Jimbogubson Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 Hi folks, what are people’s thoughts on these flats? And how do they compare to La Bellas and other brands. i tried a set when I first started playing and was really surprised by the classic sound they produced. I never had them on for long as they weren’t ideal for the pub covers band I was playing in but since acquiring a second p bass, I was gonna have one bass with flats and one with rounds. From my brief experience with them , I liked the sound and feel so will most likely be buying some again. Just wondering if others have had good or bad experience with them. cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grayn Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 Sorry to be obvious but if you like their sound, who cares what anyone else thinks? I've heard good and bad things about most string makes, particularly LaBella and anyway, Picato are not pricey, so give 'em a go, I reckon. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 (edited) - Edited March 4, 2022 by Jus Lukin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Chapple Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 I've used picato, la bella and Rotosound, sonically picato flats are very thumpy in tone, closer to la bella. Rotos have more mids. The choice is yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbogubson Posted March 16, 2020 Author Share Posted March 16, 2020 11 hours ago, Tim Chapple said: I've used picato, la bella and Rotosound, sonically picato flats are very thumpy in tone, closer to la bella. Rotos have more mids. The choice is yours. That’s kind of what I was hoping to hear that, they have similar qualities to labella’s but not quite so spendy! Think I’ll be giving them another go. thanks for the input all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 On 15/03/2020 at 09:26, grayn said: Sorry to be obvious but if you like their sound, who cares what anyone else thinks? I'd echo this comment personally, with the adage that "If they cut through in typical P bass fashion" of course.... Not tried them myself, but wanted to mention (again) that I have a set of Adagio flats on one of my basses They're very cheap (About £12, bought on eBay) and they're surprisingly good strings. I did use Picato rounds for a while - someone locally used to get them cheap (a contact at the factory) and I quite liked the rounds If you like the picato's - get yourself another set Always a good excise to have 2 P basses - one with flats, one with rounds Let us know what you think, after comparing the two Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 Pretty sure Picato went out of business a little while ago.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 1 hour ago, franzbassist said: Pretty sure Picato went out of business a little while ago.... Not sure if they went out of business... I know they closed their factory in South Wales, to shift production elsewhere. Thinking about it, I haven't seen any Picato strings for sale in shops recently... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbogubson Posted March 16, 2020 Author Share Posted March 16, 2020 Scouring around, there doesn’t seem to be a much in the way of stock so maybe production has ceased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 Their website appears to be offline also - not looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pow_22 Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Loved these back in the day but before they closed they changed the formula. The old silkless ones were lovely but then they changed and had black silks at both ends and the actual string seemed different. Dead E's galore and uneven twangy G and D. I snap up any NOS ones that come up on ebay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 strings direct seem to have some stock, i have fitted Picato flats and rounds in the past and really liked them, as far as i can remember the overwater flats were by picato as well. as an aside, strings direct now list the distance from ballend to silk as well as the silk colour on their website! Picato flats at strings direct Matt 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mangotango Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 First set of bass strings I ever bought were Picato flats. In 1975 they were £4.95 and the cheapest things out there. Because I was still at school, I couldn't afford anything else. They were a major component in the worst bass sound ever known to humanity - the other elements being an Eko violin bass, a cheap distortion box, an Impact 60 valve amp...…. and me. Ask @Scoop - he was at the only gig that I ever played with that set-up!! As soon as I got a Saturday job and could afford better - I did. Maybe they've improved since then. I won't be looking to find out any time soon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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