Flats - why do many rave about them

[Reggaebass]

11 minutes ago, EssentialTension said:

Because I do not experience Labella Deep Talkins as 'extremely high tension' (unless you're talking about the Jamerson set

I don’t find Deep Talking very high tension, they do break in nicely, but I’ve got 2 sets of the 760M with blue silk , which I think are the Jamerson ones in the drawer, they are too high tension for me, and fender ones are very high too 

[scrumpymike]

4 hours ago, Paul S said:

 

I've tried loads and loads of flats and would say each brand has different character.  Of those I have tried, TI Flats are probably the most different in that they are quite bright and low tension.  Some are extremely high tension (eg La Bella Deep Talkin flats), some are dull thuds (eg D'addario Chromes), some both.  I love the feel and sound of TI Flats and have them on all my basses (costs me a fortune) apart from an EB3 that seems to sound better with that extra zing from rounds. 

 

So I'd say that if you like TI Flats you actually might not like other makes of flats.  Similarly anyone wanting to try flats - until you have tried TI Flats don't write them all off as dull thuddy things.

All my basses are s-s with a low action and I prefer lowish tension strings.  After some trial and error, I've ended up with La Bellas on my gig basses (classic rock covers band drop-tuned to Eb) and TIs on my other basses.

[chris_b]

I don't know anything about them, but the La Bella black tapewound I had on my Rob Allen bass sounded and felt very good.

 

Anyone else had experience of these?

[ezbass]

1 minute ago, chris_b said:

I don't know anything about them, but the La Bella black tapewound I had on my Rob Allen bass sounded and felt very good.

 

Anyone else had experience of these?

I have them on my Rob Allen MB2 and they sound fantastic. Based on this, I fitted some to my other fretless (MM pickup), I didn't like them as much and went back to the EB Cobalts.

[Velarian]

How about Cello strings on a bass?

 

 

[Bunion]

If I tried that they’d sound like used French hookers g strings… 😩

Edited December 19, 2021 by Bunion

[Boodang]

10 minutes ago, Velarian said:

How about Cello strings on a bass?

 

 

Well, that tapping is jaw dropping!!

 

As for strings, you could always put a 1/4 size double bass set on, although it would work out as an expensive way to do it.

[fretmeister]

On 04/12/2021 at 10:32, ezbass said:

Worked for Bernard.

He swapped to rounds quite quickly.

 

Confirmed by Nile on twitter.

[Grimalkin]

Flats have their own sound, another probable reason is that they hide a multitude of sins as far as muting technique is concerned.

 

I have one bass strung with flats for that sound but I hardly play it.

[wateroftyne]

30 minutes ago, Grimalkin said:

Flats have their own sound, another probable reason is that they hide a multitude of sins as far as muting technique is concerned.

 

"My muting technique isn't very good, so I'm going to use flats." said no-one. Ever.

[Grimalkin]

17 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

 

"My muting technique isn't very good, so I'm going to use flats." said no-one. Ever.

 

It's the kind of thing you keep quiet...

[wateroftyne]

Just now, Grimalkin said:

It's the kind of thing you keep quiet...

 

Nope, never happened.

[Grimalkin]

1 minute ago, wateroftyne said:

 

Nope, never happened.

 

I never say never, I have seen it mentioned, though after 30 years plus of working as a musician, I can tell for myself. It's a fact that you don't get the same string noise or the same sympathetic resonance you get with rounds, it's all toned down. 

[wateroftyne]

Just now, Grimalkin said:

 

I never say never, I have seen it mentioned, though after 30 years plus of working as a musician, I can tell for myself. It's a fact that you don't get the same string noise or the same sympathetic resonance you get with rounds, it's all toned down. 

 

Presumably we're talking about people who sit in their bedrooms and make solo videos for YouTube.

[Grimalkin]

3 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

 

Presumably we're talking about people who sit in their bedrooms and make solo videos for YouTube.

 

It's a simple fact that flats don't have the same winding string noise or preponderance to sympathetic vibration due to slightly higher tension and usually slightly higher mass. Sorry about that.

[wateroftyne]

Just now, Grimalkin said:

 

It's a simple fact that flats don't have the same winding string noise or preponderance to sympathetic vibration due to slightly higher tension and usually slightly higher mass. Sorry about that.

 

No need to apologise, 'cos at no point have I said otherwise.

[Grimalkin]

3 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

 

No need to apologise, 'cos at no point have I said otherwise.

 

It took Jaco just as much time to mute Donna Lee as to actually play the line. I play it myself as a warm up, and it is very difficult to mute. Sax lines/wide intervals, lots of string skipping/crossing. I can very much see, why people would choose flats because they are quieter.

