Quick Question To Those Who Use Rotosound 77 Jazz Flats

[Linus27]

I've just opened a brand new set of Rotosound 77 Jazz Flats and they feel very rough to me, more like rounds than what I remember flats to be like. They also sound quite bright. To those who play the Rotosound 77 Jazz flats, can you let me know if they are fairly rough to touch or are they smooth like normal flats are?

 

Thank you.

Edited Tuesday at 18:30 by Linus27

[Steve Browning]

I would say they're not immediately as smooth as some other makes. They are also quite bright to begin with. 

[Linus27]

  On 25/03/2025 at 18:38, Steve Browning said:

I would say they're not immediately as smooth as some other makes. They are also quite bright to begin with. 

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Cheers Steve, thanks for your help.

[DF Shortscale]

These are currently my favourite strings on a precision. They mellow out after a little while but they definitely are bright to begin with, give them around 2 weeks to mellow. They’re pretty stiff too, and a little rougher than other flats but that’s what I like about them. 

[chris_b]

Are they rough enough to cause wear to the frets?

[Steve Browning]

  On 25/03/2025 at 23:08, chris_b said:

Are they rough enough to cause wear to the frets?

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No. I've used them for years without issue. I was fortunate to have a trip round the factory and watched them being made. The level of care was very impressive. 

 

I should note that I'm a Rotosound artist. 

[chris_b]

Thanks Steve.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

The last time I bought Rotosound Jazz flats, probably in the early 2000s, two of the strings were super smooth and two felt very rough due to a gap alongside the winding. The tension was too high for my taste as well, so I haven’t tried them since.

[Linus27]

They've been my go to flats on a Precision for many years also but I currently don't have any strung on any of my Precisions. So that is why I opened this new packet to string one of them with a set only to not remember them to be quite like this. I have a few packets of old opened strings and one of them says Rotosound 77 flats on a bit a paper cut for a stingray but they have red silks on both ends. This new packet I opened only has silks on the peg end but the other end does still have the different coloured ball ends but no red silk at that end. I thought Rotosound 77 Flats have coloured silks on both ends. Added to that, they do feel rough apart from the G string which is much smoother. Not silky smooth like LaBella's but much smoother than the E, A and D string.

 

I might drop Rotosound an email and see what they think.

Edited yesterday at 09:52 by Linus27

[DF Shortscale]

  On 26/03/2025 at 09:51, Linus27 said:

They've been my go to flats on a Precision for many years also but I currently don't have any strung on any of my Precisions. So that is why I opened this new packet to string one of them with a set only to not remember them to be quite like this. I have a few packets of old opened strings and one of them says Rotosound 77 flats on a bit a paper cut for a stingray but they have red silks on both ends. This new packet I opened only has silks on the peg end but the other end does still have the different coloured ball ends but no red silk at that end. I thought Rotosound 77 Flats have coloured silks on both ends. Added to that, they do feel rough apart from the G string which is much smoother. Not silky smooth like LaBella's but much smoother than the E, A and D string.

 

I might drop Rotosound an email and see what they think.

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I have a recent set and they only have silk at the peg, and they do have the coloured ball ends. They all feel the same though, same level of rough/smooth across all strings.

[Linus27]

  21 hours ago, DF Shortscale said:

 

I have a recent set and they only have silk at the peg, and they do have the coloured ball ends. They all feel the same though, same level of rough/smooth across all strings.

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Ok, thank you for confirming 👍