Flats are off

[Lozz196]

1 hour ago, Steve Browning said:

That's what I thought. I've got 12 and still hanker after a number of them in the classifieds!

Now that’s the Basschat attitude, well done Steve 👏🏻

[bassbiscuits]

I find different basses suit different strings too. My precision with Labella flats sounds great. My active Yamahas sound better with round wounds. That also gives me the option to cover a lot of sonic ground depending on what sort of music I’m playing. 

[neepheid]

16 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said:

I find different basses suit different strings too. My precision with Labella flats sounds great. My active Yamahas sound better with round wounds. That also gives me the option to cover a lot of sonic ground depending on what sort of music I’m playing. 

 

I use the same strings on everything.  I don't give a toot what the bass in question has to say about it.  What next, give them the vote?  It's a slipperly slope...

 

[pn_day]

If you like the feel and sound of the La Bellas, but they are just a bit too 'rigid' for your pinkie, try the low tension flats (La Bella LTFs).

 

But as others have said, sometimes different strings suit different basses - I love the TI Jazz flats on a few other basses but they didn't sound 'right' on my Precision...

 

 

[Baloney Balderdash]

I have always used rounds, and personally I prefer the light gauged balanced tension set by D'Addario, the gauge .095 - .070 - .055 - .040 set.

 

Has a so much richer tone than flats.

 

Until fairly recently I even hated the tone from flats, but have since learned to appreciate the sound of them, even if they are not for me personally.

 

Flats absolutely do have their place.

 

But anyway congratulations on your discovery.

 

Perhaps worth trying out a lighter set rounds, if your fretting hand fingers are struggling, just as long as you remember to adjust your picking technique to a lighter touch, to accommodate the lower tension, who knows might lead to another revelation. 

 

Edited November 7, 2024 by Baloney Balderdash

[Jack]

On 05/11/2024 at 10:24, deepbass5 said:

Funny you say that,  as i have been looking out for a PJ with maple board i can have rounds on as an opposite and more versatile bass to the rosewood P with flats, but cant really justify it if i'm honest. I will run with this CS on rounds until GAS bites again, It really needs to be used more and i can easily EQ out the highs when required but can't bring them up if they were not there in the first place. cheers all -just sharing my new found joy 😁

G&L SB2 Tribute. You'll thank me later. 

[Beedster]

On a Precision I'd record with flats, but gig with rounds. I love the nuanced tone of flats but live that can get lost and sometimes you just need that top-end energy that sounds bring. 

[Quatschmacher]

On 05/11/2024 at 07:04, uk_lefty said:

You need two P basses. One for flats, one for rounds. 

Maybe 4: maple+rounds, maple+flats, rosewood+rounds, rosewood+flats. (And then maybe the same but with ash bodies; I can see why people end up with many basses.)

[Lozz196]

17 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Maybe 4: maple+rounds, maple+flats, rosewood+rounds, rosewood+flats. (And then maybe the same but with ash bodies; I can see why people end up with many basses.)

All seems perfectly reasonable to me

[joel406]

At last count. I have 9 Bass's.

 

All have the same strings.

 

Their a Mix of Precisions, Jazz, a couple of PJs (one was born a Precision). As well as A G&L L2500 (arriving tomorrow). Which will go straight to a wizard I know to be setup. It will receive the same strings as all my other instruments. Been playing these strings since the 80s. Tried others. I even have sets of others on hand. Should that pesky brain tumor have any ideas.

 

Moral of the story...

 

Play wat ya like.

 

Wear a tinfoil hat.

Edited November 15, 2024 by joel406

[Quilly]

I know it’s conventional wisdom to put flats on a fretless to save the fingerboard or whatever but I’ve put a set of light gage round nickels on my fretless bass and I much prefer it. I think the sound from a fretless is dark enough without adding to it.

Edited December 2, 2024 by Quilly

[pn_day]

It worked for Jaco. And "the fretless monster"! 

 

Having said that, I like the mid-heavy content that TI-Jazz flats give on fretless. 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2024 by pn_day

[StingRayBoy42]

44 minutes ago, pn_day said:

It worked for Jaco. And "the fretless monster"!

Didn't he coat his fingerboard in yacht varnish or something?

[crazycloud]

On 16/11/2024 at 01:14, joel406 said:

Wear a tinfoil hat.

But for best results, ensure it has a low impedance ground.

[BillyBass]

On 03/12/2024 at 02:21, crazycloud said:

But for best results, ensure it has a low impedance ground.

You fool, do you really think that will protect you from the cosmic rays?

[StingRayBoy42]

28 minutes ago, BillyBass said:

You fool, do you really think that will protect you from the cosmic rays?

 

That's what big foil wants you to think

[Terry M.]

Learned the expensive way that flats aren't for me. Tried a few different sets and then bit the bullet on the most costly set of them all,TI Jazz Flats. Rounds all the way for me now going forward. As said before play whatever resonates with you and makes you happy.

[chris_b]

10 years ago I put TI flats on my Mike Lull PJ5 and it came alive. Those strings are still on and sounding better than ever.

 

Encouraged by this success I put flats on my Sadowsky Jazz bass. . . . and killed the tone. It turned into a dull and toneless waste of space. I put NYXL's back on and restored the magic.

 

I also have a Cort Jazz bass which was improved by the addition of GHS flats.

[Schnozzalee]

5 minutes ago, chris_b said:

10 years ago I put TI flats on my Mike Lull PJ5 and it came alive. Those strings are still on and sounding better than ever.

 

Encouraged by this success I put flats on my Sadowsky Jazz bass. . . . and killed the tone. It turned into a dull and toneless waste of space. I put NYXL's back on and restored the magic.

 

I also have a Cort Jazz bass which was improved by the addition of GHS flats.

+1 TI/Roto flats have transformed a couple of my basses, but I don't really like them on my maple precision, so I'll be going back to D'Addario rounds for that one - Trial over.

Edited December 29, 2024 by Schnozzalee

[SurroundedByManatees]

I've got ernie ball cobalt flats on my '57 cs precision, which are a very good match. I can't think of a better set of strings for it.

They don't sound like traditional flats at all, more like well balanced played-in rounds.

Had them on a Jazz Bass too, which was okay too...but not superb. I think they would do great on my Gibson G3 though.