flatwound strings?

[NigeH]

My very first bass (a dirt cheap satellite jazz copy) came with flat wound strings which I replaced with rounds as they sounded so dead. I haven't tried any since. My question is: have flatwound strings evolved at all? I like the idea of less fret noise etc and presumably they are kinder to your fingertips but do they still sound wooly and dead? Rather than fork out for a set and find I hate them I thought id ask you esteemed people your opinion

Edited July 11, 2013 by NigeH

[simon1964]

[quote name='NigeH' timestamp='1373572737' post='2139253']
I like the idea of less fret noise etc and presumably they are kinder to your fingertips but do they still sound wooly and dead?
[/quote]

I'd suggest d'Addario Chromes. Less fret noise than with rounds, but still quite bright and punchy. My favourite brand of flats.

[BassBus]

Flatwounds will always sound "woolly and dead" that's really the point of them. You will never get that crisp clear sound you get from roundwounds. Some roundwound sets have a coating on them which is supposed to make them last longer. Never tried them so I don't know. Half/ground/pressure wound strings give a kind of halfway house between rounds and flats. Smooth to the touch as on flats and a little of the brightness of rounds.

Then there's Thomastik Jazz Flats. I love them. Smooth to the touch, a bit of brightness and lighter tension. Yum. And they last forever.

Edited July 11, 2013 by BassBus

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='NigeH' timestamp='1373572737' post='2139253']
... have roundwound strings evolved at all? ...
[/quote]
I guess you mean flatwound not roundwound.

Anyway, some flatwounds are pretty much as they always were (e.g. La Bellas), while others are newer because they weren't around in earlier decades (e.g. TI Jazz Flats). As for flats sounding dead, it's just not true. Listen to most bass recordings from the sixties and seventies, most of it done with flatwounds, a bass with flatwounds can be very lively.

However, I wouldn't judge flatwound strings (or any other kind of string) by what came fitted to a Satellite.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1373573914' post='2139275']
Flatwounds will always sound "woolly and dead" that's really the point of them. You will never get that crisp clear sound you get from roundwounds. Some roundwound sets have a coating on them which is supposed to make them last longer. Never tried them so I don't know. Half/ground/pressure wound strings give a kind of halfway house between rounds and flats. Smooth to the touch as on flats and a little of the brightness of rounds.

Then there's Thomastik Jazz Flats. I love them. Smooth to the touch, a bit of brightness and lighter tension. Yum. And they last forever.
[/quote]
I completely disagree with the claim that flats will always sound 'wooly and dead'.

[acidbass]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1373574136' post='2139279']
I completely disagree with the claim that flats will always sound 'wooly and dead'.
[/quote]

+1 to a certain extent. I put a new set of La Bella 760FLs on the other week and had to turn the treble down on the amp - when the neck pickup was solo'ed it sounded like JJ Burnel!

[Roger2611]

I have just started swapping over to flatwounds and I really like them, I have put Fenders flats on my 79 precision and on my main gigging bass the P Lyte the strings are definitely not as bright as a new set of rounds but they are definitely not "woolly and dead"

I have brought mine via RST Music on Fleabay as they were doing the Fender sets at £16.99 which was what I was paying for a decent set of rounds

Give them a try you may just find they are perfect

[NigeH]

Hmmm, like most things it seems like it comes down to personal taste, I shall have to try some for myself! Thanks for your replies guys, I'll let you know how I get on.

[steve-bbb]

be careful if you are tempted to go for the black nylon wound flatwounds as they are usually a very heavy guage (but also low tension and very pliable)

because of the significant increase in diameter you might need to cut the fret slots wider to accomodate the guage whereas if you go for steel or ncikel or such then you would probs stick with something liek a 40-100 or 45-105 set iirc from memory rotosound trubass come in at about 65-135 ish

[NigeH]

One other thing that suggests I might like them is the fact that I'm one of those people that doesn't like a new set of strings , I prefer them when they've lost a bit of that brightness. Does that make sense?

[NigeH]

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1373575334' post='2139306']
be careful if you are tempted to go for the black nylon wound flatwounds as they are usually a very heavy guage (but also low tension and very pliable)

because of the significant increase in diameter you might need to cut the fret slots wider to accomodate the guage whereas if you go for steel or ncikel or such then you would probs stick with something liek a 40-100 or 45-105 set iirc from memory rotosound trubass come in at about 65-135 ish
[/quote]

[NigeH]

Good tip thanks!

[Coilte]

In case you decide to go for the Thomastik Jazz Flats, beware that they are [i]very[/i] low tension. This is not to everyone's liking.
It is the main reason why a lot of people dont like them. Great strings though.

