Flatwounds and headless basses

[wintoid]

I decided to try some flatwounds for the first time since about 198x.  My current bass is a headless Roscoe, and I bought Thomastik flats as an experiment.

 

With my headstock, you have to trim the strings and clamp them at approximately the right length.  When I went to trim the first string (G), I tried to match the length to the string that was coming off.  That meant I clipped it so that there was no silkwound string at all.  The old string still had some silk at the clipping point.  Subsequently, as I tightened the string, it slipped quite a lot, and basically mangled the string where it was clamped, so it's now unuseable.  I've had to go back to the Rotosound roundwound.

 

Looking in the documentation that came with my bass, I found a piece of text in the letter which says "we do not recommend the use of taperwound or contact core strings due to issues with intonation and setup".  I don't really know what this means.  Are Thomastik flats taperwound or contact core?

 

Hoping for some guidance here.  Do you think the problem is that flatwound strings are just not compatible with this method of clamping, or was the issue that I clamped where there was no silk?  If it's the silk, should I order 32" strings for my 34" bass, or will they be too short?

 

Any advice gratefully appreciated!

[Boodang]

I have a headless bass with ABM hardware and I've been unsuccessful in clamping any Thomastik strings on it without them unraveling when tuned up. In fairness to Thomastik they're not the only ones that don't like being abused in this way. 

Unfortunately I believe that by going headless you're restricting the number of strings you can use. Most strings are not designed to be cut below the silk and then have the windings crushed! 

Consequently I'm using double ball end strings but the choice is limited. Worse thing I did was have a custom made as a headless.

[wintoid]

Thanks @Boodang

 

In true Basschat fashion, the only reasonable thing to do was to replace the bass, which is what I've done.  My new one is not headless, and I've been enjoying trying different strings!

[Boodang]

Strings are such an important thing! So it seems a shame to restrict which ones you can use.

[fretmeister]

Depends entirely on how the clamp works.

 

Flats work fine on the EHB Ibanez basses - I use Ti flats on mine for that.

The biggest problem is round core strings because the wrap wire can come undone and effectively disassemble the string. DR and Newtone give instructions how to avoid that - and basically it means putting a strong bend in the string beyond the playing area to give the string something to grip on internally.

 

On DR strings you can feel a little square bit under the wrap close to where the silk starts - that is where they've put a square or hex core section in so the wrap wire doesn't come undone.

[Boodang]

My latest strings, Galli Synthesis, have a multi strand nylon core, utterly impossible to clamp! 

[fretmeister]

On 16/12/2021 at 17:03, Boodang said:

My latest strings, Galli Synthesis, have a multi strand nylon core, utterly impossible to clamp! 

Interesting!

 

Where did you get them from?

[Boodang]

2 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Interesting!

 

Where did you get them from?

Bass Direct... under the 'flat wound' sub-heading. I've done a separate BC thread on these strings in the 'misc' section.

I use Obligato strings on my DB and they have a nylon core which makes them very flexible. I love the feel of these strings so when I came across the Galli Synthesis strings I was quite excited. They're really 'buttery' to play and not dull sounding. They take a few days to settle in tho. There's a clip in the thread as well.

[wrinkleygit]

Back in the day when I had my headless Sei Original 5er, I used Labella double ball end flats from Bass Direct, from memory you had to buy a 4 string set plus a separate low B.