Does anyone make a round core pressurewound or ground wound strings?

[jandyman]

I'm afraid I don't use hex core strings anymore. There may be exceptions, but I find them stiff and even more important, prone to inharmonicity, which makes sense given the hex core. Stiffness and inharmonicity go together in my book. Play on the E string (even worse, a B string) up 3 or four frets past the octave, and the note just sounds out of tune with itself.

So I played Sunbeams for a while, but I play a lot of fretless, and I've adopted a style with a lot of position shifts (I don't have hugely long fingers), and I just can't handle the string noise of the position shifts anymore. Not to mention the fingerboard wear on fretless.

So between the string noise and fingerboard abuse of round wounds, I now use Thomastik Jazz Flats. They are impressive in terms of brightness and flexibility for a flat wound. Most of the time I'm pretty happy with them. And they last forever with periodic cleaning in an alcohol bath.

But every now and then, I'd like to get a sound closer to round wounds. The obvious solution seems to be a pressure wound or ground wound string over a round core. But I haven't found anyone who makes one. Do these strings exist and are they any good?

 

[Neon Blues]

Not sure about the core, but Rotosound Bass Solo 55?

I love these.

 

[michael_t]

Not sure about the core, but Rotosound Bass Solo 55?

They're hex core as well.

 

[michael_t]

So between the string noise and fingerboard abuse of round wounds, I now use Thomastik Jazz Flats. They are impressive in terms of brightness and flexibility for a flat wound. Most of the time I'm pretty happy with them. And they last forever with periodic cleaning in an alcohol bath.

But every now and then, I'd like to get a sound closer to round wounds. The obvious solution seems to be a pressure wound or ground wound string over a round core. But I haven't found anyone who makes one. Do these strings exist and are they any good?

How about TI Jazz Rounds? They're not "pressurewound" as such, but very smooth in texture due to the thin outer cover wire, and very flexible.

As for round-core pressurewounds, I don't know of any.

 

[bholder]

I like ghs pressure wounds but I don't know if they're hex or round core paging @JonMoody

 

[michael_t]

I like ghs pressure wounds but I don't know if they're hex or round core paging @JonMoody

They're hex core for sure.

Products - PRESSUREWOUND™ - GHS Strings

Since 1964, GHS Strings has been expertly winding high-quality electric guitar strings in the heart of southwestern Michigan. As a leading manufacturer, we blend tradition with innovation to produce a wide variety of strings for electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitars, classical guitars...

www.ghsstrings.com

 

[jandyman]

How about TI Jazz Rounds? They're not "pressurewound" as such, but very smooth in texture due to the thin outer cover wire, and very flexible.

As for round-core pressurewounds, I don't know of any.

All round core strings are flexible, as I mentioned in the OP. That doesn't affect string noise. I'm not sure what you mean about "thin outer cover wire", can you elaborate?

 

[michael_t]

I'm not sure what you mean about "thin outer cover wire", can you elaborate?

It simply means the round wire used for the outer winding is of a much smaller diameter than the wires used on most roundwound strings. This results in much finer surface texture, which also reduces friction and finger noise. I don't have personal experience with the Jazz Rounds but some users claim they're almost as smooth as flats but still retain the roundwound tone.

By the way, not ALL round core strings are flexible, and not all hex core strings are stiff. There are round-core strings that feel firmer than some hex-core strings even when comparing the same gauges. It depends on the thickness of the core wire, or "core-to-wrap ratio".

 

[red_rhino]

By the way, not ALL round core strings are flexible, and not all hex core strings are stiff.

This. In my experience wth GHS Pressurewounds, I found the light gauge to be the perfect tension for me; not too light, and not too stiff.

 

[jandyman]

It simply means the round wire used for the outer winding is of a much smaller diameter than the wires used on most roundwound strings. This results in much finer surface texture, which also reduces friction and finger noise. I don't have personal experience with the Jazz Rounds but some users claim they're almost as smooth as flats but still retain the roundwound tone.

By the way, not ALL round core strings are flexible, and not all hex core strings are stiff. There are round-core strings that feel firmer than some hex-core strings even when comparing the same gauges. It depends on the thickness of the core wire, or "core-to-wrap ratio".

Yeah, what you say makes sense now, and it say the same thing on their website about string noise. Since that's my concern, I'll order some, they might be exactly what I'm looking for.

And your point about the core ratio is also valid. As a result, I suspect that strings with a thick core are also more prone to inharmonicity. But it strikes me that the hex core effect is nevertheless a big one, since the inner wrap is more or less rigidly bound to the core, which I think is the whole point of the hex core in the first place. It's certainly true that all the round core strings I've tried (admittedly only the Sunbeams and the Jazz Flats) are noticeably more flexible than all the hex core strings I've tried (the list there is much longer). The same comment goes to inharmonicity, though my sample set may not be long enough. I've certainly not noticed a problem with Sunbeams or Jazz Flats, and have noticed it with most standard hex core roundwounds. At first I didn't know what I was hearing but knew something was wrong. It was when I went to the round core and the problem went away that I started thinking about the why.

BTW, I noticed that the ultra long scale JR364 set has thicker E and A strings than the JR344. I've gotten used to the standard jazz flat gauges, but I could see wanting a heavier gauge, and buying the long set and putting them on a standard scale bass would accomplish that goal. Another thing worth trying. Unfortunately this trick would only work for the Jazz Rounds, not the Jazz Flats.

Thank you for your help!

 

[logdrum]

Give the GHS pressurewounds a try. Get the light gauge. If you are really into perfectly tuned harmonic strings, people are raving about Dogal Strings - Jonas Helborg Model. They have a rope core and the videos I've seen show how supple they are. I haven't tried them. there is a Mega thread somewhere.

 

[Bob_Ross]

They have a rope core

mind = blown

 

[TroyK]

Rope core is a thing with doublebass strings. It's a nice feel. I didn't know that anyone made ropecore Bass Guitar strings.

 

[Karl Kaminski]

Dogal Hellborgs rounds and flats are a rope core string. BUT the price is ridiculous

ABG Flats example here

 

[Dr. Turkey]

Wouldn't a rope core not work with magnetic pickups?

 

[HaphAsSard]

Wouldn't a rope core not work with magnetic pickups?

"Rope" is not literal, nautical rope. It's just another word for steel-filament stranded/braided core:

By the way, even if the core weren't steel, the string could still work through magnetic pickups, provided the winding constitutes enough magnetically-active mass per unit of length. I make a couple examples here.

 

[Ritter667]

Rope Core, is that Metal with a BDSM theme?

 

[Dr. Turkey]

"Rope" is not literal, nautical rope. It's just another word for steel-filament stranded/braided core:

By the way, even if the core weren't steel, the string could still work through magnetic pickups, provided the winding constitutes enough magnetically-active mass per unit of length. I make a couple examples here.

I know it's not literal rope lol but this is the first time I've seen it refer to a metal core, previously I'd mostly seen it refer to something like nylon cores

 

[klattman]

The dogals feel great and sound good. Issue I’ve had is they are significantly lower tension at pitch and because of that, even with meticulous setup, fret buzz can be a problem. If you like low action maybe not the ones to use. Both times I tried I had either the D or A string buzzing even when set pretty high off the board.

I may end up trying them on a fretless.