Inexpensive flatwounds

[obbm]

10 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

As in Rotosound Jazz Flats?

Yes RS77LD 45 - 105

[Linus27]

Just now, obbm said:

Yes RS77LD 45 - 105

Thanks Dave, one set purchased 😁

[blisters on my fingers]

On 03/10/2018 at 08:20, ben4343 said:

I also have the aforementioned Adagios (45-100 I believe) on a P bass; they felt shiny out of the packet and have stayed so, very slinky and polished.

 

Edited December 11, 2018 by blisters on my fingers
Sorry read below!

[blisters on my fingers]

Just now, blisters on my fingers said:

 

Bought two sets of Adagios for £26 quid put one set on a Precision, they are  super smooth, thumpy and with next to no left hand finger noise.

Never tried flats before now feel like I've been missing out for far too long. Next step - put the other set on my Jazz bass, good move?  Hmmn not sure ?

[mytilini]

8 hours ago, blisters on my fingers said:

Bought two sets of Adagios for £26 quid put one set on a Precision, they are  super smooth, thumpy and with next to no left hand finger noise.

Never tried flats before now feel like I've been missing out for far too long. Next step - put the other set on my Jazz bass, good move?  Hmmn not sure ?

Well I'm trying those Adagios / Olympias  flats on a fretted Revelation RBN J-style but for my fretless Ibanez, I plan to go D'Addario cobalt flatwound slinkys....they are nice and loud!

[Sibob]

3 minutes ago, mytilini said:

Well I'm trying those Adagios / Olympias  flats on a fretted Revelation RBN J-style but for my fretless Ibanez, I plan to go D'Addario cobalt flatwound slinkys....they are nice and loud!

D’Addario Chromes or Ernie Ball Cobalts?

Si

[mytilini]

2 minutes ago, Sibob said:

D’Addario Chromes or Ernie Ball Cobalts?

Si

Yeah sorry...Ernie Ball Cobalts is what I meant - I'd previously used their Group IVs with pleasing results.  YouTube a shootout vs. other flats and you'll hear the difference.

[clunkie66]

22 hours ago, Linus27 said:

About to order a set of flats for my Precision and have no idea what to try. I've always used rounds so want to get something that's going to feel similar in tension. As for tone then just a balanced, warm rounded tone. Not after a big, fat, deep old school thump. Tempted to try the LaBella 760FL but worried about tension and being too thumpy. Fender's sound interesting but dont want anything too bright. Half tempted to try the Adagio ones but dont want my first proper taste of flats to be ruined.

Any suggestions?

I've just put La Bella Low Tension flats on my Precision and first impressions are very nice feel and they sound ace. Be interesting to see how much they loosen up as they settle in...

[mytilini]

3 hours ago, clunkie66 said:

I've just put La Bella Low Tension flats on my Precision and first impressions are very nice feel and they sound ace. Be interesting to see how much they loosen up as they settle in...

I'd be interested to know how you get on with these, as I fancy those for my fretless Ibanez SR...

[John T]

I'm thinking of getting a set of flats but having never used them i'm not sure how different the tension will be as iv'e read they are tauter than rounds......RB50's are generally my go to so if i changed to flats would a 45/65/85/105 be a good equivalent to compensate for the extra tension?

[Marc S]

On 11/12/2018 at 01:44, blisters on my fingers said:

Bought two sets of Adagios for £26 quid put one set on a Precision, they are  super smooth, thumpy and with next to no left hand finger noise.

Never tried flats before now feel like I've been missing out for far too long. Next step - put the other set on my Jazz bass, good move?  Hmmn not sure ?

I wasn't sure either - but I put a set of the Adagio's on a Jazz, and was really pleased with the sound.
At £13 for a set, I'd say definitely give it a try. You may just be amazed

[Marc S]

9 hours ago, John T said:

I'm thinking of getting a set of flats but having never used them i'm not sure how different the tension will be as iv'e read they are tauter than rounds......RB50's are generally my go to so if i changed to flats would a 45/65/85/105 be a good equivalent to compensate for the extra tension?

