Improv Strings

[Buzzy Fretts]

Hey Folks,

Anyone know what set of flatwounds are stock and/or recommended for the Improv? I don't know enough about flatwounds to do a visual. Thanks much.

[anotherfreak2]

What are you looking for?

acoustic or electric tone?

I do sell a lot of archtops, and I do a lot of setups for local guys. The most sold set I have is D'Addario chromes 12-52 I think the set is EC25. runner up is the GHS 12 stainless (900) set.

The GHS 12 set will feel slinkier and it is a stainless steel wrap, which makes a great string for plugged in electric playing, but you loose a lot of acoustic tone on most heavier archtops.

D'Addario uses a different core/wrap ratio which gives their set a tighter feel and the chrome wrap has a lot more acoustical tone to it. So the wrap combined with the core ratio makes them a better choice for acoustic archtops.

Of course, depending on the carve of the top and the bracing, different strings will have drastic tonal/volume differences, especially on archtops. So YMMV

Compromise is a big question what is more important, feel-tone-tension. I've tried all kinds of flats for different reasons they are all the best for certain reasons. For me it is the D'Addario beceause of price, consistancy and price

let me know if you have any other questions, I am interested on opinions of guys who have an Improv, Mine won't be here until Dec

[Buzzy Fretts]

Hey Bill,

Thanks fer the details. In truth I'm trying to get both acoutsic AND electric tone. There is a few levels to my question. First off I was trying to figure out if the strings I recieved on my *preowned* Improv were original. If so they would give me a departure point when trying other choices. If not, I figured I'd restring with the originals and start from there. Since posting I found out that the factory strings were D’Addario flatwound .011-.056. I believe these are the same as what I have.

I'll make a note of the D’Addario chromes. Currently I have on order a set of Thomastik-Infeld flatwounds. I've been real impressed with the tone and quality of their acoustic sets, so I thought I'd give em a try.

December huh? Well from what I can tell, they just keep making them better and better. Hang in there!