360

Light NPS adds extra top-end chime — Byrds/Petty jangle territory.

Pure nickel tames Rick 360 bright voice for vintage warmth.

XL focused mids work Rickenbacker's toaster pickups cleanly.

Slinky preserves Rick 360's signature chime — universal pairing.

D'Addario Chromes ECG25 Flatwound 12-52 on the Rickenbacker 360 is the heavy-flat principle behind Peter Buck's iconic R.E.M. jangle — Buck used Dean Markley individual heavy flats (.013/.017/.026w/.036w/.046w/.056w) on his black '81 Jetglo 360 across every R.E.M. record from Murmur to Reveal. As Buck explained on Reverb: "The key was using larger gauge flatwound strings, which work with the Rickenbacker pickups that 'sound better the more metal you put over them.'" Chromes ECG25 12-52 is the closest stainless flatwound in StringTune's catalog (Buck's Dean Markley not stocked) — same family-of-strings logic.

Conventional wisdom: every Rickenbacker thread defaults to 10-46 nickel rounds for jangle. Mismatch logic: heavy flats are the OPPOSITE of jangle conventional wisdom — but Buck's signature on 'Losing My Religion' / 'The One I Love' is exactly that flatwound thump-meets-Rick-pickup-jangle hybrid that nickel rounds can't replicate. The flat surface means less finger noise across the high-position arpeggios that define Buck's chord-melody style. Best for Rickenbacker 360 players chasing Buck's R.E.M.

heavy-flat jangle; skip if you want classic Beatle/Byrds 10-46 round-wound nickel jangle.