Flats - why do many rave about them

[Chienmortbb]

48 minutes ago, ped said:

 

I have never tried both on the same bass, but from memory Tis feel a bit rougher under the fingers, more like a metal, and are quite floppy. Once strung up they are nice and woody sounding and comfortable to play. I really liked them. The only Labellas I use are the light ones, which feel very similar as far as I remember. Don't think you can go wrong with either.

I will be honest I like the tension of rounds but the feel of flats and do not lime the zing of new rounds. 

[chris_b]

5 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

How to the La Bellas compare to TI Flats.

 

I have TI flats on my Mike Lull PJ5. I tried @Happy Jack's Fender Precision with La Bellas and they sounded good, but not good enough to make fork out for another set of strings.

 

The heavy duty La Bella 1954 flats look interesting but the TI's are still going strong, so I still have no inclination to change them.

[BlueMoon]

1 hour ago, ped said:

Don't think you can go wrong with either.

This^^^^^^^^^

[ped]

56 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

I will be honest I like the tension of rounds but the feel of flats and do not lime the zing of new rounds. 

For me it depends on the instrument, and it takes time to get used to the feel and sound sometimes. If I’m slapping rounds on a 70s Jazz one day then I pick up my P with flats it feels like I’m twanging bands on a box, but after a little while the ear and fingers get accustomed to the quiet majesty and expressive tone of the silky little sods. 

[ezbass]

On 26/04/2022 at 20:22, ped said:

Here’s my SB1 with Labella 76fx strings. Tone down about half way and vol backed off a bit.

 

 

Very Pino-esque. 👏👏👏

[Cosmo Valdemar]

On 24/04/2022 at 01:05, D.I. Joe said:

Pyramid Golds in Rick-o-Sound:

 

 

 

Now THAT is a bass tone! Is that you? If it is, well done.

[Lozz196]

Yes, sounds great

[D.I. Joe]

On 29/04/2022 at 13:29, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Now THAT is a bass tone! Is that you? If it is, well done.

 

On 29/04/2022 at 14:45, Lozz196 said:

Yes, sounds great

 

Thank you chaps, it is indeed me 😁 That's just from a jam we had a few weeks ago

[Stub Mandrel]

Took the self destructed olympic flats off my teisco and put the old but not worn out roundies of my Jag ss on instead.

 

Same diameter but had to slack truss rod off a fair bit.

[scrumpymike]

On 24/04/2022 at 01:05, D.I. Joe said:

Pyramid Golds in Rick-o-Sound:

 

 

 

Just played your video. Perfect laid-back journey for a Sunday-morning traveller. Loved every minute.

[D.I. Joe]

 

20 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

Just played your video. Perfect laid-back journey for a Sunday-morning traveller. Loved every minute.

 

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! We've got months worth of these jams saved, plus some more refined songs so there will be more uploaded to YouTube eventually...

[FinnDave]

Sorry to push this interesting thread back on topic, but having tried and ultimately rejected flats several times over the last 20 years, I finally have got used to them, and currently have two Precisions and two Jazzes, all strung with LaBella flats. I am now waiting for another Precision to be delivered and will almost certainly change the strings to a set of flats once I've had a chance to check the bass over. 

As I haven't any spare flats at the moment (other than a set of LaBella's I had on an Epiphone Casady for a while) I need to buy a new set. How does the sound of the Rotosound flats compare to the the LaBellas? Having read this thread from start to finish since lunch, I am inclined to opt for a set of 40-100 Rotosound flats, as they are both cheaper than LaBella and much easier to find, as I can pick up a set in Oxford tomorrow.

 

[BassAdder60]

9 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

Sorry to push this interesting thread back on topic, but having tried and ultimately rejected flats several times over the last 20 years, I finally have got used to them, and currently have two Precisions and two Jazzes, all strung with LaBella flats. I am now waiting for another Precision to be delivered and will almost certainly change the strings to a set of flats once I've had a chance to check the bass over. 