[yepmop]

Love my LaBella Deep talkin' Flats (110 gauge), I even have sponge muting under the bridge cover to give that old school motown sound that I love. The sound gets better with age on flats.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1373575334' post='2139306']
be careful if you are tempted to go for the black nylon wound flatwounds as they are usually a very heavy guage (but also low tension and very pliable)

because of the significant increase in diameter you might need to cut the fret slots wider to accomodate the guage whereas if you go for steel or ncikel or such then you would probs stick with something liek a 40-100 or 45-105 set iirc from memory rotosound trubass come in at about 65-135 ish
[/quote]
Rotosound Trubass are 65-115 - their B string is 135

[Junkyard Rocket]

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1373575748' post='2139317']
In case you decide to go for the Thomastik Jazz Flats, beware that they are [i]very[/i] low tension. This is not to everyone's liking.
It is the main reason why a lot of people dont like them. Great strings though.
[/quote]
That's exactly the reason I love 'em

[tappel]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1373574136' post='2139279']
I completely disagree with the claim that flats will always sound 'wooly and dead'.
[/quote]
Yes, so do I. I use only Thomastik's and, to the contrary, I find them to have far superior note definition, with less overtones, than any roundwound string. They record better than any other string I've ever used.

Also regarding the TI flats, I think that the low tension is overstated. Yes, they are a light string, but they're far from floppy. I find them comparable to a set of 40-100 rounds.

Tom

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='acidbass' timestamp='1373574400' post='2139283']
+1 to a certain extent. I put a new set of La Bella 760FLs on the other week and had to turn the treble down on the amp - when the neck pickup was solo'ed it sounded like JJ Burnel!
[/quote]
Entwistle on My Generation is playing a Jazz bass with flatwounds.

[Guest bassman7755]

If you want brightness with a smoother feel you could try coated strings.

[Stompbox]

I know where you guys are coming from - I've now got D'Addario Chromes on my Jazz - excellent - and a set of Fender flatwound on a fretless Peavey Foundation.

By way of a slightly different question - I know you're talking about flatwounds here, but the subject of string tension has come up - what brand would you say has the lowest tension roundwound strings?

I've got my P bass with Rotosound on 45/105 s fitted & they really do seem tight/hard to play.

Chers.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Stompbox' timestamp='1373584594' post='2139471']
I know where you guys are coming from - I've now got D'Addario Chromes on my Jazz - excellent - and a set of Fender flatwound on a fretless Peavey Foundation.

By way of a slightly different question - I know you're talking about flatwounds here, but the subject of string tension has come up - what brand would you say has the lowest tension roundwound strings?

I've got my P bass with Rotosound on 45/105 s fitted & they really do seem tight/hard to play.

Chers.


[/quote]
I haven't used rounds for many years so I'm not a good source - however, I did try some TI Jazz Rounds (43-51-68-89) a few years back and, like the TI flats, they were very low tension.

Edited July 11, 2013 by EssentialTension

[NigeH]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1373583014' post='2139452']

Entwistle on My Generation is playing a Jazz bass with flatwounds.
[/quote]

[NigeH]

Really?!

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='NigeH' timestamp='1373615346' post='2139577']
Really?!
[/quote]

[quote]
On the recording of My Generation:
“I bought this Danelectro bass and it had these tiny, thin wirewound strings on. They were so thin, they sounded just like a piano, an unbelievably clear sound. The only thing was that you couldn’t buy these strings. When we recorded ‘My Generation’ I ended up with three of these Danelectros just for the strings. The last one I had, the string busted before we actually got into the studio to re-record it, so I did it on a Fender Jazz in the end with tape-wound La Bella strings.”
“I played that solo on a Jazz bass with tapewound strings through a Marshall 50 watt and 4x12. Interestingly, the bass solos on the earlier takes were much more complicated, and played on a Danelectro which had a much more piano-like sound. It was a medium scale bass with a two-octave neck. The trouble was that the strings were so thin that I kept breaking them. We’d record during the day and, to finance the sessions, we were playing gigs nearly every night, and inevitably I’d break a string. None of the music shops had any replacement strings and no string manufacturers made replacement strings thin enough for Dano basses then, so I had to go down to Marshall’s and buy a new Dano for £60. I ended up with three new Danelectros, all with busted strings! In the end I busted my last string at the third attempt and there weren’t any more in the country. I thought, ‘f*** it’, and went and bought myself a Fender Jazz bass and a set of La Bella strings, and played the solo with that. But it was a different sound and a simplified, slowed-down version of the solos on previous takes.” [url="http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/bass/bass6066.html"]http://www.thewho.ne...s/bass6066.html[/url] [/quote]

By 'wirewound' he means roundwound and by 'tapewound' he means flatwound.

Edited July 12, 2013 by EssentialTension

[BigRedX]

I don't see why the flatwounds or roundwounds needs to be an either/or situation. Sometimes you need one sometimes you need the other. There is no "one size fits all" when it comes to strings. The important thing is to match the strings to the bass, your playing style and the sound you want. Unfortunately that means going out and buying some sets and trying them for yourself on your bass(es). You've got plenty of recommendations here, but they are simply that - recommendations. There is no guarantee that suits one person will suit you.

Historically flatwound strings in the UK had a bad reputation because all that was available was those nasty Rotosounds that were more use for making fences rather than stringing musical instruments. However these days there is far more variety (especially if you buy on-line). If you want to explore the current world of flatwound strings, I'd start by buying a set each of TI Jazz Flats, D'Addario Chromes and La Bellas, and see which of those (if any) you like.