5 string flatwound set

[chilliwilli]

im thinking of switching on over to flats.

I've heard real good things about the labella deep talkin' flats.

I also wanna slap though do you think these particular flats will be useful for that? or is their a better flat string for slap

And just how tense are these? I know flats are gonna have more tension, but just how tense? Should i buy the lighter gauge set of Labella DTF fo easier slap and less tension? For comparison purposes how much tighter feelin than the steel roundwound Labella deep talkin string?

I play a 5 string fender american deluxe jazz bass and play funk/R&B mostly. MY bass also has a sring thru body bridge, so im not sure if these will even fit if i buy em

[DavePlaysBass]

I played a 5 string set of TI flats on my G&L 2500. The B string was descent IME and matched the set.

Dave

[pickles]

That 90 degree turn that the string needs to make on a through body bass is going to be murder for any flatwound, you'll get wrap seperation at the witness point. Have you tried halfrounds like GHS brite flats? Those might hold together better.

[chilliwilli]

Originally Posted by DavePlaysBass

I played a 5 string set of TI flats on my G&L 2500. The B string was descent IME and matched the set.

Dave

to expensive and i hear they dont slap well compared to other flats

[chilliwilli]

Originally Posted by pickles

That 90 degree turn that the string needs to make on a through body bass is going to be murder for any flatwound, you'll get wrap seperation at the witness point. Have you tried halfrounds like GHS brite flats? Those might hold together better.

i looked on their website they dont offer a 5 string set of brite flats

any other ideas?

[Ric Vice]

Chiwilli,
Lemur Music carries (or did carry) Tomastik Super Long Scale 36"
Jazz Bass Flatwounds. Their expensive, and the B String still dosen't
make it through the body. IMHO Flatwounds sound better on a passive
bass. Something weird (weak) about the way they sound on my Lakland 55-94 with active electronics.

Ric

[chilliwilli]

like i said to the other guy TI is to expensive for me :P

I'd be mroe interested in hearing about ppl experiences and comparisons with 5 string versions of Labella's various flatwounds or D'Addario chromes, etc.

[chilliwilli]

Originally Posted by pickles

That 90 degree turn that the string needs to make on a through body bass is going to be murder for any flatwound, you'll get wrap seperation at the witness point. Have you tried halfrounds like GHS brite flats? Those might hold together better.

You know i was reading this again and im wondering if others cpuld confirm this.

I'm sure i've seen players use flats with strung thru body bridges, but i could be wrong.

[phat5]

Chilli...I'm currently using the Chromes on my Fender RB5; thru the body. They feel silky smooth, semi stiff tension and they sound great! Like strong present flats with a bite! I'm not worried about the outter wrap separating, they're holding up quite well. I know of a few RB5 users who string their chromes thru the bridge, I chose to use the ECB81-5SL's thru the body; IMHO there is no difference. With the chromes on my bass, I can dial in a 70's-ish P Bass tone....ala Brick House. Feel free to e-mail me for any further questions.

H2

[chilliwilli]

Originally Posted by HUMBUCK2

Chilli...I'm currently using the Chromes on my Fender RB5; thru the body. They feel silky smooth, semi stiff tension and they sound great! Like strong present flats with a bite! I'm not worried about the outter wrap separating, they're holding up quite well. I know of a few RB5 users who string their chromes thru the bridge, I chose to use the ECB81-5SL's thru the body; IMHO there is no difference. With the chromes on my bass, I can dial in a 70's-ish P Bass tone....ala Brick House. Feel free to e-mail me for any further questions.

H2

email sent

[gojirin]

I put a set of Chromes on my Spectorcore 5 not expecting them to work for what I wanted. Mine isn't a string-thru and this is not a slapin' bass, but the tension is just about right and the tone is a nice and even. The Fishman pu by itself has none of the harshness that other strings can bring out. 2 months later they're still on it. On this bass the TI's were rather dull and a bit loose. I've heard great things about the deep talkin' Labella's and ironiclly I was planning on ordering a set for this bass, but the Chromes worked fine.

[DavePlaysBass]

Originally Posted by chilliwilli

to expensive and i hear they dont slap well compared to other flats

Here's a dude slapping at the end of track titled "South Bound Train". He's using TI Flats on a Roscoe Beck.

Flats don't sound like rounds but if you can get the groove why not.

As for price, I understand the concern when buying rounds but with flats, you can get a year or two out of them. Even more for some. So what's a $20 savings over a year compared to the small fortune you have in the bass and amp.

Dave

[chilliwilli]

wheres the link to the guy slapping with the roscoebeck and TIs?

and if i dont like em thats 70 bucks savings not 20. I also dont spend alot on gear. I bought my american deluxe Fender jazz 5 string used for $600 and my Carvin 1900 watt and 1200 4x10 cost $1000 together. I also have an 1983 Ibanez Roadstar II that i modified myself. I always look to save. I never been to big on having the best stuff, just interested in being the best player i am.

I'm looking for more of a slick R&B tone and i just found out Palladino uses Labella dt flats for all his stuff with Jill Scott. That alone might convince me.

Labella or chromes seems more like a safe bet. Not as expensive, more traditional, and seems more versatile.

[chilliwilli]

Update!

I ordered the 5 string deeptalkin 760M flats from Labella. They might not be long enough to fit my through body, but i got them for $35!!! They come WEdnesday.

Even if they dont fit my jazz i can try loading them the regular way or even put them on my 4 string P-bass just to see how they are.

My only worry is that they are gonna be to heavy and tense. Its a shame the music store i ordered em from didnt have a light set in any of their catalogs

[DavePlaysBass]

Originally Posted by chilliwilli

wheres the link to the guy slapping with the roscoebeck and TIs?

The last 30 seconds of South Bound Train

http://www.elisporch.com/music/music.html

Labellas get a lot of good reviews. I personally like the lower tension of the TIs but have never played any Labellas.

Dave

[chilliwilli]

hmm sounds pretty good

not sure if its good enough to drop 3 tanks worth of gas on though

Oh yea and if you didnt see my threa din bass forum, i traded the jazz for a Korean G&L L-2500, so the flats will be going on that thing instead of the jazz and on this bass i dont need extra long set of flats

[DavePlaysBass]

I played a super long set strung thru body on a 2500. Had a real mid range nasal thing. I really liked it at times. I think you are better to go with a 34" set given the beefier E string.

Today I have a 34" set on my Jazz bass. They really go well with the jazz. I went thru several sets of rounds before I tried the TI flats on the Jazz and it was a match made in heaven.

Dave

[chilliwilli]

Since they didnt offer labella's lighter set in extra long(their medium set seemed to thick and i was worried about tension) i went for sadowsky stainless steel flats extra long set (45-130) since the guage was somwhere in between and figured it would be almost the same type of string since the labella ppl make these for sadowsky.

I loosened the truss rod about a half turn after i put em on and they feel and sound great plus are perfect for slapping. They should mellow out a bit by tommorow before i play at church gig.

Oh and they were only $40 from bigcitystrings. If you order em direct from sadowsky they are like 10 bucks more.

[DavePlaysBass]

Are Sadowsky flats made by La Bella?

It would make sense because I hear good things about both.

Dave

[MAJOR METAL]

Check out the Sadowsky flatwound 5's.