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Brightest Flatwounds ???


funky8884
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[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1335901534' post='1637850']
Not got much experience with flats but have just strung my P bass up with a set of D'Addario Chromes. Very pleased, plenty of oomph and to my ears a decent level of brightness.
[/quote]

Ha ha! Now I've got that same set to try courtesy of Mr Gary Mac!

Edited by Len_derby
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Except for some of the nylon tapewounds, which may be nylon over roundwound, the brightest true flatwound strings I have tried, and I've tried them all over the past 36 years I've played electric bass, are the new Fender 9050CL set, 45-60-80-105. They have it all: bright when you use a bridge pickup, growly when you need them to be, mellow when you want them to be, absolutely consistent in tone both up the neck and string-to-string. They're economical, and they last nearly forever as bass strings go. These are the strings that switched me from a roundwound bloke. When you really did into them, depending on how you pick, pluck or strum, you can get a subdued growl that is not that far removed from Rotosound Swingbass.

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Im using Chromes at the moment as well. I've also got a set of TI's.

To me the Chromes are closest to round wounds but with that flats thump. I tend to use the Chromes as transitional flats, when im bored with round wounds but dont want to jump straight to the TI's. In fact i rarely use the TI's now.

I really miss the tone of a nice new set of nickels so i tend to go back to rounds after a month or two, sometimes less.

Edited by dave_bass5
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What are they new Fender 9050's like for tension and lifespan? I tried the old ones years ago and found them way to tight compared to the 7050 rounds and after a few months I could already hear the E going dead, no impressed at all.

Edited by MrTaff
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I began using flats about 18 months ago as I was fed up of the roughness of rounds. I've been using Rotos and they are fantastic and the strings I put on all my basses now. Punchy, growly and fantastic when slapped. To be honest, when I play people do a double take as they think I'm using slightly used rounds.

They don't change between out of the box and 18 months later. Still sound exactly the same

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I find that I love Chromes or Ernie Balls for the first 3 months, then they get a touch darker than I want. They still sound good after this, but it becomes more of a classic flatwound sound than the flat/round hybrid other players describe. This experience has been repeated over several sets. For those three months, they have plenty of growl for my needs. I don't know if this happens for everyone else or if my body chemistry just knackers them!

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[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1336208406' post='1642425']
I find that I love Chromes or Ernie Balls for the first 3 months, then they get a touch darker than I want. They still sound good after this, but it becomes more of a classic flatwound sound than the flat/round hybrid other players describe. This experience has been repeated over several sets. For those three months, they have plenty of growl for my needs. I don't know if this happens for everyone else or if my body chemistry just knackers them!
[/quote]

I dont have the same issue but the end result is the same. After the past 4 gigs using Chromes they are coming off this week and a set of EXL's are going back on.
I really dont know what it is about flats that always forces me to do this. I like them when i put them on, and as its the same set i dont think its the tone changing, I could be that after a few gigs i realise im missing something.

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[quote name='MrTaff' timestamp='1335968792' post='1638799']
What are they new Fender 9050's like for tension and lifespan? I tried the old ones years ago and found them way to tight compared to the 7050 rounds and after a few months I could already hear the E going dead, no impressed at all.
[/quote]
Like all flats, they have a tad more tension than rounds of the same gauge because of the flatwound outer wrap having more mass (no space between the windings). But the particular set I play, the 9050CL, 45-60-80-105, is particularly well balanced, so you don't notice a tad more tension. And since the middle strings are one step lighter, instead of the 65-85 of most "medium" sets, it's just about the same overall.

As far as life, well, I've had my current set going on two years now, albeit I gig more with double bass than electric bass at this stage of my playing. I've always been really prone to killing E strings, sometimes changing just the E string both nights of a weekend gig, even though the rest of the set is fine, and this one lasts the longest I've ever had in 36+ years of playing bass and trying every string out there. If you look closely, the outer wrap is ever so slightly narrower, and therefore the string is more flexible and retains its overtone colour much longer.

Also, I don't know about pricing in the UK, but in the USA the "street" price is very economical compared to the cost of some of the more esoteric "boutique" strings.

Edited by iiipopes
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