Yes, most Flats are more taut than the majority of rounds - However, some flats are lower tension. It's largely a case of trying a few out....
Thomastik Infeldt (T.I.) Flats are low tension though - probably the lowest tension flats, and lower tension than most rounds.

The low priced Adagio Flats I've mentioned on here, which have also been discussed by several others, are not overly high tension either. Definitely worth a try at about £12 - £13 a set
La Bella Low tension flats are pretty good strings too, though they are higher tension than the TI's and slightly higher than the Adagios

Edited December 12, 2018 by Marc S

[ChrisJaxon]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Picato yet. I have a 5-string long scale set and they were really thumpy, but the B string was not really tonefull. On a 4-string they worked well, lovely feel to them, quite high tension, and a real thump. But where Picato have excelled for me is their short scale flats. I put a set on my Squier Jaguar SS and they are excellent. Lovely tone, good feel, and the E string (which can sometimes be tonally odd on a short scale) works very well. Quite high tension. They make a fun-to-play bass feel even more fun to play, and at gigs playing blues type stuff it sat well in the mix. I suppose they do not come into the cheap category at £35 https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/sets-c865/bass-guitar-c34/picato-flatwound-bass-strings-45-100-stainless-steel-short-scale-p789 but I really like these SS strings. Plus, the black silks are good on the black Jaguar SS headstock!

[spencer.b]

I absolutely love pyramid golds, old school thump but still resonant, less clanky than some, stiffer than TIs  , looser thanks labella 

The trouble with inexpensive flats is they're not as good the pricey one's in my experience

Cobalts not one thing or the other for me

[John T]

5 hours ago, Marc S said:

Yes, most Flats are more taut than the majority of rounds - However, some flats are lower tension. It's largely a case of trying a few out....
Thomastik Infeldt (T.I.) Flats are low tension though - probably the lowest tension flats, and lower tension than most rounds.

The low priced Adagio Flats I've mentioned on here, which have also been discussed by several others, are not overly high tension either. Definitely worth a try at about £12 - £13 a set
La Bella Low tension flats are pretty good strings too, though they are higher tension than the TI's and slightly higher than the Adagios

Ah, ok...Thanks, i think i will mooch about a while longer as even though those Adagio's are a cheap try-out i can't see a 100 gauge string being of satisfactory tension tuned to D....I should have mentioned i use a drop tuner and go from standard tuning to drop D so i'm only concerned about the E string feeling right when i do, the rest i imagine would be like for like or thereabouts.

Perhaps i'll wait and grab another jazz in the new year and dedicate that solely as an E standard bass with flats......Hmmm

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Posted just now

  2 hours ago, spencer.b said:

I absolutely love pyramid golds, old school thump but still resonant, less clanky than some, stiffer than TIs  , looser thanks labella 

The trouble with inexpensive flats is they're not as good the pricey one's in my experience

Cobalts not one thing or the other for me

My wife has always said 'buy cheap, buy twice'......You know she's generally right!

 

 

Edited December 12, 2018 by John T

[John T]

2 hours ago, spencer.b said:

 

 

Edited December 12, 2018 by John T

[Marc S]

John T - if you're drop tuning the E string to D, then I'd say the TI Flats would probably not cope too well, as they're such low tension
However, the Adagio's may just work, as they're around the same tension as many rounds (perhaps a tad more than some)
Re your wife's statement - she's probably right for many things - however, for those Adagio strings it should be changed to "buy cheap, buy twice as many, and they're just as good"
Honestly, I've tried several flats over the years, and they are as good as strings costing far more, and I'd say a good intro to flats

[John T]

59 minutes ago, Marc S said:

John T - if you're drop tuning the E string to D, then I'd say the TI Flats would probably not cope too well, as they're such low tension
However, the Adagio's may just work, as they're around the same tension as many rounds (perhaps a tad more than some)
Re your wife's statement - she's probably right for many things - however, for those Adagio strings it should be changed to "buy cheap, buy twice as many, and they're just as good"
Honestly, I've tried several flats over the years, and they are as good as strings costing far more, and I'd say a good intro to flats

Thanks, that's valuable advice to me though i have yet to find a 50/110 set of the Adagio's.

