69 Guild M85 II Which Flatwounds?

[Bluelizzard]

I just picked up a beautiful 1969 Guild M85 II hollow body bass in near mint condition. Came from the original owner and hardly ever played. I want to put a set of flatwounds on it. Its short-scale. Which strings do you all recommend? I have Chromes on my other basses which I like a lot but not sure if they make them in short-scale.

[Mr. Ray]

Pyramid Gold come in shortscale. I use the longscale..sound great on a hollowbody.

[Buskman]

Due to the hollowbody factor, I'd go with the short scale TI flats - low tension will be easy on the neck/body... plus they sound great, too!

I used to have a '70 EB-0 (short scale), and I first tried Rotosound flats, then Chromes - tension for both were a bit too much for the neck (especially the Rotos) causing it to bow slightly.

Next I tried the TI's - bingo! Perfect match.

They're pricey, but given the fact that flats usually last forever, it's worth it in the long run. Give 'em a shot!

[JTE]

You might also try some D'Addario Chromes. The original Guild strings were manufactured by D'Addario, and were in my experience indistinquishable from D'Addarios. I don't know how similar Chromes are to the original D'Addario flats, but it's something to look in to.

My favorite flats however are Lakland's Joe Osborne set, which I can't tell from GHS Precision Flats. The tension under both hands is about the same as my roundwound strings (either DR Sunbeams, Hi-Beams, or Lakland Stainless in 45/65/85/105), they have that classic flatwound body and thump, but also have a definite note in them instead of an indistinct blat.

jte

[lunarpollen]

I love Pyramid Gold flats. I think of them as the "prime rib" of bass strings

[FranF]

Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats, JF324! The neck will thank you...