Help with finding good flats

[Waspinators]

I usually use rounds, but I'm tired of having to raise the action because of fret buzz, and the other sound bi-products they cause are distracting. So I'm looking for a set of flatwounds that are easy on the neck and fingers, but have a nice, metallic sounding brightness to them (that lasts long). Anything out there?

[lokolp]

D'Addario Chromes

[kevinmoore73]

Originally Posted by lokolp

D'Addario Chromes

yeah, for bright versatile flats you can start and end your search with Cromes.

[cryptobuddhist]

I swear by La Bella Deep Talkin' they're a little hard to find though.

!@~

[markjazzbassist]

Originally Posted by lokolp

D'Addario Chromes

+1

i got them on my jazz right now, and let me tell you what, they are Bright!

[HAM]

Don't look any further... IMHO!!! Sadowsky makes the best flats on the planet! I will never (and I do mean NEVER) buy other flats for my 5 stringer unless Sadowsky tries to "improve" what for me is as close to perfection as you can get and fumbles the bass. However, it is safe to say that is unlikely!

[One Drop]

As much as I love Labella and Sadowsly flats, they don't have the metallic top that Chromes do. But that top mellows out a lot on the Chromes, leaving a less metallic high middy character that balances the big lows and low mids.

[glwanabe]

What kind of bass?

I get a very good growly tone from Fender 9050's. They take awhile to break in and loose a little of the stiffness, but they sound excellant.

I was just jamming to some Rush on Friday with my Jazz strung with them. Sounded excellant!

[ChasBass]

GHS Bright Flats - Ground Wound

Should last 3-4 months playing 4-8 hours per week.

[CrimsonGhost]

Rotosounds, the most versatile.

[JustOpenYourMind]

If you never tried flats and you are looking for bright sounding strings that retain their snappy sound, you are going to hate flatwounds.

Flats are for people who like the sound of broken in strings, they sound bassy and thumpy, don't expect a flatwound string to sound like a new round and to retain the sound. they are not miracle strings, thay are just different.

Even when people say a flatwound string is bright, it is not the new roundwound kind of brightness. There is only one bassist that I ever heard of that got a bright tone from flats and it's Steeve Harris from Iron Maiden. He does get a really bright and cutting sound but to acheive this tone he changes strings every shows. not exactly a solution from most people.

[old crow]

I've just put a set of GHS flats on my Jack Cassady and they're O.K. but I had Thomstik flats on my P-bass and they were brighter and retained the brightness. I found the Thomstik to also be more musical, if that makes sense.
Remeber they are flat and will never sound like Rotosounds...

[Koki]

D'addario Chromes

[Rumblin' Man]

I tried as many sets of flats as I could buy. I wound up using Fender 9050s, Chromes, Labella 760 flats, and Labella 760N (nylon tapes) most frequently.

La Bella 760FL's get my vote. Smooth, medium tension, warm lows and sweet highs. Just my 2 cents.

George

[steve4765630]

I put a set of $65.00 TI Jazz Flats on a 6str fretless one time. I kept them on for a few months, but they tore up my fingers something horrible. Rounds have ridges that can be a little abrasive, but only a very small portion of your finger actually touches the outer wrap due to the HILL & VALLEY construction. Flats are like running your finger down a smooth, yet slightly sticky surface, so every square nanometer of you finger comes in contact with the string (no HILLS here, just one constant Asphalt paved road, OUCH!). In other words, the opposite is true of what most people think. From much experience and pain, flats blister your fingers much quicker than rounds. I've tried Fender, Chromes, LeBella Tapewound, the TI's and a set of ground wounds. They are all very stiff feeling. You either like them or hate them. They are a great old school sounding string, though, and a ton of guys going for vintage tones swear by them. Maybe try some Halfrounds first and see if that helps. Take one baby step at a time.

I will say that fretbuzz will not go away by switching to flats. The bass' setup, and even more importantly, technique adjustments take care of fretbuzz, string clacks and shift noise. My questions would be: 1. How hard do you dig in? 2. Where on the bass do you pluck the strings usually? and 3. What angle do you pluck at?

These are fixes that have worked for me, changed my tone 100% for the better and allow me a very low setup. 1. Pluck with purpose, but don't Gorilla finger it. If I am playing more aggressive then I will have to raise my action on whatever bass I'm using for that more aggressive style. 2. Pluck directly over the bridge pickup and let your finger hit the next string/top of the pickup. You may need to raise your pickup if it's too long of a trip as is. The string has less give at this position and will allow you to pluck harder with less buzz. If I am plucking over the neck pickup or up by the neck itself, I may need to raise the action slightly, but you can usually find a happy medium. 3. Pluck at about a 45 degree angle. It's no joke. I've tried all sorts of different techniques and this one gives me the most power and least fret buzz. Of course I'm not using my Protractor from Geometry class to make sure I'm exactly 45 degrees, but it's just a rough estimate.

If you like the flats, go with them, but if you like rounds and just don't like the "noise" associated with them, try these 3 suggestions and see if they work.

[Rumblin' Man]

Originally Posted by steve4765630

Flats are like running your finger down a smooth, yet slightly sticky surface, so every square nanometer of you finger comes in contact with the string (no HILLS here, just one constant Asphalt paved road, OUCH!). In other words, the opposite is true of what most people think. From much experience and pain, flats blister your fingers much quicker than rounds.

I've never encountered that problem.

Anybody else?

[mccartneyman]

Originally Posted by Rumblin' Man

I've never encountered that problem.

Anybody else?

Not with TI flats. Some other brands can be a bit of a drag-- literally--on your right hand. But you get used to it. TIs are my favorite: no stickiness.

[Johnny StingRay]

TI Jazz Flats from www.bassemporium.com They have the best prices. I have a set on my StingRay 5 and they are wonderful. They are smooth as silk. After putting them on I had to adjust the saddles to reset the intonation and made a slight adjustment of the truss rod. No big deal. Truss rod adjustments are so easy on a Ray. I used to play D'Addario Chromes, and they were great, but I always wanted to try TI Flats and when I found a five string set at bassemporium for around $55 I just had to order and try them. I love them and will probably never buy another brand ever.
Merry Christmas,
Johnny

[Johnny StingRay]

Originally Posted by steve4765630

I put a set of $65.00 TI Jazz Flats on a 6str fretless one time. I kept them on for a few months, but they tore up my fingers something horrible. Rounds have ridges that can be a little abrasive, but only a very small portion of your finger actually touches the outer wrap due to the HILL & VALLEY construction. Flats are like running your finger down a smooth, yet slightly sticky surface, so every square nanometer of you finger comes in contact with the string (no HILLS here, just one constant Asphalt paved road, OUCH!). In other words, the opposite is true of what most people think. From much experience and pain, flats blister your fingers much quicker than rounds.

Did you contact Thomastik-Infeld about that problem? There might have been a problem with the quality control and a bad set was sent out of the factory. I heard they are very good about rectifying problems like that with their customers. I once had a problem with a set of Ernie Ball 5-string flats and e-mailed the company and they sent me a new set of the flats plus a set of Slinkys for free. So sometimes you have to let the company know what's going on with their product. Especially Thomastik-Infeld because they are highly esteemed throughout the entire music world.
I have never encountered that problem with flats in all the over 30 years that I have been playing, but my fingertips long ago toughened up and never blister.
Merry Christmas,
Johnny