Tim Lerch - Flatwound vs Roundwound on a Telecaster - A Fair Comparison

Side by Side Comparison, Same Guitar, Same Amp, Same Settings.
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[@professortwang]

Much to my surprise I liked the flat wound strings. The separation between bass and melody was more balanced and pleasing to the ear. I love the arrangement too.

[@rillloudmother]

flats are clearer and say the note more like a rhodes or a flute than a guitar to my ears.

[@antenorgandra7115]

Agree

[@johncrawford2770]

Came for the comparison, stayed for the playing. Absolutely beautiful

[@adolfohuet3974]

I like how the flat wound separate the melody and bass and also produce a sound that simulates a bass better.

[@Dad-Gad]

Came for the comparison , stayed because your playing is beautiful 👍

[@guitarpt62]

Same for me, Dad.

[@david_matheny]

I'm very impressed with the sound of the flat wounds. The subtle less harmonic overtones really clean up the notes to my ear.

[@laranjiinha77]

probably because the guitar is set for round ones?

[@billbones1000]

Tim I gotta say that for your style and this sort of material I really like the flats. Playing American songbook material with traditional voicings and lines the flats really sound right. Rounds + tele playing this material has a more fusion sound which is great if your playing these tunes in a modern fusion kinda way such as Ben Monder, Julian Lage ect.....but that's not what I get from your voicings and arrangements. Since your last vid I've put flats on my lollar loaded tele and rounds on my archtop :)

[@NiechoBGC]

This was practically an advertisement for Flatwound strings. Much more preferred and what I'll be buying next.

[@TelevsionCanyons]

what a beautiful piece you played there.

[@aidantalbot9495]

love them both; maybe the new rounds are brighter overall but your playing is so good that the biggest take away for me was a telecaster as a 'jazzbox' sounds great, such a versatile guitar, as so many have said before; thanks for posting this

[@colinlizc4603]

I preferred the flats, and admire how articulate the other commentators are in describing why they felt the way they do. I use flats on my ‘Go to’ Gretsch Tenny, but can’t bring myself to fit anything but rounds to my Strat and Tele.

[@blipblip100]

Very interesting - Very tasteful - Love the separation with the Flats - Thanks!!!!

[@fivechordmusic]

My favorite pair; tele with a Princeton :) My great uncle had the same rig, but with an original 54 tele and a early 60's Princeton. Sounds like heaven

[@kerryfristoe1329]

Another helpful video! Thanks Tim.

[@guitargod6997]

Great demo addressing a question I have always had regarding flat versus round wound strings. Round works for me but YMMV.

[@craigroode3449]

Great playing Tim,...as a life long round wound player I was surprised how much difference the flats made. I really dug the flats.. gonna try them on my telecaster next string change. Thanks!!!

[@AlexFarranGuitar]

Interesting stuff! I do like the sound of the flats more than I expected. It's funny, when I try them on my guitars they always feel a bit dead and lifeless so I tend to get impatient and take them off within a few days! I feel like they really shine for recording. This makes me want to give them another shake on my telecaster.

[@lonegroover]

Very enlightening - I have flats on my Ibanez semi but have never compared them directly to rounds on the same guitar. As a listener, over these two lovely performances the flats are definitely to be preferred, for me.

[@djsnyder001]

Loved it! I use the flats on my Strat; not only for the "tone", but for less squeak when I move from place to place on the fret board . . .

[@oldasrocks9121]

So glad I came across your channel--I'm building a Chender Nocaster, your approach to tone is inspiring sir. Too much dirt makes the baby go deef!

[@larrydering1598]

As a fingerstyle player I have loved and used flats for 50+ years. Especially on archtops but even on a few Telecasters. For my country playing days I used round wound for the snap and twang. Thanks Tim.

[@gertzpalma]

THANKS, TIM!

[@ManwithAx]

I've been pretty much sold on flatwounds for years and hearing you reinforces that for me. The sound between strings seems more balanced. Listening to you again has pretty much sold me on a telecaster though. Love your playing. Thanks.

