advice about flatwounds on stingray

[mantaraya]

hi there. im playing a Eb musicman stingray, Thinking about switching to flats. Ive owned la bellas stainless steel( wich i hate, just too treble) hartkes ( iwouldnt waste my money again) and XL addarios. And of course the slinkys that came with it. from all above i ll stick to ernie´s and addarios. thsi is what i think.

ernie´s: nice balance, maybe a little floopy but not lasting.
addarios: balance not so good, steady but harder to play, lasting.

my point is i would like to have a nice warm/mellow sound. What do you think are better fit strings in all these terms mentioned???. ernies or addarios. what do you think about maybe Dr extra life, EXP adda coated, totosound, elixir?????. thanks

[Marton]

Maybe TI flats, they're low tension, but I've heard they're brighter than most flats.

[Joebone]

What's your goal - old school thump or something more soloistic?

If the former, the La Bellas (non-Jamerson model) seem pretty good, although I'm not entirely sold on the B-string, which is difficult to intonate once I get up around the 8th fret. I have them on an SR5H (20th Anniversary) and am really enjoying the tone, although I think my playing at speed is cleaner and more athletic on rounds or TI's.

I love the TI Flats, but already have them on a P/J with which they mate nicely, and for me, the low tension of the TI's invites G and B string treachery given how close each of those strings are to the edge of the SR5 fretboard.

I tried the D'Addario Chromes, which many folks dig, but I disliked their tone, their surface feel, and the quality control on a G string for which the silk windings failed -- twice.

Overall, I'm really liking flats with the SR5, although I'm also giving some thought to trying DR Black Beauties at some point.

[scowboy]

Never tried flats on my SR4H but I have used DR Black Beauties for a long time and they deal with a lot of that treble ickyness that a SR can have. On another slightly related note I just put some MTD Nickelwounds on my Warwick Corvette $$ 5 and they have a nice mellowing effect as well. On my current Stingray which is an '09 model the treble control also deals with the above mentioned ickyness very well too. The other two Stingray H's I have owned which were probably about '04/'05 models I did not find the preamp quite as potent but it could just be my poor memory and lack of experience who knows.

I have never tried the TI flats but they sure get the props in the TB circles.

[mmbongo]

DR Extra Life or SIT Silencers for sure. Silencers are as close as you can come to flats without being flats. Me personally? I can't stand flats. I never understood why anybody would want that dull tone on purpose. But that's just me

[mntngrown]

I got a MM Bongo in trade strung with the heavier gauge chromes, well broken in and took em off right away for SS but on a whim put em back on. Love em now for classic rock and blues but still a little sustain and zing.
Obviously a Ray is a bit less hot preamp wise but I would not hesitate to try em on any MM bass. Course I got em already broken in. Hope they last a few years more. (can you spell economical). IF.....you want the flats sound you hear from Jamerson, Duck Dunn, etc in the 60's you will find Chromes a little too bright and not dead thump enough.

[Ron G]

Check this out I hope it helps you out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho42fxFsE6M

[Jehos]

Originally Posted by Ron G

Check this out I hope it helps you out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho42fxFsE6M

I was going to post that.

That's strung with Chromes, which are pretty much the brightest of the flats. They are very roundwound-sounding brand new but settle down over time.