Flatwound Strings

[T. Alan Smith]

Greetings,

I've got a MM Stingray 4 fretless on it's way. I never owned a fretless before and was wondering what y'all recommend for flatwound strings.
Also, what is the hype concerning the Jamerson sets?

Thanks,

T. Alan

[LowfreqB]

Ignore the jamerson hype, buy yourself a set of Thomasik infelds, I just put them on my MIM jazz, hot damn if that’s not the best string I have ever tried. Since I like them so much, I don’t think I will be switching again, I tried DR's, Fenders; I even put nickel rounds on my bass (not a wise idea). Plus legend has it that these strings last and last and last. The guitar professor here uses the be-bop jazz strings for his guitar. He put them on in April and gigs 2-3 times a week. Still going.....

[SuperDuck]

Fender 7050s have never let me down, but it's all personal preference. TI's are supposed to be damn good, as was said above, so I'll have to try them some day.

[T. Alan Smith]

Thanks for the info. Where do you recommend purchasing the Thomasik infelds?

T. Alan

[relman]

Originally posted by SuperDuck
Fender 7050s have never let me down, but it's all personal preference. TI's are supposed to be damn good, as was said above, so I'll have to try them some day.

aren't the 7050's roundwounds?

[notduane]

Originally posted by T. Alan Smith
Thanks for the info. Where do you recommend
purchasing the Thomastik infelds?

T. Alan...

You might check your "local" Guitar Center. I dunno Illinois
that well, but according to the G/C site there are stores
in Arlington Heights, Burbank, Chicago, Highland Park, and
Villa Park.

If that's too far, you can get`em online at JustStrings.com.
The JF344 set (Jazz Flat / 34" scale / 4-string) is about $36.

You should know...A lotta' folks consider TI Flats too loose or
"floppy". They are low tension compared to many other flats.
The LaBella Jamerson set's at the other end of the tension scale.

[SuperDuck]

Originally posted by relman


aren't the 7050's roundwounds?

Whoopsie doodle... My mind must have been elsewhere. I don't think there's such a thing as 7050... I know 7250s... ANYWAY, the flats are 9050s... sorry for any confusion. Good call, relman.

[boogiebass]

Originally posted by LowfreqB
Ignore the jamerson hype, buy yourself a set of Thomasik infelds..

TI Jazz Flats are great strings but very low tension, rather light gauge and certainly not what every bassist is looking for. The Jamerson LaBella's are thicker, higher tension and great strings, too. I favor the TI's for a more "modern" sound on a fretless AmJazzDlx I own but greatly prefer the LaBella's on one of my pre-CBS Precisions, a '64. There's no comparison in tone--they both sound quite different. Given your stated use, you'd probably be happier with TI's assuming you can handle the gauge and tension. They're pretty floppy if you're used to more "traditional" strings.

[relman]

Originally posted by SuperDuck


Whoopsie doodle... My mind must have been elsewhere. I don't think there's such a thing as 7050... I know 7250s... ANYWAY, the flats are 9050s... sorry for any confusion. Good call, relman.

that's what i was born for...to annoy and correct

i've heard good things about them too...

[Munjibunga]

Thomastik Jazz Flats if you're looking for an aggressive, fairly bright sound. I love 'em. Yeah, they're slinky, but you get used to it. It's their SOUND that kills.

[T. Alan Smith]

Thanks for all the replys. I'll definately check out the TI's. My bass, however won't be in for a couple months from now.

T. Alan

[carl-anton]

Hey you flatwounders, I was just wondering if you would recommend shifting to flatwounds. I use nickel roundwounds (on a fretted stringray5) and like them when i've played a little. Is flatwound totally dead compared to the roundwounds or what? Is strings like Slowounds and the brighter flatwounds close in sound, or are they worlds apart? (could you slap flatwounds - I dont like that zingy slap tone anyway, but prefer a more mellow 'fullbodied' sound)
Or, is flatwounds simply what you use on a fretless, and nowhere else?

Thanks

[Monkey]

Carl-Anton, you should try a set of flats. I don't think flats sound like dead rounds at all. It is a different sound altogether. I haven't tried slowwounds. You can slap on flats; you might like the tone, although most slappers don't seem to. Flats definitely aren't only for fretless. They were the original string, and all the great lines by the early bassists were done on flats. I love them.

[fireglo forever]

I was about to post a new thread when i saw this one..
I was just gonna ask about slinky flats, because i love soft, slinky strings.

My fretless curbow 5 has a set of roundwound gh boomers at the moment, but i was planning to get some flats. Do the Thomasik infelds come in 5-string sets? Im asking, because most good strings seem to only come in 4 sets, dammit!

[ohiobob227]

Yes, the Thoms come in 5 string sets. If I remember correctly, there's sometimes an issue with the length of the strings, especially if you have a very long scale bass, or it strings through the body. There's a Thomastik forum at http://pub41.ezboard.com/bthedudepit and Kevin Reynolds of Conolly & Co (the US importers of thomastik strings) is a regular poster there, so he should be able to answer any questions you may have.

mike

[Michael Jewels]

For flats I'd recommend Rotosound RS77s. They're very responsive for a flatwound string. Almost approaching roundwound land.

Mike J.

[Aaron]

Are the jamerson flats the thumpiest?

[Michael Jewels]

Originally posted by PortraitofTracy
Are the jamerson flats the thumpiest?

I'd definitely say so. I bought a set of Jamerson 1954 strings and put them on my Casady. I then took them right off my Casady. Too stiff for me. And the tension; It was like the Cuban Missile Crisis!
If you like thumpy, these strings got it by the bushel.

Mike J.

[steamboat]

I've had Rotosound Trubass nylon tapewounds on my fretless Stingray 5 for awhile now and they've been great.

[Flatwound]

Originally posted by PortraitofTracy
Are the jamerson flats the thumpiest?

Noooooo! They're nice strings, but IMO the real thumpmeisters are Fender 9050's. In fact I just took the Jamersons off my Precision and put an old set of 9050's back on. Very close to bass nirvana. The Ernies are also pretty thumpy.