As I haven't any spare flats at the moment (other than a set of LaBella's I had on an Epiphone Casady for a while) I need to buy a new set. How does the sound of the Rotosound flats compare to the the LaBellas? Having read this thread from start to finish since lunch, I am inclined to opt for a set of 40-100 Rotosound flats, as they are both cheaper than LaBella and much easier to find, as I can pick up a set in Oxford tomorrow.

 

Check out the Fender Flats as well for a decent set. I tried Labella and Fender on both my PBass and the Fenders were pretty nice 

I only stopped using them as I missed the rougher string / finger contact from a plucking point of view 

[Lozz196]

They`re a lot twangier, and quite a bit more scooped sounding Dave. In fact there aren`t many other traditional flats that I think they sound like.

[FinnDave]

5 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

They`re a lot twangier, and quite a bit more scooped sounding Dave. In fact there aren`t many other traditional flats that I think they sound like.

Thanks, Lozz, I might just have to order another set of LaBella strings, I like the tone of them, just fancied trying something different, but I don't think a scooped sound is what I'm after. Main reason for considering the Rotos is that they have in stock at the local PMT, LaBella means a drive to Leamington Spa or mail order.

[MacDaddy]

On 29/11/2021 at 17:38, BassAdder27 said:

As a roundwounds user on my PBass using a pick for rock seems to work.

 

There are many say Flatwounds are the way forward … why is that ?

 

They sound dull I’m told ( I can achieve that turning down my tone pot ) and they are very costly in comparison 

 

Are there really any advantages to swop and what are they as I’m open to try 

 

It's quite simple really. There are members on here of (and above) a certain age. During their formative years, in the music they were listening to, bass guitars often sounded like a dull thud due to the recording technology of the time. This is what they grew up with, the sound of their youth, and what they aspired to. So fast forward to now, how do you make a bass guitar sound like a dull thud? Flats! 😆

[Reggaebass]

I chose flats many many years ago for a few reasons, the first was i liked the smooth feel of them and there was no finger and fret noise, also they sounded much warmer than rounds , not all flatwounds are a dull thud ,it depends how you eq them,  I’ve had some that were too bright for me , admittedly I don’t know anything about rounds now 

[Bagman]

8 hours ago, FinnDave said:

Thanks, Lozz, I might just have to order another set of LaBella strings, I like the tone of them, just fancied trying something different, but I don't think a scooped sound is what I'm after. Main reason for considering the Rotos is that they have in stock at the local PMT, LaBella means a drive to Leamington Spa or mail order.

 

GHS Precision Flats are IMO closer to LaBella. 

 

( than Rotosound and Daddario Chromes) 

 

I use the 105 E set GHS on a Fretless Jazz and a Tobias. Very smooth strings and great balance across the range. 

[FinnDave]

I've bought a set of Rotosound flats to try from a fellow bass chatter - I'll see how I get on with them.

[naxos10]

With the Rotosounds give them a while to 'break in' especially the E and A strings (I have based this comment on my use of the short scale versions).

[FinnDave]

1 minute ago, naxos10 said:

With the Rotosounds give them a while to 'break in' especially the E and A strings (I have based this comment on my use of the short scale versions).

Thanks, I'll give them a few months to settle down. 

[naxos10]

👍

[zbd1960]

I'm thinking of stringing one of my basses with flats. Interesting, in effect most decent cello strings are flat wound these days - thankfully (apart from really cheap strings) the days of cheese wire type strings have gone... I was talking about restringing my main cello with my teacher yesterday. One option that came up was Larsen Arioso Magnacore - at about £230 a set they're cheaper than my current strings... The current strings, apart from the A which I replaced about 3 years ago, have been on for 8 years....

[FinnDave]

The Rotosound flats arrived in the post about midday, and I've just put the bass away after playing the new strings for a while. Bearing in mind these are new strings, fresh on, they sound pretty good on a Classic 50s Precision (also new to me this week!). Good tight punchy sound, surprising amount of top, but that will probably fade as they wear in. Less sweetness of tone than the LaBellas I have on the other basses, but I suspect they'll work better in the band. Time will tell!

[rmorris]

I prefer a house myself 🙂

 

Sorry !