Flats - why do many rave about them

[wintoid]

7 hours ago, nilebodgers said:

Just a late addition to my experience with flats so far (Roto rs77). It has been going well, but I noticed that the octave G on the E string had an odd effect where the fundamental note decayed very quickly. It was only this note on the E string, no-where else. I wondered if the string was a bit iffy.

 

I fiddled about with tension/untwisting etc to see if I could get any clues and finally when I pressed the E string down hard at the bridge to reinforce the witness point the fundamental note started to decay normally. So, user error, not the string and easily fixed.

 
Odd as I’d already set the witness points in the same way as I have always done with rounds and they all seemed fine. The flats simply appear to need a bit more care on installation than rounds to get them right.

 

TIL about witness points!

[scrumpymike]

Another TI Flats fan here. Just got round to changing the OE rounds on my new s-s Vox Starstream and the TIs sound and feel really nice. They don't really work on my s-s gig basses which are drop-tuned to Eb though. I use La Bellas on those for their slightly higher tension.

[FinnDave]

Just back from an evening rehearsal with the blues band - played my Fender Precision that I recently restrung with .045 - .105 LaBella flats through an Ashdon ABM500 2 x 10 combo - sounded great, the rest of the band loved the deep clear bass. I'd better leave these strings on then!

[Marc S]

I had a NBD recently - got myself a Fender Classic series Precision, and I absolutely loved it, as soon as I picked it up.

 

It came, pretty well set up, with some (unknown) rounds. They sounded clean & bright and in great condition - almost like new.

 

Anyhow, I decided to get a new set of TI Flats for it. After a slight tweak of the truss rod, it set up even nicer, and plays even better. Took it to rehearsal last night and it sounded spot on. I've grown to prefer the feel of flats much more now too.

[Quilly]

I had Chrome XL flats on my P bass and I thought they sounded and felt great, especially for small acoustic type bands. I felt they were getting old so I ordered those La Bella 760 heavy gauge flats (the ones Jamerson used 'apparently') anyway I'll be taking these off again. They have an unbelievable deep tone and depth to them. They sound great but...

 

The tension on them is a bit too much for me, I had to do some serious adjustments on my truss rod and bridge to counteract the impact they had on my bass. Not crazy about the feel of that 110 E string either, its comparable to a low B on a 5 string bass. I just don't feel like my playing is as fluid on them.

 

Maybe I needed to give them a chance but I typically use 40-100s or 45 - 105s. I ordered the labella low tensions 40-100s . 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by Quilly

[Lozz196]

I played my new Precision last night at rehearsal, strung with Rotosound flats.

 

Tried a few different eq options but both myself and the band all came to the conclusion that we preferred the bass with rounds, so s/s Elixirs it will be.

[BassAdder60]

1 minute ago, Lozz196 said:

I played my new Precision last night at rehearsal, strung with Rotosound flats.

 

Tried a few different eq options but both myself and the band all came to the conclusion that we preferred the bass with rounds, so s/s Elixirs it will be.

I found the same and I also missed the rougher string surface when playing faster stuff ( from a plucking / picking point of view )

Im liking the RS66LD strings on my rehearsal bass they do really sound growly 

[Quilly]

2 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I played my new Precision last night at rehearsal, strung with Rotosound flats.

 

Tried a few different eq options but both myself and the band all came to the conclusion that we preferred the bass with rounds, so s/s Elixirs it will be.

I think flats go best with small acoustic type bands, to me they sound a bit like a double bass crossed with a fretless (without all the hassle). I use my flats with the acoustic band and jazz band I sometime play with. I've had loads of compliments from those guys on the deep warm sound from them. They don't much sustain or 'zing' so when I'm playing with the rook band I use my basses string with rounds, I wouldn't dream of using flats for that type of music. 

[ped]

25 minutes ago, Quilly said:

 

 

Maybe I needed to give them a chance but I typically use 40-100s or 45 - 105s. I ordered the labella low tensions 40-100s . 

 

 

I usually play Elixir 40-95s tuned to D, so like low tension and low action for a bit of clank. I suggest you give LaBella 760FX a try, they're 39-100 or something like that, and feel very similar in tension to the rounds on my other basses. I haven't tried the LTFs but they're probably a good shout, too. 

