BassAdder60 Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 (edited) First time user of flats on my PBass Labella 760FL fitted to my player series PBass and Fender 9050L flats fitted to my Squire Classic Vibe Pbass Less string noise and so smooth and next the tone test Let’s see how they work with the band Edited February 23, 2022 by BassAdder27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 Congratulations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 Labella 760FL are a great choice on a precision , i had those for years and I still have on some basses, but on new ones in i like the slightly lower tension on the LTFs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyc Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 Welcome, to the flat side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAdder60 Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 I tune to Eb so tension perfect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 (edited) 2 minutes ago, BassAdder27 said: I tune to Eb so tension perfect Ah cool 👍, LTF’s would be no good for that Edited February 19, 2022 by Reggaebass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAdder60 Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 They are so different to roundwounds and initially look odd to a roundwound user of many years. For using a pick they seem to be a match and give a warm thump to the tone. Added advantage I can leave them on for ages !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunion Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 I was a dyed in the wool rounds player but after I put TI’s on my cutlass it’s now the bass I reach for the most… 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAdder60 Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 What I’m learning using flats … The tone has a woody thump vibe and with a pick ( nylon ) it sits well for rock and has a sound that is typical 60’s 70’s rock It works very well with a PBass and my Ashdown abm600 rig. Plenty of wallop and thump and so much kinder to your fingers. Reduced string noise too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 6 minutes ago, BassAdder27 said: What I’m learning using flats … The tone has a woody thump vibe and with a pick ( nylon ) it sits well for rock and has a sound that is typical 60’s 70’s rock It works very well with a PBass and my Ashdown abm600 rig. Plenty of wallop and thump and so much kinder to your fingers. Reduced string noise too If you wait a while you'll learn it works out cheaper too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 (edited) I use the 760FS Gold flats, they give more mids than the standard 760 but the trade off is slightly lower output because of the "gold alloy" wrap. They've been on my main P bass for 3 years so far and I'm sure I'll get many more years out of them. As others have said Welcome to flats and enjoy! Edited February 21, 2022 by Rodders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borntohang Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 I oscillate between flats and rounds on a regular basis. Love them on a P bass but then I start to miss the clang, so I change back to round. Couple of weeks later I start to miss the woodiness and so... I've been getting good mileage out of rounds with a bit of sponge for that muted attack and sustain you get on flats, which I actually enjoy a lot more than the actual flat tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAdder60 Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 I’m really enjoying the smooth feel too Makes slides etc so much easier on the fingers They seem to play better with a pick compared to rounds as much better thump and less clang Hopefully they work at next band rehearsal and my studio visit this month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAdder60 Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 (edited) Update .. band rehearsals and I didn’t get on with the flatwounds For my rock band I felt the sound was too mellow so I will be taking them off. Edited February 23, 2022 by BassAdder27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 Yeah I’ve found that flats just don’t have the top end that I need for rock. I do have a set of Chromes that I’ll try at some point though, they came on a Precision I bought and they play really nicely so maybe with a re-eq on the amp I can get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Oddly enough I am one of the few that finds flats work better at home, I find most bass amps and rigs have more than enough low end (too much on a lot of them) and then when you throw in guitars and a drummer I find it gets hard to hear what is going on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NT1991 Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 On 22/02/2022 at 22:49, BassAdder27 said: Update .. band rehearsals and I didn’t get on with the flatwounds For my rock band I felt the sound was too mellow so I will be taking them off. I get what you mean they can be difficult in some settings, however I think Steve Harris of Iron Maiden uses flats and his tone really suits rock/metal which I always find weird. Although he may well just change them a lot more regularly, and I suppose tone is still in the fingers... As for me I think I'm gonna put flats on my Telecaster bass and a homemade mute to get that retro jazz/motown sound. I tried some years ago and just loved the feel of them, but for my main basses I'll stick to rounds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Horse Murphy Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Funnily enough, the older I've got the more I've realised there's a place in this world for Flats and Rounds. When I was younger I had all my basses strung with Flatwounds (mostly TI's which are still my Flatwounds string of choice). As time went on though I decided to string one of my basses with Ernie Ball Extra Slinky Roundwounds (40-95's) as I was missing a bit of zing in a few songs. It was a revelatory experience and now I have seven of my nine basses string with Rounds as (to me) they just suit the bass better and work with their dynamics more than the TI's do. IMHO having a P Bass with Flats and another with Rounds is about all you'll need to get by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 23 minutes ago, NT1991 said: I get what you mean they can be difficult in some settings, however I think Steve Harris of Iron Maiden uses flats and his tone really suits rock/metal which I always find weird. Although he may well just change them a lot more regularly, and I suppose tone is still in the fingers... Steve Harris changes them for every gig and every recording session, fresh flatwounds can be pretty aggressive however for most of us they are just too expensive for us to be able to afford to do this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NT1991 Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 7 minutes ago, shoulderpet said: Steve Harris changes them for every gig and every recording session, fresh flatwounds can be pretty aggressive however for most of us they are just too expensive for us to be able to afford to do this Ahh well that would explain it then, cheers for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 When I ordered my Sandberg it came with 40-100 rounds and they sounded really nice, so it’s not the sound I don’t like with rounds , I could eq the brightness down too , it’s the finger noise and the feel of them I can’t get on with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAdder60 Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 4 minutes ago, Reggaebass said: When I ordered my Sandberg it came with 40-100 rounds and they sounded really nice, so it’s not the sound I don’t like with rounds , I could eq the brightness down too , it’s the finger noise and the feel of them I can’t get on with From a fretting point I agree they are great. I didn’t like the plucking feel with pick or fingers. I can see for some styles they would be great, just not for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, shoulderpet said: Oddly enough I am one of the few that finds flats work better at home, I find most bass amps and rigs have more than enough low end (too much on a lot of them) and then when you throw in guitars and a drummer I find it gets hard to hear what is going on Just to add to my post, really, Really oddly the tone I got from flatwounds that cut through the mix best was on a Hofner contemporary club bass, both pickups on full, slight boost in the upper mids and treble, cut through no problem but for some reason a P bass with flats just doesnt with me Sadly I stopped using the Hofner as the 14mm string spacing made it really awkward to switch to other basses Edited February 24, 2022 by shoulderpet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munurmunuh Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 On 24/02/2022 at 15:33, NT1991 said: I get what you mean they can be difficult in some settings, however I think Steve Harris of Iron Maiden uses flats and his tone really suits rock/metal which I always find weird. Although he may well just change them a lot more regularly, and I suppose tone is still in the fingers. On 24/02/2022 at 15:53, shoulderpet said: Steve Harris changes them for every gig and every recording session, fresh flatwounds can be pretty aggressive however for most of us they are just too expensive for us to be able to afford to do this On 24/02/2022 at 16:00, NT1991 said: Ahh well that would explain it then, cheers for the info! Furthermore, his set is 50-75-95-110 - total tension is over 240 lbs 😳 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 He must have to do weight training on his fingers for those Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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