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After playing archtops primarily for quite a few years, I picked up a Reverend Pete Anderson Eastsider T guitar last summer. It has the usual traditional looking single coil pickups with non adjustable pole pieces. I am interested in hearing what strings people are using for this style of guitar. Do you look for a string set that is well balanced sonically or do just adjust EQ at the amp.
Pete Anderson Eastsider T Guitar - Reverend Guitars | We know what players want.
Right now I have the LaBella Jazz Flats 20-PL 11 - 50 set on the guitar. Strings 6, 5 and 4 seem to have greater output than the lighter strings in the set. This set actually feels stiffer than the TI JS112 Swing set that I use on most of my archtops.
When I first got the guitar I put on a set of DR Pure Blues 11 - 50 round wound round core strings that DR had given to me at a guitar show. I recall the wound strings having a warm tone.
Just ordered a set of TI JS111 Swing flatwound strings to try on that guitar. Not sure if they will balance well. I recall having to lower the 2nd string pole and raise the 3rd string pole on some of my guitars with humbucking pickups.
Just to a break from playing for two days after feeling discomfort in fretting hand thumb MP joint. Not sure is string stiffness is a factor. I don't respond well if I get too much sugar / carbs and inflammation becomes uncomfortable.
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12-21-2023 04:54 PM
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To me a Telecaster is all about that bite and twangy feel. They also can be quite stiff by nature.. Some say they are the electric guitars that "fight" with you the most.
Not sure about that because it all depends of the setup and neck angle. But the string thru body design and very steep string angle at the saddles must have an impact on the stiffness.
For all these reasons I prefer round wound pure nickel strings for the added warmth, and 10-46 gauge for playability and the twangy looseness that I love in Fender guitars.
I w once tried 11-49 flatwounds on a Telecaster and felt that it just destroyed a lot what makes a Tely what it is (even though that's what they used back in the day).
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The noted Jazz Tele player Ed Bickert (r.i.p.) had a very traditional sound, yet apparently played fairly light gauge round wound strings, 10-46. Earlier in his career, he may have used 10-52, apparently still with an unwound G string. If you You Tube him, you'll see it's still 'jazz' all the way.
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I have read that Ed used Ernie Ball Slinkies. I have never, ever tried them in all the years that I've been playing guitar.
I have been liking the SIT 11–50 set, I think the number is S1150. I tried the next gauge down and liked those too, except I'm a little too heavy-handed for strings that light. Pretty much sounded the same. They settle in very quickly to be tuning-stable and the sound is remarkably consistent over their lifespan. You can get 'em with both plain and wound G strings, so you can try both to see what you like.
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D'addario 9s
You'll never pull off those pedal steel licks with 11s.
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I use 9-40s on my Teles.
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Another thought is a top loading bridge vs strings through body. My Tele bridge allows for both, so .11-.50 gage strings have less tension.
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On my tele I never enjoyed the feel and faster decay(of the note) of flat-wounds.
DR Pure Blues 11 - 50 or the TI Jazz Bebop (rounds) would be my choice. After the initial week of fresh string tones they settle into a lovely warm tone and last a long time. One tip when using pure nickel is that you might want to raise the pickups a little. Not much, just a half turn of each screw.
Also, if you notice the action getting high when you install the TI flats, dont adjust the saddle height, just correct it with the truss rod, again, not much, just a quarter turn
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I love TI flatwounds on my Sadowsky JH, 1944 L7, and Heritage 575. So I put them on my 1979 Tokai tele clone--and I just couldn't get them to work for me there. I don't know why. I wanted to like them. I was sure I would like them. But it just wasn't meant to be.
So I use D'Addarios XL Nickel 11-49 on that tele clone these days. I like them fine.
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D’Addario 11-49 Medium either XS Nickel Coated or NYXL
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11’s for me; either pure nickel or nickel wound. Have not tried round wounds on my Tele but I could see where they might take away from the sound that makes a Tele a Tele.
I see the Pete Anderson Reverend Tele has a chambered body. Curious as to how much it weighs.
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Pure nickel 11's for me. Allows nice warm jazz sounds, and will still be twangy on the bridge pickup. Also, can still do some bending. (I don't do extreme blends.)
