Wanted to enter the world of flats and had two questions.

1) On my hwy1 jazz, there is a consistent hum that is cancelled whenever I touch something metal on the bass (i.e. most of the time the strings). Will flatwounds take this cancelling away? i.e., would the material wound around the string stop this "grounding"?

2) Any particular suggestions for a flatwound that 'thumps' particularly well for country/celtic?

Cheers

I've really enjoyed using Sadowsky Flats. I don't think you could go wrong with at least trying a set. I also liked Lakland flats on my Lakland bass when I had it. The Chromes aren't bad either. If you don't like a lot of tension the Thomastik's are nice.

i dunno about the grounding issue that sounds more like something a guitar tech would know about

i use rotosound heavy flats (50-110) there a little stiff and high tensioned but they really produce a nice low end thump each man has his own fave though so your best of trying different brands and weights you'll know when you find the right strings

I put D'Addario Chromes on my stingray HH and it is dub heaven

For ol' time thump, consider La Bella Deep Talkin'. As with any string, though, carefully consider taper (at bridge) and string-length to make sure it fits your bass and the way you string it (bridge or through-body).

As for hum, that's a grounding problem somewhere in your rig. Unless you're playing under some serious florescent lighting (which can cause hum with single-coil pickups), you probably have a bad ground wire in your bass.

I'm assuming you know that with passive Jazz basses, you tend to get hum unless you have both pickups on full.

D'a Chromes are real nice on P basses and great as a overall flat i love em. On the hum, strings will not change this. You have a ground issue which can be in the bass..loose ground wire at the bridge or sheilding could be needed. It could also be bad house wiring or lighting etc.

Yeah, I have both at full to cancel the hum, but this is a different sort, a buzz you could call it. I'm guessing it migth have something to do with a ground not running to the bridge properly? I wasn't sure if it was to be expected or not, by your replies sounds like it isn't.

It's been doing it since day one (~ a month ago), so I'll just take it back to see if they can't do something about it.

I just put RotoSound Tru Bass on my old EB-3, and the sound is fantastic!

I had chromes on my MIM P, but took them off. For some reason flats really accentuated the harmonic overtones at certain points round the fretboard. Does anyone else get this or is it my bass/setup/playing style etc...

I have some fender 9050ml flats on my AM deluxe P (passified)
great for country/celtic "thumb thump"

I had chromes on my MIM P, but took them off. For some reason flats really accentuated the harmonic overtones at certain points round the fretboard. Does anyone else get this or is it my bass/setup/playing style etc...

Chromes can be bizarrely ringy when new on some basses. They settle down and fill out quickly, though, worth the wait if this was your problem.

I too have noticed that with the use of Chromes on certain basses, it makes them sound out of tune. Is that what you are talking about? I would love to find a solution for that too. I have a couple of different Alembic basses that I use, but there is one in particular that I cannot use Chromes on. For some reason all is well with the intonation and tuning, but when I play up the neck, the overtones make it sound horribly out of tune.