[@ckturvey]

Interesting video. The biggest difference i noticed in how you handled the bassline very differently between the two strings. With the rounds, you were more active and employed a lot more walking movement where with the flats, you tended to hold the bass notes longer and delay moving the bass. I felt like you were having to do less with the thumb to keep the balance with the treble strings vs being able to put more into the bassline with the rounds. Both sounded great though the rounds will always get an ASMR response out of me since string squeak has always been part of my guitar playing experience :)

[@russlgtr]

Very cool test. Both are good. Flats are less full, less bright. Still nice. I'm probably sticking with the full eq rounds which you have the option of darkening if you want to. Flats are cool, like a fretless bass

[@thormusique]

Thank you for this comparison! Both types of string sound wonderful. I've used roundwounds almost exclusively but have occasionally opted for flatwounds. The differences between the two in your demonstration are fairly subtle. I'd say the greatest difference (which isn't very great) is that the roundwounds have a more obvious and present attack. I also use D'addario strings, btw. And in my experience, their flatwounds seemed to have a more balanced and pleasant sound and feel. I use a custom string set that's gauged on the light side (0.010-0.038), and even that setup results in a more subdued attack on the bass side for flatwounds than for roundwounds. Cheers!

[@What_If_We_Tried]

Shockingly, I liked the tone of roundwound strings, and I always equated flatwounds with the "Jazz sound". And thank you for dispelling the myth / misinformation that 'flatwounds' were the original guitar strings, as it's an excellent point of information. Thanks Tim.

[@MsDaydream]

I did a bit of checking. It turns out that the G string on the D'Addario chromes set is flatwound as well. So rather than three strings being wound, four are. I restrung my tele from having the D'Addario nickels with the Chromes, and I noticed my high end was completely gone. I thought "so why didn't that happen on Tim' s guitar in the comparison?", bringing me to the realization that the top three strings in the nickel set are somehow different from the chromes. I swapped the top three of the chromes set for the top three of the nickels I just took off and tadah, the guitar came back to life. I don't know what the implications here are, but if any of you are struggling to get a good tone out of a Tele with flats, try swapping the GBE strings for those in a set of nickels. Happy strumming!

[@KristopherCraig]

Thanks for this direct comparison. The fundamentals definitely are more exposed in the flat wounds but the round wounds have great overtones. It’s like pulling out a few more draw bars on a Hammond, if that makes any sense? Both are great!

[@picksalot1]

Beautiful playing. The Flat Wounds made your Tele sound so much like an Archtop that I don't know if I could reliably distinguish between the two. As one would expect, the Round Wounds were brighter, and if listening closely, some minor finger noise associated with shifting could be heard. I preferred the Round Wound strings, as they made the guitar sound fuller, bigger, and maintained the independence of the voices in the music, whereas the Round Wound strings tended to blend them. Thanks

[@rickwashbrook4926]

Great video!!!!!!!!!! Hey nice playing and feel

[@sammyrothrock6981]

Liked the Flats Tim great playing as always!

[@toreilly100]

Thanks for the "licks " Tim!!

[@HMJohnsonGuitar]

Thanks!

[@rickwashbrook4926]

The flat wounds are beautiful and your intonation is brilliant!! That pickup is not a Humbucker on the neck.. A nice phase shift type tremolo I am hearing at my end. I love the way you play it. You sound good on both string types. If I have to make a choice I like the old school Flat Wounds! Beautiful Playing On Yesterdays.

[@AndyMurdzek]

Flatwounds. Clearer, warmer, better separation. The bare thumb warms up the tone of the rounds but not equal to the flats. The difference is even greater with a pick. The playing is fabulous and if I’d heard only the rounds I’d have no criticism of the tone. The comparison was enlightening. Thanks.

[@jazzFABRYk]

Long time I only played Thomastik JS112 or JS111 flat wounds on my archtops and even on my semi-acoustic guitars. When changing to a Tele I tried half rounds for the first time because I don‘t link the feel and sound of roundwounds. For me the 11-49 set by Daddario (EHR370) is a perfect set for my Tele. Like your vid and especially your playing! Thanks Tim!

[@waitaminute7257]

Thanks for the info I'm going to purchase a set of those half wounds and try them on my Les Paul 👍

[@longtalljay]

My favorite wise person in the world of music, or even the world!

[@craigtodd8297]

Those flats sound gorgeous. - I'm off to the guitar shop.

[@KS-pj8rk]

Some excellent comments already. For me the flats have it and for pretty much the same reasons as given by others. One addition point might be that the cleaner separation of the flats allows the chordal and harmonic complexities inherent in jazz to come come through without the added complexities produced by the rounds. To my ear this makes the rounds a tad on the muddy side, less musical. Purely a personal, layperson's opinion. Thank you for posting.

