jtheissen
Wholenote
Montana lurker, mostly🎸
Posts: 202
|
Post by jtheissen on Oct 1, 2023 15:01:05 GMT -5
I haven't used one since probably the late 60's with crappy strings. I play rhythm guitar and think it may sound a bit warmer/fatter/whatever. I use 11-50 gauge strings and don' t bend.
|
|
|
|
Post by funkykikuchiyo on Oct 1, 2023 15:14:12 GMT -5
You might like it.
It goes from being the loudest string out of the 6 (usually, sometimes...) to the quietest. I wouldn't say warmer/fatter, though. It might make chords sound a bit smoother. This is part of why it lives on with jazz players. Can't really do bends with them, though. At least not like you could with a plain G. It isn't because it is tighter, it is because the pitch doesn't change for a given amount of movement in the same way. That is why when you intonate for a G string, the plain G saddles are kinda far back and the wound ones are kinda far forward. It also doesn't bend out of tune as easily, so you may find some chords sound more in tune once you reset the intonation... but that will be subjective.
I like a wound G on my Gretsch (flatwounds) because for me it is more of a western swing/early rock & roll sort of machine, and have plain Gs on everything else.
|
|
|
|
Post by samspade on Oct 1, 2023 17:56:42 GMT -5
I have heard accounts of Jimi using a wound third. I've tried it, and it does have a different vibe, keeps you a little more grounded.
|
|
|
|
Post by modbus on Oct 1, 2023 18:43:36 GMT -5
Does it throw the intonation off?
|
|
|
|
Post by funkykikuchiyo on Oct 1, 2023 21:06:24 GMT -5
Does it throw the intonation off? It would need to be readjusted if you go back and forth.
A plain G's saddle is going to intonate behind the B string, while a wound G's saddle will end up a bit in front of the D string.
|
|
|
|
Post by LTB on Oct 1, 2023 21:52:40 GMT -5
Does it throw the intonation off? It would need to be readjusted if you go back and forth.
A plain G's saddle is going to intonate behind the B string, while a wound G's saddle will end up a bit in front of the D string.
It has always been my understanding that a Wound G intonates Better than an unwound and was the standard for many years until the late 60’s or early 70’s when a guitarist found he could bend an unwound better. I used to have trouble getting the unwound G to intonate the way I wanted. It was close but always a little off but in the past few years it seems no longer true. Maybe it is all in my head, I don’t know but that is the way I hear and see it. |
|
chucksmi
Wholenote
Posts: 174
Formerly Known As: Offshore Angler elsewhere
Age: I saw Jerry Live
|
Post by chucksmi on Oct 2, 2023 10:14:30 GMT -5
My issue with wound thirds is staying in tune. We guitarists have a thing for bending the G string. The wound is more prone to going out of tune at the nut. This especially true on Les Pauls.
But since you say you don't bend, I say go for! If it doesn't work out you're only out seven bucks and you'll have learned something.
Chuck
|
|
|
|
Post by samspade on Oct 2, 2023 17:44:49 GMT -5
My issue was mostly windings wearing at the frets. Some guitars I restring infrequently and noticed that.
|
|
|
|
Post by funkykikuchiyo on Oct 4, 2023 20:06:23 GMT -5
Technically, the intonation shouldn't be better on one or the other, insofar as you intonate it at the saddle and check each fret. A wound G will be harder to pull out of tune for chord voicings. And, for guitars with limited adjustability for intonation, the wound G is often friendlier... the big bar on a Gretsch, 3-barrel saddles on a Tele, etc. So.... I guess it could be better for intonation in some ways.
|
|
