D'Addario Flats & Picks/Fingers

[Wesley R]

I wanted ever so desperatly to get he roundwounds off of my bass. I hadn't used anything but Tape Wounds since 1970 . I also thought that I might give some flats a chance. I couldn't conveniantly get TI's and did not do a bunch of research so I ended up with D'Addario Flats, XL Chromes, medium gauge.
My thought has always been that being able to use fingers, picks and even the thumb was a good idea. My pick technique must suck, because when I use a pick with theese strings the sound is terrible, way tinny, no fundamental freq., just upper harmonics, way trebly all sortsa overhanging notes and general sucky weirdness. Perhaps this is why so many anti-pick people exist.
Using the fingers cleans up all this mess. The sustain does seem to go on forever. Remember when everyone used to pull the foam off of Fender basses and eventually the ash tray. If I had one of them with theese strings I would re-install the foam. Using the fingers and a bit of technique helps. I love the fundamental and harmonics of theese strings and my suspiscion is that after some use and time, some of the sustain will dissipate. I do like the general feel, slightly less tension would be cool, buy uneeded.
It is about as far out of the box as I can get.
Anty thoughts about pick technique or how long before theese strings settle in or settle down/

Thanks,
Wesley R.

[bazzanderson]

they sound great on my MIA Jazz V picked or fingerstyle.

[Luckydog]

I love my Chromes, but I don't use a pick at all...I get just the right amount of fundamental, and they are very even sounding. On P's as well as J's.

[markjazzbassist]

flats are like a fine wine/woman, they get better with age.

[AmazingGracePlayer]

Just don't use picks, picks are for guitars, you need to play, feel, and live the bass with your touch. If you HAVE to use a pick, I find that turning the Bass and Mid and Treble boost max helps a lot in terms of getting rid of that flat sound.