I like your take 'buy cheap, buy twice as many'.......i'll use that some time, though she'll probably have some sharp and wise retort of some kind!

[clunkie66]

22 hours ago, mytilini said:

I'd be interested to know how you get on with these, as I fancy those for my fretless Ibanez SR...

I'll let you know how they feel with a few weeks use

[Jimothey]

On 11/12/2018 at 01:44, blisters on my fingers said:

Never tried flats before now feel like I've been missing out for far too long. Next step - put the other set on my Jazz bass, good move?  Hmmn not sure ?

Like you I had never had/tried flats so I bought a set of Adagios to fit on my Jazz and I really like them in fact I'm going to fit them on my P bass once I've finished refinishing it and on my Warwick copy 

[Ricky 4000]

I've had a set of Olympia flats on my Ric' for 10-odd years (the skinny 40-95 versions), and they're fine!

Thanks to the links on this thread - I've ordered at set of Olympias in the 45-100 gauge:

eBay item number:

332486029353

 

Made an offer of "£10", it was automatically accepted. So that's 10.99 inc postage. Bargain. 👍

 

I can't put them on my P bass project, because that going to be wearing Roto Funkmasters. 😎

 

So now I need a Jazz.... 😥

[NikNik]

Dunlops for me.

[John T]

Ordered a set of Rotosound 77's..... I guess at £28.89 and same day delivery from Amazon Prime they qualify as inexpensive flatwounds.

[Marc S]

7 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

I've had a set of Olympia flats on my Ric' for 10-odd years (the skinny 40-95 versions), and they're fine!

Thanks to the links on this thread - I've ordered at set of Olympias in the 45-100 gauge:

eBay item number:

332486029353

 

Made an offer of "£10", it was automatically accepted. So that's 10.99 inc postage. Bargain. 👍

 

I can't put them on my P bass project, because that going to be wearing Roto Funkmasters. 😎

 

So now I need a Jazz.... 😥

Let us know what you think of the strings, once you've played them for a while Ricky 4000

[mytilini]

On 12/12/2018 at 09:45, ChrisJaxon said:

Surprised nobody has mentioned Picato yet. I have a 5-string long scale set and they were really thumpy, but the B string was not really tonefull. On a 4-string they worked well, lovely feel to them, quite high tension, and a real thump. But where Picato have excelled for me is their short scale flats. I put a set on my Squier Jaguar SS and they are excellent. Lovely tone, good feel, and the E string (which can sometimes be tonally odd on a short scale) works very well. Quite high tension. They make a fun-to-play bass feel even more fun to play, and at gigs playing blues type stuff it sat well in the mix. I suppose they do not come into the cheap category at £35 https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/sets-c865/bass-guitar-c34/picato-flatwound-bass-strings-45-100-stainless-steel-short-scale-p789 but I really like these SS strings. Plus, the black silks are good on the black Jaguar SS headstock!

Interesting you mentioned Picato flatwounds Chris.  First thing I did when I got the Ibanez SR fretless was slap a set of the 40-95 Picato stainless steel flatwounds on.  Was done because as I use Picato 40-95 roundwound nickels as my standard on most of my other basses.  Sad to say, I HATED them, hence trying something else (namely Adagios & Olympia).  The Picatos sounded particularly dull, felt tacky and were taken off promptly...probably too quickly as I didn't bother giving them a chance to break in.  So, current flatwound experiments are Adagio 45-100 on the fretless Ibanez SR & Olympia 45-100 on a fretted Revelation RBN j-bass...hope these work better!