New Flatwound Strings Too Taught

[Bloc Riff Nut]

I got some Rotosound flats as a present. i couldnt believe how tight they are.
They dont feel good at all. This is my first set ever and I dont want to give up on flats, so I'm going to leave them on my jazz for a few weeks.
In the meanwhile I'm looking for a different type/make with less tension to put on my ACG.

What do you guys use?
Any ideas for a softer smoother flat?

Thanks,

Phil.

[Silvia Bluejay]

Thomastik-Infeldts for very low tension and typical flatwound sound. D'Addario Chromes for low tension (but not quite as low as the TIs) and much brighter sound. All the other makes I've tried so far are too high tension for my hands.

Edited January 11, 2015 by bluejay

[Twincam]

The Fenders and rotos are high tension!.

I found rotosound flats to be horrible in everyway.

I believe people who like flats with less tension go for the Thomastik infeld TI jazz flats.

[Billy Apple]

I started with Roto flats and while I love the monel feel they are way too stiff for me. I've used chromes, TI's and La Bella's and have to say overall La Bella's are my favorite.

[Lozz196]

Same as above really, Rotos have to be the highest tension flats I`ve used, TIs the lowest, with D`Addario Chromes, LaBellas & GHS Precision flats all being in the middle, Chromes the brightest, Labellas the thumpiest.

[Billy Apple]

I think La B's looser than Chromes

[Telebass]

Exactly what Bluejay said. Have two 4s, one with ECB81 Chromes, the other with TI 344 Jazz Flats. P5 has ECB81-5 Chromes.
Will change the Chromes to ECB84s when needed, as I find that the D and G are noticeably to stiffer on the 81 sets. If you want easy and good - sounding, grit your teeth and your wallet and get the TIs. They're cheaper, really, as you won't have to change them for 5+ years if you look after them!

Edited January 11, 2015 by Telebass

[chris_b]

I have Lakland flats on my Lull.

These are the first flats I've used since 1970 so I'm not up to date in this area but they feel good and sound great to me.

[Rodders]

Elites Flats don't seem to get a mention, but I find they sound great (on a P bass) and are comfortable tension wise, having tried Rotos and Chromes.

They are cheap too.

[JamesBass]

You will not go wrong with TI's get them from [url="http://www.bassgear.co.uk/product/thomastik-infeld-jf344-jazz-bass-flat-wound-43-100/"]here[/url] for the cheapest UK price I know of, but also check the price over at [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/thomastik_jf344.htm"]Thomann[/url].

[6v6]

+1 for TI's if you want low tension, I almost find them too low tension sometimes, but that's probably due to my technique (or lack of) rather than the strings.

[Highfox]

The Fender Flats 45-100 have a nice balance and sound (and price) Been through most of the others and the Fenders are my choice.
I found the TI's a little too low tension on the A string when I dig in, nice sound otherwise.

[Delberthot]

I'm using the Chromes ECB84s and I think they're the perfect tension for me. I've had them on the Precision for a couple of years now.

I didn't buy flats to sound dull and thuddy, I bought them as I'm not a fan of zingy roundwound strings but wanted something bright and smooth on the fingers and these fit the bill nicely

I found the Tis tension wise to feel like a floppier version of the strings that come standard on Rickenbackers and they're floppy to me.

Rotos don't have enough top end on them for me.

I found the same with TIs that they were too dull and not enough clarity for me. That was on an Ibanez SR1016


There expensive to buy if you buy the wrong ones but there are always second hand sets for sale on here to try them out.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Delberthot

[discreet]

[quote name='Highfox' timestamp='1421163635' post='2657866']
The Fender Flats 45-100 have a nice balance and sound (and price) Been through most of the others and the Fenders are my choice.
I found the TI's a little too low tension on the A string when I dig in, nice sound otherwise.
[/quote]

I like those too, but the 50-100 set - bit more balanced across the strings.

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1421015006' post='2656303']
I think La B's looser than Chromes
[/quote]

Yes - I found Chromes to be alarmingly high-tension! Frighteningly so, in fact.

Edited January 13, 2015 by discreet

[Billy Apple]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1421175724' post='2658101']
I like those too, but the 50-100 set - bit more balanced across the strings.



Yes - I found Chromes to be alarmingly high-tension! Frighteningly so, in fact.
[/quote]

Mate, you wanna try Roto's. Or maybe not as is indeed the case

[dasbear69]

I use Elites Detroit Flats on my jazz and Elites groundwounds on my Ibanez blazer, sound great. great price. [url="http://www.basscentre.com/elites-detroit-flatwound-series.html"]http://www.basscentre.com/elites-detroit-flatwound-series.html[/url]

[LayDownThaFunk]

Ernie Ball Group IV or GHS Precision flats light gauge.

[booboo]

If you like the strings (apart from the tension) it might be worth tweaking the setup. My TI's feel a lot less floppy with a raised action and more relief. Without knowing the strings you had before it's hard to be certain, but (IMHO) flats of the same gauge tend to feel stiffer than rounds.

[Delberthot]

I'd agree. I normally use 45s but when using flats I always go for 40s.

The Chromes are higher tension but I find I can drop the action a fair bit with them and play a bit lighter.

[nick]

I like Sadowsky flats. They're not high tension & not as slack as TIs. Tone wise have quite a bit of mid presence, not unlike Thomastiks.
For a more traditional, thumpier tone try Laklands - lovely to play.

[fretlessguy]

Tis or GHS Precision Flats in .40-.95 lights.

[timmo]

I got some La Bella 760FS .45-.105 I like them.

[badboy1984]

Roto flats has too much tension for my taste. Had it on my precision, jazz and fretless and I hate it every way. The only flats I like is the D'Addario chromes.

[natjag]

I tried rotosound flats, they lasted one gig due to being such high tension. I also tried pyramid flats (as the band I'm in had is endorsed by them) they only lasted one gig as well. So I've stuck with La Bella's.

Those of you that use TI's how is their tension compared to regular roundwounds? Are the similar or slightly tighter?

Edited March 3, 2015 by natjag

[stoo]

[quote name='natjag' timestamp='1425395138' post='2706878']
I tried rotosound flats, they lasted one gig due to being such high tension. I also tried pyramid flats (as the band I'm in had is endorsed by them) they only lasted one gig as well. So I've stuck with La Bella's.

Those our you that use TI's how is their tension compared to regular roundwounds? Are the similar or slightly tighter?
[/quote]

I went from Ernie Ball Regular Slinky 50-105 (mostly) & GHS Boomers 45-105 (occasionally) to TI Flats and found the TI's were noticably lower tension. Felt OK on the left hand, but moved around a bit more than I liked under my right.

Then I bought a fretless bass which had a set of LaBella 760 FL[color=#000000][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=3](43/60/82/104) - and they seem more like the Regular Slinkies in terms of feel, so I've binned the TI's off the fretted and got another set of LaBellas for it...[/size][/font][/color]