lanark Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Okay - my cheap Affinity P-bass has a very (overly) bright, twangy, almost tinny sound. Before I fork out the money on them, can anone tell me how much effect putting flatwounds on would have on the tone? I don't want to spend £25 on a new set and find that the tone is dictated by pick-ups and the guitar itself. I play in a salsa band so I really want a warm, neutral, double-bass type sound, not a funky, bright, slap bass sound. Are flatwounds the way to go? Will they make a drastic difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pal1972 Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 hi there cant'comment on the squire P-Bass, but use flats on all my basses including warwick, status and jazz bass, and ive always found they give a much nicer warmer tone, and they dont 'twang' like rounds do at all. hope this helps [quote name='lanark' post='569971' date='Aug 15 2009, 03:07 PM']Okay - my cheap Affinity P-bass has a very (overly) bright, twangy, almost tinny sound. Before I fork out the money on them, can anone tell me how much effect putting flatwounds on would have on the tone? I don't want to spend £25 on a new set and find that the tone is dictated by pick-ups and the guitar itself. I play in a salsa band so I really want a warm, neutral, double-bass type sound, not a funky, bright, slap bass sound. Are flatwounds the way to go? Will they make a drastic difference?[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PURPOLARIS Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Buy your strings from the USA, they are the same in $ as they are £, ie $23 instead of £23, they'll deliver within a week too most of the time. I'm a recent convertee to flats and I must say, I love the feel and sound of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Yeah, I'm a recent flats convert too, in spite of being a mainly fretless player for a long while. They last longer than rounds too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 The other option would be Rotosound Trubass black nylon strings. Your bass / pickup will obviously be a factor in the tone but you'll certainly notice a real change with flats or Trubass - it'll get rid of the brightness. From what you say I find Rotosound Trubass are the closest you can get a bass guitar to sound like a double bass. They look a bit different but are good fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 I used nylon blacks on my Affinity sounded very uprighty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanark Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 [quote name='BurritoBass' post='570075' date='Aug 15 2009, 05:28 PM']The other option would be Rotosound Trubass black nylon strings. Your bass / pickup will obviously be a factor in the tone but you'll certainly notice a real change with flats or Trubass - it'll get rid of the brightness. From what you say I find Rotosound Trubass are the closest you can get a bass guitar to sound like a double bass. They look a bit different but are good fun.[/quote] They look pretty cool. Does the heavy guage make a big difference? Any sound samples anywhere to show what these sound like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 [quote name='lanark' post='570091' date='Aug 15 2009, 05:49 PM']They look pretty cool. Does the heavy guage make a big difference? Any sound samples anywhere to show what these sound like?[/quote] THe heavy gauge is no problem as they are rubber (any lighter and the neck wouldn't have the required tension. Sound wise Paul McCartney used them at Abbey Road and on the rooftop gig so that would be as good a place as any to start Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstriper Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 (edited) [quote name='lanark' post='569971' date='Aug 15 2009, 03:07 PM']Are flatwounds the way to go? Will they make a drastic difference?[/quote] Yes to both questions - you will love flats and never go back to rounds IMO. I prefer the feel of the ordinary flats to the black nylon ones and my favourites for a smooth db type sound are GHS precisions. You can get them from the US on ebay for about £20 including delivery. Edited August 15, 2009 by redstriper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanark Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 (edited) Anyone used Olympia flatwounds? How long does the US ebay guy take to deliver the Precisions to the UK? Is this the guy? [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/GHS-Precision-Flatwound-Bass-Guitar-String-M3050-45-105_W0QQitemZ370170932501QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories?hash=item562fe82d15&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116"]http://cgi.ebay.com/GHS-Precision-Flatwoun...p3286.m20.l1116[/url] Edited August 16, 2009 by lanark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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