Flatwound Tension

[Lo-E]

Hello folks -

I'm a recent convert to flats and have been using TI JF344s for a little over a year on one of my P-Basses. I recently tried a set of RotoSound SM-77s on a J-Bass and, while very different in tone and higher in tension, I'm liking them a lot as well. I've had a set of D'Addario Chromes (light gauge) on fretless P-Bass for a while, too and even though I like the tone, the tension is a bit high for me.

I searched for a thread that made a comparison of flats by different companies and their relative tensions. I found a lot of threads that touch on the subject a little, but none that address it straight-on.

SO: Can anyone with first-hand experience please give me your thoughts on the relative tensions of the most popular flats out there?

I'm particularly interested in:
TI JF344
D'Addario Chromes
RotoSound SM77
GHS Precision Flats
LaBella 760 FL and FX
Pyramid Gold
Fender 9050 or 7150
DR
Sadowski
If I missed any standouts, feel free to include them.

Please keep replies specific to tension and feel, NOT tone. I realize that these strings vary widely in tone, but that's covered extensively in other posts.

Please try to stick to first-hand experience.

Wherever possible, try to compare strings of similar gauge.

I understand that there is a difference in actual string tension in lbs. and perceived tension. I'm only interested in how the strings feel, ie: flexibility, stiffness etc... so, yes, this will be somewhat subjective.

I'm probably asking a lot here, but the TB community has a lot of collective experience, so I'm anxious to see what we can come up with as a group.

If this has all been covered before, my apologies. I couldn't find a direct match in a search, but feel free to link me to a thread that's already beaten this to death!

Thanks in advance -
E

[TomB]

Originally Posted by Lo-E

SO: Can anyone with first-hand experience please give me your thoughts on the relative tensions of the most popular flats out there?

These are my impressions/recollections from memory and from experience; no guarantees of accuracy:

TI JF344 - by far the lowest tension
D'Addario Chromes - fairly high
RotoSound SM77 - fairly high
GHS Precision Flats - medium
LaBella 760 FL and FX - medium
Pyramid Gold - low but not as low as TI
Fender 7150 - medium (strange gauges)
DR - no experience
Sadowski - no experience, are they Labella?

[Lo-E]

Thanks, Tom! This gives me a starting point.

Anyone else?

-E

[Lo-E]

No one? Really?

[Matthew_84]

I had a set of .45 - .105 chromes on my p-bass for about 5 months before I decided that the G string sounded too tinny and that the tension was stiffer than I liked. After hearing sound clips on about five different brands I went with GHS precisions .45 - .105. I only strung them on yesterday but everything is better, the tone is punchier and meatier and as far as your concerned the tension was exactly what I wanted, not nearly as stiff as chromes. You can tug on them a bit, they certainly have rubber band-like capabilities but I have not noticed it while playing for about 3 hours. Again, was the perfect amount of tension for me.

Those are the only two I've tried myself, but don't see the need to try something else right now

[dbhokie]

I don't have enough experience with varying brands to comment, but I enjoy Ernie Ball flatwounds immensely..

[Doctor Dirt]

I've only used the Fender & LaBellas (deep talkin) offerings, I'm sure there's plenty of tension on all flats and the degrees of tension from brand to brand must be minimal I'd guess. I'm a huge fan of the Deep Talkin'! good luck, Doc.

[Lo-E]

Thanks for all the replies.

Looks like we're starting to get a consensus, which is what I was hoping for.

[insain]

New to flats myself. Chromes stuck to my fingers too much. Like the Pyramid tension. just put DR on but haven't played enough to tell yet

[yodedude2]

Originally Posted by Lo-E

<snip>
I'm particularly interested in:
TI JF344

Thomastic Infeld Jazz Flats:
.043 = 37.03 lbs
.056 = 37.47 lbs
.070 = 31.30 lbs
.100 = 34.39 lbs


D'Addario Chromes

D'Addario Chromes:
.045 = 45.7 lbs
.065 = 52.0 lbs
.080 = 43.7 lbs
.100 = 38.4 lbs

RotoSound SM77
GHS Precision Flats
LaBella 760 FL and FX
Pyramid Gold
Fender 9050 or 7150
DR
Sadowski
If I missed any standouts, feel free to include them.

D'Addario ECB80:
.040 = 37.6 lbs
.060 = 45.2 lbs
.075 = 36.4 lbs
.095 = 35.2 lbs

<snip>

i put in the specs for comparative purposes. i like the t-i flats; they do not feel low tension to me, more like regular tension. i also like the la bella tapewounds, they are slightly higher tension than the t-i flats and the gauges are much larger as well. the fender smooth tapewounds i tried and discarded were even higher tension than the la bellas; too high for me. cheers, ron

p.s. i pulled the specs from here: Flat Wound String Tension - MusicPlayer Forums

[Lo-E]

Righteous! Thanks, Ron!