[@M3SIGNS]

What a marvelous guitar player

[@TheMusicalEvents]

Thanks for the great comparison and playing. The first thing that comes to my attention is that you play a bit differently on those string sets. The articulation seems to be clearer with FW and the bass side of the chords blurs a bit with RW. I still prefer the FW, though the difference isn't as big as in the first video.

[@christopherquattromusic]

I miss the harmonics from RW for some genres... but since I do mostly "Jazz" I play my '54 ES125 a lot! it always has flats and it the guitar i pick up first thing everyday and is the bulk of my solo performance.

[@lw8281]

Thank you for the comparison Timothy. I have the same guitar and I perfer the D'Addario Guitar Strings - XL Chromes Electric Guitar Strings - Flat Wound - Polished for Ultra-Smooth Feel and Warm, Mellow Tone - ECG25 - Light, 12-52. I tried and tested round and half round but have settled into the flat chromes. I play with & without a pick. Also, at times I use the Wedgie WRPP31M Rubber Guitar Picks 3.1mm Medium. I have found this rubber pick to sound very close (in tone) to my thumb.

[@lj5899]

Aside from the great education I get here watching your videos... I love to just listen to you play dude! Question, Would you suggest slotted tuning pegs (which my strat does not have but easily added) when using flat wound. I notice everyone seems to use slotted. THANK YOU for great content!

[@davidharris794]

Great video. I've just started to investigate rounds on a few guitars: electric solid body - Tele first, then PRS SE Custom 24. And then a Godin A6 Ultra, using the neck pickup. I'm really enjoying the warmer sound with fewer overtones, and no string whistle

[@davidharris794]

D’oh… I meant to write flats, not rounds. My comment doesn’t make sense otherwise

[@anonamos8129]

Beautiful jazz!

[@jeffreyduncan989]

I like both but am sticking to round wounds with a wound G… I feel like round wound with a tone adjustment can emulate flat wounds but it doesn’t quite work in reverse… it would be interesting to do a mixed pair with only the high B and E with flat wounds

[@user-di9te7rg4t]

i kind of like the brightness of the rounds because i can dial out some highs with the tone knob and reduce high pitched hum

[@ronbalentine2905]

It's a subtle difference but I believe the flats just sound cleaner. Perhaps the rounds work better live but for recording I like the flats. The great Carol Kaye talks about trying to lessen overtones as much as possible for recording and I agree with that. But you goota go with what makes you play better. Great video.

[@richsackett3423]

"great"? please

[@josephballerini3730]

Wow, I wasn't expecting such a pronounced difference. I like the flats too.

[@russellzauner]

Have you tried taped strings? They're basically rounds covered with nylon tape. Since the tape is transparent to magnetism they're bright while being muted feeling and boy they are *slick* like literally slippery.

[@bjamminsincebirth3494]

I like both. I think the Flats define the bass more but the Rounds are very balance to my ears.

[@toneloke7489]

Great video, and that's a super cool guitar !🎸🎶

[@thagard7]

I love flat wounds. I hate string noise. I even have them on (gasp!) my Martin acoustic.

[@DesconectadoOaxaca]

Do you put a heavier gauge on the acoustic?

[@bnf82]

They both have a place, both of them sound great (especially with Tim playing). I feel that flats record better or easier; they’re a bit more compressed but they separate notes beautifully, especially when strumming, although you can still hear it here, handpicked. They can also be very percussive, dry sounding, because of the fewer harmonics. But one important difference is the feel; it feels different, so you play slightly differently. And that’s good (in my opinion) because it’s an option. It’s a change and sometimes those are welcome. In conclusion, they both can sound and work great for almost any type of music or instrument. It’s a matter of choice, taste and context. But I also think that it’s way too easy to change type of strings on an instrument and instantly feel unfamiliar; instruments need some time to adjust, players too and, sometimes, even with same gauge, guitars need adjustments to the setup.

[@francispower1418]

I love my slinky 10s, as I call them. I put them on all my guitars, the tele included. I like the darker tones, I like that they are not too bright, I find them easier to play and more expressive, and whilst they are more expensive to buy they last me about twice as long.

[@JohnHorneGuitar]

Thanks for the history lesson on round and flat wound strings. I was never quite clear on what came first or what the tradition really was. I did put a set of flats on my tele (strings 4-6) but they didn’t stay there long. I just feel more at home on round wound strings. Thanks for the informative videos and wonderful playing!

