Gil Berry
From:
Westminster, CA, USA
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Posted 10 Nov 2002 9:32 am |
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| In the old (very old) days, everyone used flat-wound strings on their non-pedal steels so that sliding the bar would be smoother - less drag and no buzz - but when pedals came along the flat-wounds went the way of the Edsel. I guess the problem was winding separation as the string was exercised with the constant raises and lowers. I'm wondering - with today's improved manufacturing techniques, quality control, etc., etc....could an improved flatwound be devised? |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 11 Nov 2002 2:43 pm
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Probably, but there's really no need. Keep in mind that back "in the old days", we used a much smaller bar, which caused a lot of the string noise in itself. When we went to the large-diameter bars seen today, a lot of the noise caused by the small bar radius striking the windings just "went away".
In addition, the tone of the flat wound, or "ground-wound" strings just wasn't as good, in many people's eyes (or ears  ). They have a distinct "dead sound" that only some jazz musicians (and a few Hawaiian players) prefer.
In short...not enough "twang". |
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