[FinnDave]

23 minutes ago, ped said:

I usually play Elixir 40-95s tuned to D, so like low tension and low action for a bit of clank. I suggest you give LaBella 760FX a try, they're 39-100 or something like that, and feel very similar in tension to the rounds on my other basses. I haven't tried the LTFs but they're probably a good shout, too. 

I think (from memory because I'm too lazy to pop upstairs and check!) that the LaBella FX are .039-.095 - I have them on both my Jazz basses, but use .045-.105 on the Precisions.

[ped]

Just now, FinnDave said:

I think (from memory because I'm too lazy to pop upstairs and check!) that the LaBella FX are .039-.095 - I have them on both my Jazz basses, but use .045-.105 on the Precisions.

Just googled it, actually they're .039, .056, .077, .096; that 0.01 makes all the difference 😄

[FinnDave]

1 minute ago, ped said:

Just googled it, actually they're .039, .056, .077, .096; that 0.01 makes all the difference 😄

Mine are .095 - I gave them a quick wipe down with some brasso 😜

[Lozz196]

2 hours ago, Quilly said:

I think flats go best with small acoustic type bands, to me they sound a bit like a double bass crossed with a fretless (without all the hassle). I use my flats with the acoustic band and jazz band I sometime play with. I've had loads of compliments from those guys on the deep warm sound from them. They don't much sustain or 'zing' so when I'm playing with the rook band I use my basses string with rounds, I wouldn't dream of using flats for that type of music. 

Yeah, I wanted to try the flats as a lot of the stuff I`m playing was apparently recorded with them, but although they`ve got a nice enough presence we just all prefer the rounds. Could be that I`m just so much more used to rounds that I eq them better, or that we`re all just more used to them so the different sound didn`t fit so well, but in reality I think it`s as you say, not really the right strings for that type of music.

[chris_b]

IMO flats work well or not depending on your style and the music you want to play.

 

My blues and soul bands get the PJ5 with flats and the loud rocky bands get the Jazz with rounds. The cover bands could get either depending on how I feel on the day.

 

Lozz, from seeing you play and some of your videos, my guess is that you are a rounds man to the core.

[Lozz196]

28 minutes ago, chris_b said:

IMO flats work well or not depending on your style and the music you want to play.

 

My blues and soul bands get the PJ5 with flats and the loud rocky bands get the Jazz with rounds. The cover bands could get either depending on how I feel on the day.

 

Lozz, from seeing you play and some of your videos, my guess is that you are a rounds man to the core.

I think you`re spot on there Chris

[wateroftyne]

A little bit of flat fun with my '71 and La Bella 760FL's. Love that bass and those strings.
 

 

[D.I. Joe]

Pyramid Golds in Rick-o-Sound:

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2022 by D.I. Joe

[Sibob]

On 22/04/2022 at 16:42, wateroftyne said:

A little bit of flat fun with my '71 and La Bella 760FL's. Love that bass and those strings.
 

 

 

Snap, my '71 P has 760FL's on too, such a great combo!

Si

[ped]

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

 

 

[Reggaebass]

12 minutes ago, ped said:

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

 

 

Lovely tone ped 👍

[Bassmidget209]

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.

 

 

Can I ask is there anything else going on there, signal wise? Because that sounds phenomenal. Aside from your superb playing of course!

[Bunion]

On 22/04/2022 at 16:42, wateroftyne said:

A little bit of flat fun with my '71 and La Bella 760FL's. Love that bass and those strings.
 

 

And the HB goodness too

[ped]

11 minutes ago, Bassmidget209 said:

Can I ask is there anything else going on there, signal wise? Because that sounds phenomenal. Aside from your superb playing of course!

Very kind of you! Thanks! Not really; the bass signal is going into my VB99 but the ‘patch’ for my bass is basically clean, some limiter set for a high threshold that helps the bass sit nicely. The amp sim is ‘super flat’ and I’m pretty sure nothing is more than a tiny bit away from dead centre. When I play this bass somewhere else it sounds the same into a different desk or amp 👍🏼

[Chienmortbb]

How to the La Bellas compare to TI Flats.

[ped]

4 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

How to the La Bellas compare to TI Flats.

 

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.