[@russlgtr]

I'm ready for the coated vs non coated discussion now :)

[@TimLerchGuitar]

Good idea, I’ll look into it.

[@terrywisniewski3349]

I have played Thomastik Infeld GB114 flat wounds for the last 5 years, will never go back to round wounds. I love the feel and sound of ropes on my Epiphone dot. LOL

[@alextw1488]

I think I heard more of a contrast between the the low and high strings with the flats in place, not that your playing needs the melody accentuating at all but makes me wonder if perhaps that effect would help mine. Interesting.

[@chrisjohnstone6164]

On an isolated guitar part like you played .. flat-wounds .. every time, in a band .. round ... I do also love flat wounds for Beatles stuff .. not so Jazzy tho 💛

[@joelshields8807]

I've been really into D'Addario's half-rounds lately. Nice balance between the two.

[@MrSDFD18]

I love flatwounds. For those who want a compromise, the half rounds are a great sound also.

[@RickMcCargar]

I just revisited this video almost a year later. I hear the bass notes bloom more with the roundwound and I think that slight overpowering of the non-wound strings is why I liked them less in this example. Roundwound would tend to move more, that creates more sound. Neither sound bad when played well, like in these examples.

[@user-cg7dg7uv8f]

Beautiful tones and playing. I preferred the flats but I think the pickup needs to come up a tiny bit on the bass side to compensate

[@37BopCity]

Round-wounds definitely have more sustain, in my humble opinion. They sound brighter and cleaner. Flat-wounds have a deeper tone with less sustain. It's up to the individual player which you prefer. I read a Chet Atkins interview once where he said "I hate flat-wound strings!" Meanwhile the classic Luther Perkins sound with Johnny Cash that we all know so well, is the sound of flat-wounds. I like round-wounds on acoustic guitar and flat-wounds on electric bass, and wouldn't change them. However after years of using flat-wounds on my jazz guitars, your video has got me trying round-wounds instead.

[@Wes-Evans]

both sound fantastic in your hands but I did enjoy the flat ones a bit more.

[@glynnsmith4560]

..but the sound of those flats.... they impressed me most. I realise they reduce playing options.

[@Jeb_binch]

Mostly pretty difficult to tell the difference because your ear is most attracted to the top strings, but after paying attention to the middle and bass parts of the voicings… there are things to like about both. Clearly the answer is to buy another telecaster to keep strung with flats!

[@warshipsatin8764]

the flats sound better in every regard in this particular comparison. i really like a warmer sound in general, even in some types of high gain metal im considering trying some flats on my les paul to play some fuzzed out black sabbath and fu manchu kinda stuff

[@RossHelmot]

It's really a personal preference thing but I prefer the rounds particularly on the single string and counterpoint lines. Just a little more life for me...

[@alexanderroesch2287]

Nice Demo and beautiful playing. But if that Tele is a Road-worn model I will eat my Custom Shop Guitar: way too shiny and figured maple neck, and no dings in the body!

[@TimLerchGuitar]

It is a road worn from 2013 I believe I bought it used and was attracted to the fuller figured neck. Great guitar, i paid $800 in 2016

[@luctherrien4799]

Flat for me. Your playing is felt, sounds great!

[@rashidrani2333]

The Flat produces less harmonic distortion and less sustain thus making it sounds precise and clean...i kinda like it although i haven't tried it.

[@lesizmor9079]

For me, because you are picking with flesh fingers, the rounds are a clear winner. Not just clarity of tone, but they have more texture. And sound balanced with the top three. If you were to play with a pick, I'm sure the flats would become interesting.

[@JoelVitu123]

Flat wound seeems to be deepet, what brand of flat wound strings ? It seems to me that daquisto or thomastik have more clarity than the other Do you play with nail or pulp ? You are doing great videos, thank you

[@KenTeel]

Wiggling your left hand, while on a chord, makes it sound like an old analog tape deck with inconsistant speed of the tape travel. The same thing applies to trying to get vibrato by wiggling the body and the neck. It just sounds like a bad analog tape machine. Other than that, it's a nice video, and really does point out the difference in sound between the two types of strings. Thanks for making it.

[@paulbruton5251]

Love your history on the advent of flatwound and roundwound. I have not heard flatwound strings on a telecaster before and it sounds great. I had one additional question that is off topic though. What kind of office chair are you using. I have found difficulty finding a comfortable chair with arms that fold up. Thanks

[@TimLerchGuitar]

I bought it on Amazon and the last time I looked it had been discontinued but I would start there it’s like they have a very good selection on Amazon.

