Flatwound strings

[wrinkleygit]

Flats for me, however, its not as straightforward as it seems, tried Ti flats on the Overwater & couldn't get on with them, settled on D'addario chromes which work realy well on that & also use those on the MM. Tried chromes on the Warwick & they were awful, stuck the Ti flats on the thumb & to be honest thats the best that bass has ever played & sounded, so much so the jazz quartet I rehearsed with this week commented on what a great tone the bass had .Shame its so expensive to experiment with different brands, mike b.

[Machines]

I've got some D'Addario Chromes on my Overwater after having rounds on it firstly. The difference is significant and I prefer the tone and feel of the falts, they've so much more musicality and bottom end, I am converted.

When I get my RBX fretless running again I think i'll be stringing it E-C with flats.

[FayeAutumn]

Very tempted to try flats myself now. I've been using Rotosound SwingBass nickel roundwound's and have generally gotten on with them - certainly nicer (for me) than the steels, I still get a bit more buzz than I'd like. I like a nice warm sound without too much zing and clank, and I never play slap (actually can't and not interested in learning) so there'd be no loss there.

If I do make the switch it'll be to the Roto Jazz 77's, probably with the same 45-65-85-105 gauge I use now. The price is a bit off-putting but I figure if they're going to last a fair bit longer then it's only a short-term increase in cost.

[goblin]

I've just got two sets of D'addario XL ECB80 flats. Got to be said they're some of the best flats I've come across for a while I only bought them in an emergency too as I'm doing a show at the moment, and after around 6 months, the Olympia flats I had before gave up on me in yesterday's dress rehearsal!

[Hobbayne]

I use flats on the Jazz and rounds on the Stingray.
Doing the circuit that I do, its nice to have a nice deep sound for reggae and jazz/swing and the clickity clackity slap sound for funk etc!!

[73Jazz]

When i started using flatwounds it was kind of love/hate thing and i changed a lot from flats to rounds and back again.
i have the great present for owning more than one bass (thanks for that) and so everyday changing was not necessary.
Now i have rounds on my jb`s and on my p basses rounds and flats.
But..as time goes i definitely prefer flatwounds strings. as i am a band player there is nothing in a mix than a p with flats.
I started with chromes but shortly changed to labella 760fl. The Labella Jamersons are to percussive for me due to their strong gauges.
Also the Ernie Ball flats are really good as well. I noticed a change in the Labella 760Fl production, the old ones are some kind of matt and sound amazingly good and "woody",
the new ones are shiny and i do not like them very much. So i tried D`angelico smooth rounds, which are now my favourite flats, flats because they are called rounds but are more flats with a great tone.
on my 68 P i only use the old Labella 760Fl and on my 64 P i have the D´angelicos on it. In near future i will restring all other basses with that D`angelicos, they are cheap and amazing..not an easy to find combination.

Edited May 11, 2011 by 73Jazz

[farmer61]

Well cheers chaps, my 2 t-birds are now loaded with 40-100 Rotosound flats.

First gig this weekend, let's see how this goes......!

[Delberthot]

[quote name='FayeAutumn' post='1226389' date='May 10 2011, 04:29 PM']Very tempted to try flats myself now. I've been using Rotosound SwingBass nickel roundwound's and have generally gotten on with them - certainly nicer (for me) than the steels, I still get a bit more buzz than I'd like. I like a nice warm sound without too much zing and clank, and I never play slap (actually can't and not interested in learning) so there'd be no loss there.

If I do make the switch it'll be to the Roto Jazz 77's, probably with the same 45-65-85-105 gauge I use now. The price is a bit off-putting but I figure if they're going to last a fair bit longer then it's only a short-term increase in cost.[/quote]


That's me 6 months on the Thunderbird and just put a set on the Blazer. I just discovered tonight that I can slap on the Blazer and it sounds exactly like slapping on rounds. I tried it on the Thunderbird but I'm guessing that it may just not be a slap friendly bass.

On the Blazer, however, it was awesome

The Roto flats are brighter to me than other flats with the added advantage that they are smooth, especially when compared to the very rough roto rounds.

They also don't seem to dull down or settle in like other flats. I remember my TI's sound changing over a period of time but the Rotos have remained consistent in tone from new to 6 months so far.

[FayeAutumn]

[quote name='Delberthot' post='1231556' date='May 15 2011, 02:13 AM']That's me 6 months on the Thunderbird and just put a set on the Blazer. I just discovered tonight that I can slap on the Blazer and it sounds exactly like slapping on rounds. I tried it on the Thunderbird but I'm guessing that it may just not be a slap friendly bass.

On the Blazer, however, it was awesome

The Roto flats are brighter to me than other flats with the added advantage that they are smooth, especially when compared to the very rough roto rounds.

