Bright flatwounds

[zackbass]

Hey guys i have a carvin b5 fretless bass and i want to play slap bass sometimes,can you all suggest some bright sounding flatwound strings that would be good for slap,because i dont want to eat up the fretboard,thanks a million

[Demon_Hunter]

Daddario chromes!!

[infamusblkdeath]

don't take my word for it,but i don't think it's even possible to get a very bright tone from flats.flats should be dull and thumpy,like an old pair of rounds.all i can tell you is that if you are looking for bright tone,flats isn't where you wanna go.
i love bright roundwound tone,and i for some reason used to think flats made your bass even brighter.so i went out and bought a $45 pair of flats.they did the exact opposite of what i was looking for.worst $45 dollars i ever spent.

P.S.,this should be in the strings section of the forum.

[1954bassman]

Fairy Dust Strings - they make flats just for slappers who play fretless.

Mark

[blendermassacre]

+1 for chromes.

Also this should be moved to strings.

[Bassology]

You might want give Ken Smith "The SLICK ROUND" a try. These are round wound, ground on the outer suface, they feel very much like flat wound.

Or, "THE COMPRESSOR", outer winding is compressed to an oval shape just before being wound on the string. It will still dig into the fingerboard, but definately not as much as your typical roundwounds.

[FL Knifemaker]

Originally Posted by zackbass

Hey guys i have a carvin b5 fretless bass and i want to play slap bass sometimes,can you all suggest some bright sounding flatwound strings that would be good for slap,because i dont want to eat up the fretboard,thanks a million

I've been slapping rounds on my B4 for quite a while. The ebony holds up very well, nothing other than VERY slight surface marks that don't affect playability. I've never played flats on a fretless that I was happy with, including chromes.

[Mutant Corn]

Groundwound/Half-round strings like Bassology described are exactly what you've described.

[funkytoe]

I used to string my fretless BB2000 with GHS Brite Flats. They are ground wound strings that sound great on fretless and slap pretty good as well. Cannot recommend the Chromes ime. Although they are bright sounding flats, they are still flats.

If you really do want to keep that sizzle and mwah without eating your board, then you should find a good set of groundwound strings.

The GHS brite flats are pretty cheap (around $20). I thought they were the best sounding strings I ever had on my fretless. In fact, when I sold it, the first question I got from the buyer was "What strings are these? I love them!!"

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Never tried them, but since Steve Harris can get a fairly bright tone with flats, you should give his signature set a try.

But anyway, I also think that flatwounds aren't adequate for a bright, snappy slap tone.

[jopy]

there's this guy named larry graham who used to slap flats. i think he even sort of built up a name for himself with them. it isn't a bright tone, but for some people it's the sound of classic soul and funk slap style.

i've been working on slapping with chromes, and if i eq up the high end and use just the neck pickup, i get a nice tone considering the limits of my skills.

there's a fairly good comparison on the lakland website:

http://www.lakland.com/ac_4401.htm

[RAM]

So let me get this straight...you want to use flats ONLY because they won't eat up your fretboard?

Ummmm....

[Rawkabilly]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

Never tried them, but since Steve Harris can get a fairly bright tone with flats, you should give his signature set a try.

Those are only bright for a couple of hours, then they die and are actually quite thumpy. They're also very high tension. Some guys like 'em, but I thought they really sucked.
I like Chromes for a brighter tone from flats. They do lose a little bit of brightness after a few days of playing, but they're still pretty bright for flats and they stay that way for years.
Personally, I'd go with rounds for slappin'.

[classic57]

I would say try GHS Brite Flats (which are not really flat, but groundwound), or GHS Pressurewounds, which are a little brighter.