[@egoncorneliscallery9535]

You might as well go for flatwound strings if you want the classic jazz mid scooped sound. There is something about the roundwound mid grindthat you dont get w the more tubby flatwounds. Especially with some heavier attack and use of a plectrum. Flatwounds have very clear fundamentals and most are roundcore. The D'addario chromes are hex. Also, i noticed most americans say : DEE-a-dario. They obviously don't know what the apostrophy in that place means and they don't use it like they do at the end: like in Blake's dog (the dog of Blake). You don't say: Blake-EE-es now do you?

[@tonywalters9436]

Question have you used the Daddario 11-49 half rounds medium gauge EHR370. on your telecaster for playing bright Tone Semi- Flat Wound strings

[@MiezoT]

to my ears there's a bit more separation between bass and melody with the flats. In my experience the difference between flats and. rounds is bigger on semi- or fully hollow archtops. It's great how full and "sustainy" flats can sound on a Tele, but I mean...Teles are the best anyway;-), they can do it all.

[@jano3289]

I like both. I think its more a question what you use it for. The flats are round, warm and focused. Roundwounds are a bit more squeeky bud have more shimmering overtones. I can see why a chord melody type of playing works with flats whereas a clean hendrix kind of sound would need rounds 😊

[@wolfbrammr]

The flats are round

[@JesseJuup]

I need recommendations for flatwound sets! I am used to 10-52 with unwound G sets, but could actually try a bit lighter gauge on the bass side. What should I get?

[@AIainMConnachie]

Does string gauge matter a great deal? Some people, like Rich Severson & Sandra Sherman are very particular on that. Meanwhile I'm about to try flat wound 8s for the first time

[@dankress8228]

To my half deaf ears, the rounds were brighter, but the flats have a smoother, mellower tone

[@mauricioveiranoguitar6141]

Flats for me...beautiful playing.

[@Skipster18]

Both are good and flats may sound more traditional (since the 50s) and round in tone. Still I kinda lean towards the round wound sound. To me it simply sounds more guitar like, which is a positive to me. I think this takes the 'should' out of the equation. Just play what speaks to you.

[@joeltunnah]

Yeah I see people make that claim all the time on the internet... that Telecasters and Strats "would have originally had flatwound strings on them." Or that they would have had really thick strings like 13s... etc. No evidence for either claim, and Fender's early catalogs distinguished between their "Mastersound" flatwound and "pure nickel" blue label roundwounds.

[@stelligan]

Flatting is fun-d-mental. If you have more than one Tele to trip over, might as well keep one strung that way. 😉

[@pablomerighi335]

Both sound nice, but I prefer the flats by now (I play rounds for years) 👍

[@bertbregdenz2756]

flats for my tele (only string trough body option) good ? Kind regards from Berlin 🌻

[@Dovvik]

Both sound great. Apparently, the most important thing is the player of the strings.

[@jltrem]

A very fair comparison, Tim. Reminds me of KZbinrs who want to compare the difference in sound between guitars with maple fretboards and rosewood fretboards who use two different guitars. Darrell Braun is the only person I've seen who actually changed the neck with a maple board and a rosewood board on the same guitar using the same strings.

[@simonsmith2642]

Jimmy Vaughn uses flats for blues, and it sounds good, but its very hard for me to hear it in a live band setting. I know on bass I prefer to use flats, but thats a lot easier for me to hear.

[@docbobster]

Once again, I find myself preferring the flat wounds. I guess I need to give them another try.

[@laranjiinha77]

I do noticed that your sound sounded more in tune with flatwound strings vs round ones. I guess it´s because your guitar is set to flatwound ones? As they have different tension and thickness also.

[@thecentralscrutinizerr]

The flat wound strings have a more upright fretless bass sound to them while the wound strings sound like they have more clarity in the bass registers to my professionally untrained ear.

[@andrewlong7578]

Flats excel at the chord melody approach as there aren't as many harmonics from the lower strings to get in the way of the melody. On the other hand the rounds make the guitar sound more like a single instrument and less like a group playing together which may be more useful in an actual group setting.

[@RickMcCargar]

I'm a complete amateur, so I don't know what it's supposed to sound like... but I like the sound of the flatwounds in this video better than the regular strings.

[@To.Si.Ma.]

What about the bend-a-bility of flats if you wanna play Blues? 9,10 or 12?