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What is the scale length of the archtops you’re used to playing compared to that of your new Tele? I exclusively play 24.75 scale guitars and at the weekend I got up to play a few songs and a friends party, but the guitar at hand was a conventional 25.5 scale Strat.
It felt awful… strings were too stiff, the frets felt too far apart. Never again!
But I wonder if your discomfort issues could be due to adjusting to the new scale length? I know it’s something I definitely feel. To start off, maybe go a gauge below what you’d normally use and work from there?
Regarding string balance, it’s a tough one with Teles. I angle the pickups, lower on the bass strings and higher on the treble strings until I find a compromise I can live with.
I certainly find Thomastik the most “supple” of all the string brands I’ve used and they are generally my go to string. I’ve really liked D’Addario half wounds recently, a nice balance between warmth and still having a bit of snap.
Tim Lerch is a big Tele/jazz guy, sure I saw a vid a few years ago with how he sets his guitars up.
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I don't have a scale here that would accurate enough to measure the weight of mine. There's several in stock at Sweetwater with weight shown between 7 lbs 6 oz and 7 lbs 10 oz. The folks at Reverend say Korina used for the body is relatively consistent from a weight point of view. I find mine balances well. The chambers are at the upper part of the body and I suspect that prevents or minimizes any tendency for neck dive.
Originally Posted by alltunes
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I'm a throwback to Chromes on my Tele. I use it for both blues and jazz gigs, so I compromised with a set of 12-52s. But E1 and B are 11 and 13. In the 2 or so years that I've had this one, I've tried everything from DR and Stringjoy RWs to TIs (JS111 and JS112). I get the best compromise of sound and feel on this guitar (for me - YMMV) from Chromes. They give me a fat, full jazz sound but will still twang it up with the right touch, pickup selection, and EQ. My Tele does have SS frets, which may be a reason there's a hint of twang with most other strings unless the guitar's tone pot is rolled all the way off. And it has Lace Alumibuckers, which have an almost "hifi" output that sends more highs to the amp than the humbuckers on my other guitars.
All 3 of my archtops carry TI JS113s with plain steel 13 & 17 E1 & B. I only play 7s, and the 7th string is a 75 Chrome on all of my guitars - I have tuners with larger posts and holes at the 7th position on them.
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Most of the archtops I actually play have a nominal 25" scale length. Strangely enough the strings feel more flexible on my Eastman Frank Vignola model archtop with the longer 25 1/2" scale length. Originally Posted by BradGuitar
What is the scale length of the archtops you’re used to playing compared to that of your new Tele? I exclusively play 24.75 scale guitars and at the weekend I got up to play a few songs and a friends party, but the guitar at hand was a conventional 25.5 scale Strat.
It felt awful… strings were too stiff, the frets felt too far apart. Never again!
But I wonder if your discomfort issues could be due to adjusting to the new scale length? I know it’s something I definitely feel. To start off, maybe go a gauge below what you’d normally use and work from there?
Regarding string balance, it’s a tough one with Teles. I angle the pickups, lower on the bass strings and higher on the treble strings until I find a compromise I can live with.
I certainly find Thomastik the most “supple” of all the string brands I’ve used and they are generally my go to string. I’ve really liked D’Addario half wounds recently, a nice balance between warmth and still having a bit of snap.
Tim Lerch is a big Tele/jazz guy, sure I saw a vid a few years ago with how he sets his guitars up.
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Quite a few years ago I recall using an SIT 12 -50 flat wound set that I really liked. Unfortunately they discontinued that particular set. I will have to keep SIT in mind. Originally Posted by Cunamara
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Interesting… disregard everything I said then haha Originally Posted by DanielleOM
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I use D’addario 10s with a wound G. I find that the wound G cuts back on the (for me) excessive twang of the G. I replaced the single coils with buckers. I wish the neck was Gibson scale, but I don’t want to spend any more. It finally occurred to me that I was trying to convert it into a Gibson.
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The Frank Vignola 25.5 scale may feel slinkier because of different reasons.. Neck angle, set up, string thru body vs tailpiece...
And high end Eastman's are so well made that it might be just a better guitare than your Telecaster ?
I always found high end guitars, for the most, just play better whatever the specs.
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I found this Ibanez rarity
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