Tannin said:

Galli Jazz Flat. The complete lack of left-hand fingering noise is downright spooky.

Get them from Lord of the Strings (good prices, good service, huge range - all things considered my favourite string retailer). Being 80/20 brass rather than nickel or phosphor bronze they have a natural brightness to them which helps offset the loss of brightness you always get with flats and semi-flats. Lovely feel and a nice, rounded tone. Not a great strumming string, but flats never are. https://lordofthestrings.com/en/guitar/acoustic/6-string/galli-ajf1252-bronze-80-20-flat-wound-medium-light.html

Oh cool, thanks for the heads up, I'll look into them now. Are they suitable for electric too?

Edit: I see they're for acoustic only but maybe they'll be great for my Taylor?

stickyfiddle

Bear in mind that flats sound quite different. You're better off getting used to the elixirs imo 

GuyBoden

Flat wound sound dull.

Litterick

Pyramid Gold flatwounds are nice, and cheaper than Thomastik equivalents.

For what it's worth, my squeak problem went away when I stopped trying to make it stop. Someone who knows more than me about these things said it is counter-intuitive: most players apply more pressure to stop the squeak, but they should let go a little.

stylesforfree

Litterick said:

Pyramid Gold flatwounds are nice, and cheaper than Thomastik equivalents.

For what it's worth, my squeak problem went away when I stopped trying to make it stop. Someone who knows more than me about these things said it is counter-intuitive: most players apply more pressure to stop the squeak, but they should let go a little.

They're the same price on strings direct, do you have a link to another store that sells them cheaper? Or do you mean the Fusion Flats? They're all sold out

GuyBoden said:

Flat wound sound dull.

Nah, GHS and Thomastik are far from dull.

stickyfiddle said:

Bear in mind that flats sound quite different. You're better off getting used to the elixirs imo 

Yup, used Thomastik flats, D'Addario chromes and GHS brite flats in the past and currently got half wounds on one of my guitars.
Elixirs are great though, super smooth feeling, but I prefer flat wound after playing a friends guitar recently which has Thomastik flats.