[wateroftyne]

Just now, Grimalkin said:

 

It took Jaco just as much time to mute Donna Lee as to actually play the line. I play it myself as a warm up, and it is very difficult to mute. Sax lines/wide intervals, lots of string skipping/crossing. I can very much see, why people would choose flats because they are quieter.

 

OK.

[borntohang]

To neatly tie all three threads of this er... thread together here: I used flats for a long time and have just gone back to rounds BUT I do stick a lump of foam under the bridge because 1) I like the thumpy string response of flats and this is a fair emulation and 2) because it saves a lot of effort muting.

 

I do about the front half of the show with a P and the foam and then take it out later for the heavier fuzz stuff; the foam just cuts down on some of the ring so I don't have to concentrate as hard at keeping squeaks and sustains down. Pure laziness but also I like the tone in a band! My Jazz is currently on with Bass Centre Groundwounds which are a nice middle ground. There's something unpleasantly dull and mid-choked about flats with distortion through my IEMs even though I prefer the feel so I've come to a compromise on most of my instruments. My shorty P is definitely traditional flats though.

[ezbass]

3 hours ago, fretmeister said:

He swapped to rounds quite quickly.

 

Confirmed by Nile on twitter.

John Taylor has Bernard's old Stingray and when he acquired it, it still had flats on it, at least according to JT. Sadly, a tech saw that they were old and just stripped them off and put new ones on. JT was not best pleased it seems.

[chris_b]

I've got 3 year old D'Addario NYXL nickel rounds on my Jazz. They still have a little top end left and were sounding pretty good on last week's gig.

Edited December 20, 2021 by chris_b

[BassAdder60]

26 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I've got 3 year old D'Addario NYXL nickel rounds on my Jazz. They still have a little top end left and were sounding pretty good on last week's gig.

Are they nickel plated or pure nickel ?

Ive swopped over to Pure Nickel and so far I like the result more so than the more usual Nickel plated rounds 

[chris_b]

4 minutes ago, BassAdder27 said:

Are they nickel plated or pure nickel ?

Ive swopped over to Pure Nickel and so far I like the result more so than the more usual Nickel plated rounds 

I believe they are nickel plated, with hex core.

[Sibob]

3 hours ago, Grimalkin said:

 

It took Jaco just as much time to mute Donna Lee as to actually play the line. I play it myself as a warm up, and it is very difficult to mute. Sax lines/wide intervals, lots of string skipping/crossing. I can very much see, why people would choose flats because they are quieter.

.....but at the potential expense of all other aspects of a tone and feel that might not like or be appropriate for the music they play? I'm with WoT on this.....probably not a thing.

 

I find that different basses want different strings (obviously that sits within our personal preference for things). I had flats on my passive P/J Lakland 44-94 for a while, it sounded fine, but wasn't right.....I couldn't tell you why. Put some roundwounds on it, boom, perfect. Similar excercise with my 1971 Precision, it had rounds on it for a little while when I first got it.....wasn't right, but some flats on it....boom, perfect. My 55-01 had rounds on it for a bit, horrible.....put some tapewounds on it, boom, perfect.

To that end, I would suggest that all players, if they consider that a certain string isn't working for them, don't be all 'naaa flats/rounds are bad', just think that they might not be right for that particular bass.

 

Si

Edited December 20, 2021 by Sibob

[Grimalkin]

31 minutes ago, Sibob said:

.....but at the potential expense of all other aspects of a tone and feel that might not like or be appropriate for the music they play? I'm with WoT on this.....probably not a thing.

 

I find that different basses want different strings (obviously that sits within our personal preference for things). I had flats on my passive P/J Lakland 44-94 for a while, it sounded fine, but wasn't right.....I couldn't tell you why. Put some roundwounds on it, boom, perfect. Similar excercise with my 1971 Precision, it had rounds on it for a little while when I first got it.....wasn't right, but some flats on it....boom, perfect. My 55-01 had rounds on it for a bit, horrible.....put some tapewounds on it, boom, perfect.

To that end, I would suggest that all players, if they consider that a certain string isn't working for them, don't be all 'naaa flats/rounds are bad', just think that they might not be right for that particular bass.

 

Si

If your muting is poor it doesn't matter what about tone or feel, bad muting technique through a few hundred watts on rounds sticks out like a sore thumb. You can get away with a little more on flats.

 

I have a dedicated bass with flats, you don't get the extraneous overtones you get with rounds, for some players that is going to appeal.

 

I like the flats sound, but using them constantly would be very vanilla for what I like to play.