They also don't seem to dull down or settle in like other flats. I remember my TI's sound changing over a period of time but the Rotos have remained consistent in tone from new to 6 months so far.[/quote]

But presumably they're still warmer sounding than nickel rounds? I ask, because I've considered switching from the Roto Swing Nickels that I use at the moment to Roto flats, and I'm not super-keen on having huge churning rivers of brightness eminating from my fretboard. Not that the nickels are like that once they've worn in a bit, and I'm glad for that fact.

[Ancient Mariner]

How are you finding the less expensive flats (D'Addario & Roto) tension-wise? I popped some flats on my Ryder bass and found they had a [b]very[/b] high tension. They also lack sustain compared to the rounds I had previously: that's not often a problem, but sometimes it's just really nice to leave the note rumbling in the background instead of adding more percussion to the sound.

[KERMITNT]

ROUNDS ALL THE WAY


like the flats on my fretless but dont know never used the on fretted

Edited May 21, 2011 by KERMITNT

[mcnach]

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='1239651' date='May 21 2011, 07:52 PM']How are you finding the less expensive flats (D'Addario & Roto) tension-wise? I popped some flats on my Ryder bass and found they had a [b]very[/b] high tension. They also lack sustain compared to the rounds I had previously: that's not often a problem, but sometimes it's just really nice to leave the note rumbling in the background instead of adding more percussion to the sound.[/quote]


Flats and loss of sustain go hand in hand I'm afraid.

My Sue Ryder #1 has Status Hotwires Halfwounds. I was led to believe they would be brighter than normal flatwounds but they were dull dull dull... except the G string. however, I really like the sound, and tensionwise I think they're medium (subjectively).
I have also tried D'Addario nylon tapewounds on the fretless Sue Ryder bass... and those are very light tension and pretty bright (compared to Rotosound TruBass). They have a different character to standard flats, but they're quite nice.

[Jerry_B]

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='1239651' date='May 21 2011, 07:52 PM']How are you finding the less expensive flats (D'Addario & Roto) tension-wise? I popped some flats on my Ryder bass and found they had a [b]very[/b] high tension. They also lack sustain compared to the rounds I had previously: that's not often a problem, but sometimes it's just really nice to leave the note rumbling in the background instead of adding more percussion to the sound.[/quote]

High tension flats can lack some sustain, but that sometimes also depends on the guage you're using.

[Delberthot]

The Rotos are in between the high tension Chromes of the same gauge and the lower tension TIs

[Ancient Mariner]

Thanks guys. These are 'medium' gauge - sounds like they're behaving typically. I wonder if they're just a little dull for that bass.

[Cat Burrito]

Been offline a few weeks but just wanted to add my name to the flats on everything brigade

[spinynorman]

The only time I play with rounds now is when a new bass arrives. After 10 minutes I'm looking for the spare flats packet.

I've had the same set of Rotos on my Precision for at least 5 years. Recently tried GHS Precision flats on one of the Rippers and they're good too.

[skidder652003]

forgive my ignorance guys but if you want to slap, do you still recommend flats? You're all making them sound great but are they a one trick pony? Never tried them so a bit confused about this!

[73Jazz]

if you want to do what!?!?

[Beedster]

[quote name='skidder652003' post='1255041' date='Jun 3 2011, 08:49 AM']forgive my ignorance guys but if you want to slap, do you still recommend flats? You're all making them sound great but are they a one trick pony? Never tried them so a bit confused about this![/quote]

Ever seen a decent rockabilly double bass player playing slap? If they can do it on those strings, yes, you can do it on an electric bass with flats. You might be surprised how good it sounds, and how much of the note, as opposed to buzz, you actually hear

C

[Lenny B]

Flats on P (LaBella)

Flats on fretless (TI)

Rounds on J (whatever)

[Delberthot]

[quote name='skidder652003' post='1255041' date='Jun 3 2011, 08:49 AM']forgive my ignorance guys but if you want to slap, do you still recommend flats? You're all making them sound great but are they a one trick pony? Never tried them so a bit confused about this![/quote]


Yip - flats on a Precision slap really well.

[Dave Vader]

Depends, do you want Larry Graham low funking cool as all hell slap? Or Mark King bag of spanners in a dishwasher slap?

For the former, flats all the way, for the latter, well you get the picture, spanners will be needed

[bassmachine2112]

hi,what flats have a good E string
the ones I,ve tried have very good A,D,G and thud,dead E string.
Looking for a set of flats that sound and behave like rounds.Now that is like an oxymoron

[ZMech]

[quote name='bassmachine2112' post='1264635' date='Jun 11 2011, 09:03 AM']Looking for a set of flats that sound and behave like rounds.Now that is like an oxymoron[/quote]
Unless I'm missing something, why not get rounds then? You could try halfround/groundwound as a compromise between the two, although I haven't had any experience with them myself.