Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

[tweed_slut]

Hey everyone, I just picked up an Epiphone G400 LP custom, the one with three humbuckers. I'm a big fan of flat wounds, and I went ahead and strung it up with some.

It sounds soooooooo dead. Meh.

Any ideas on how to brighten it up some? Would 1meg pots solve this?

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

Yeah, become a fan of round wounds.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

Flat wounds sound dull. You can try to bleed less treble to ground or buy brighter pickups but they aren't going to sound the same as round wounds.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

drop in a set of 59's and see how you feel.

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

What set of flats are you using? You can try brighter sets of flatwounds to compensate for the darker tone of the guitar but still keep a flat feel.

 

[trevorus]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

Get ground wounds

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

Yes, rewiring the guitar is the best way to solve pesky string problems.

 

[PizzaMaker]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

Yes, rewiring the guitar is the best way to solve pesky string problems.

LOL

Flat wounds do kill tone. They're great for mellow jazz on an archtop, but that's about their limit. You might enjoy not having calloused fingers playing them but the tone sacrifice is horrendous. I'd just go back to round wounds and take it as a lesson learned.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

I would go with chrome roundwounds to say the least. There used to be someone who offered something called "pressure wound" that was supposed to be a hybrid of flat and round wound. If not chrome, then pure nickel. For something more modern, I love the new Ernie Ball Cobalts.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

Yeah, become a fan of round wounds.

Yes, the solution does seem obvious.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

What year was the guitar made? The older Epiphone pickups can be very muddy.

Also, will you please record and post how the guitar sounds with flats, and again with rounds, at the same knob settings on the guitar and amp?

 

[koshikas]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

It's not much but u get some highend with stainless steel flat wounds

 

[cyberprimate]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

I also love flatwound strings, and I don't play jazz only. Thomastik Infeld flats sound brighter than others.

The Lollar Imperial low wind pickup is brighter than most humbuckers.

 

[El Supremo]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

Like said, flat wounds do sound dull. Move on to something with a bit more high end.
Try something like a pure nickel string set. I just tried a set of Rock 'n Roll Slinkys myself and they feel/sound great.

 

[ddawson2012]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

Don from D'Addario here - we also make a Half Round line of strings - feel like flats but have more sustain than a traditional flatwound string.

Don Dawson
Product marketing specialist
D'Addario / Planet Waves

 

[PizzaMaker]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

What year was the guitar made? The older Epiphone pickups can be very muddy.

I found a solution to that - disconnect the slug coil completely and run the screw coil as a single... Much nicer. I'm sure the earlier epis only put humbuckers in to make them look like the Gibsons - they were pretty ordinary, especially the 57's...

 

[gmcase9]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

Lower your pickups farther away from the strings! Makes a big difference.

 

[koshikas]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

Lower your pickups farther away from the strings! Makes a big difference.

Mmm I'm not sure about whether that will get u more high end

 

[Davanator360]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

Hey everyone, I just picked up an Epiphone G400 LP custom, the one with three humbuckers. I'm a big fan of flat wounds, and I went ahead and strung it up with some.

It sounds soooooooo dead. Meh.

Any ideas on how to brighten it up some? Would 1meg pots solve this?

Sorry man, that's just how flatwounds are. If you wanna get some more low end out of your strings, try some higher gauge roundwounds so you don't lose so much of your brightness.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Help with flat wounds on an SG - too dull!!

Take off the flats!!
Brighter pickups, higher value pots and all that won't brighten up something that starts at the strings.


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