Just played my first set of flats and am in love

[GroovinOnFunk]

So, I just got a new bass and with it came a set of flatwound strings (it has green silk at the bridge only). I had never played flats before. I like the growling and punchiness of them. But they're not really bright enough and I don't like how they feel for slap/pop. I love how they sound with fingerstyle funk though. I definitely want to explore the world of flats for a bit before returning to (or never returning to) roundwounds.

I am looking for bright flats with high tension for playing slap. Does such a thing exist? D'Addario Chromes?

[ljazz]

It sounds like the flats on the bass you received are Fender flats. If it's the older ones, then they are near the top of the tension list, and stay pretty bright forever. I have a set here that are almost 15 years old, and on a Jazz (a bit more high end with the bridge pup), they are completely slapable. They're too bright for me..... if I wanted that tone, I'd just string up with a lower tensioned half dead set of nickel rounds.

If the Fenders are of recent vintage, then, according to folks here, they are essentially chromes. Chromes sound good for slap when new, but the zing wears off after a couple of months if you're playing them regularly. But, really, you can slap on anything if you want to. I love chromes once that zing is gone..... they settle into this zone where there's a bunch of "singing" mids that you just can't cop with rounds, or really any other flat (except for TIJF's). Very nice, because they're not all thump and decay..... although a foam mute will help you accomplish that easily with the chromes if needed.

[GroovinOnFunk]

I'm not really looking for all thump. To be honest, what I like most about flats is not the sound, but rather the FEEL of them. But I have also really grown to like their sound too.

See, I have this problem where when I play, my hands sweat profusely. So I constantly try to keep washing my hands or wiping them off or doing anything I can to dry them. Otherwise, a set of round-wound strings literally lasts me a month (at most). Consequently, also as a result of sweaty hands, my fingertips peel sometimes when playing on really rough strings (I used to play Rotos but had to stop because they tore my fingers to shreds). So then I end up with oils, sweat, gunk, dead flaky skin, all stuck in the grooves of the roundwound strings and they look and sound dirty and grimey. I've been playing the heck out of my new flats and even when they get dirty, I just wipe them off and they look good as new.

When I first looked at the strings on my new bass, I said: "Wut dee heck?" I had never seen flatwounds before and was expecting the string itself to be flat. I felt like a huge newb.

The action on this new bass was some of the highest I have ever seen. So I now have the neck so that it is almost straight (very very little relief) and I lowered the bridge saddles by a full turn on most of them. Also had to lower the pups a tad (especially the neck pup). Could probably still lower saddles some more. BUT after making those changes, I actually find that I can slap just fine on them. Not only that, but I think I might prefer the tone of a slapped or definitely a popped string on flats. It's not as piercing as on rounds.

I'm not completely sold yet as I have not tried this out in context with a full band. But as of now, I think I may have just become a flatwound convert.

Just before I realized this, I bought a set of Dean Markley SR2000 strings... I guess I'll just keep them in case I decide to go back to rounds some day.

Now what I'm wondering is: Should I swap out the flats that are on there for some Chromes or just keep rockin the ones I have? I would like to have a tad more brightness out of my strings.

Sorry for the long essay.

[mmbongo]

You might want to try half rounds, aka ground wound, aka pressure wound. Something like SIT Silencers or GHS Compressors. They are roundwounds, but ground flat. They are not as bright as regular roundwounds, but not dull and lifeless like flatwounds.

[Floyd Eye]

Chromes FEEL fine for slap. No flats SOUND fine for it though, at least in my experience.

[treekiller]

Originally Posted by mmbongo

You might want to try half rounds, aka ground wound, aka pressure wound. Something like SIT Silencers or GHS Compressors. They are roundwounds, but ground flat. They are not as bright as regular roundwounds, but not dull and lifeless like flatwounds.

Having used both, there really isn't enough difference to recommend the halfwounds over the Chromes, and the way the Chromes feel trumps any advantage the halfs might have anyway.

[chadhargis]

I've heard a fellow TBer slap TI Flats and it sounds amazing.

Rounds might be easier to get good tone from, but that doesn't mean you can't slap flats.

[mmbongo]

Originally Posted by treekiller

Having used both, there really isn't enough difference to recommend the halfwounds over the Chromes, and the way the Chromes feel trumps any advantage the halfs might have anyway.

Halfs can be quite grabby. I liked them at first, but had to go back to rounds.

[Commreman]

Originally Posted by Floyd Eye

Chromes FEEL fine for slap. No flats SOUND fine for it though, at least in my experience.

One of the most iconic slap lines is Brick House by the Commodores - P bass with flats.

Chromes sound fine for slap, as long as you're not going for the Marcus tone.

[Floyd Eye]

Originally Posted by Commreman

One of the most iconic slap lines is Brick House by the Commodores - P bass with flats.

Chromes sound fine for slap, as long as you're not going for the Marcus tone.

Hence the qualifier " In my experience". I'm sure there are many examples of cool slap bass with flats, just none of them were ever performed by me.

[RCCollins]

if you swap out those old fender flats, sell them to me. for real!

[conqr]

Originally Posted by Commreman

One of the most iconic slap lines is Brick House by the Commodores - P bass with flats.

Chromes sound fine for slap, as long as you're not going for the Marcus tone.

+1

+many many more especially from back in the day. P with flats (or any string really) is eminently slap/popable. One of my own favorites is Deja Vu (Dionne Warwick)

[Mrdak]

You might want to try a set of Labella 760FL. For slap they can sound almost like rounds if you roll off a little treble and mids. Now, once they mellow out....... after at least a couple of weeks of daily playing, they sound perfect IMHO

[BassBob1]

I never used fender flats but i started using flats about 3 and a half months ago on my jazz bass. I was using chromes until this past weekend. I really liked the chromes i was using and still have them in case i dont like the rotosound flats i just put on this past friday. The chromes i was using were 45-100. i tried rotos for a day once before (40-100) and didnt really like them, put the chromes back on. The rotos i have on now are (45-105). They have more tension than the chromes i was using and the E string is a little rougher. I'm waiting for these to break in to see if i like them better than the chromes. So far i like them much better than the lighter gauge rotos i tryed.

[guroove]

Originally Posted by Mrdak

You might want to try a set of Labella 760FL. For slap they can sound almost like rounds if you roll off a little treble and mids. Now, once they mellow out....... after at least a couple of weeks of daily playing, they sound perfect IMHO

I agree with this completely. I slap a lot, and both of my main basses are strung with Labella 760FS. I like the FL set too, but my touch is a little too heavy for them.

People need to get this idea that flats are no good for slap out of their minds.

[GroovinOnFunk]

Labella strings are too expensive for me, unfortunately.

I've heard a lot of people on the G&L forums saying that flatwounds on a G&L L-2000 isn't the best way to optimize its sound. From what I hear though, CHROMES sound like slightly darker rounds, right? If so, then that should be exactly what I'm looking for.

[Commreman]

Chromes FTW. If you are concerned about tension, do what I did - get the .40-.100 set. These have a great mid punch.

[mmbongo]

Originally Posted by GroovinOnFunk

Labella strings are too expensive for me, unfortunately.

I've heard a lot of people on the G&L forums saying that flatwounds on a G&L L-2000 isn't the best way to optimize its sound. From what I hear though, CHROMES sound like slightly darker rounds, right? If so, then that should be exactly what I'm looking for.

Not slightly darker. WAAAYY darker.

[ljazz]

Originally Posted by mmbongo

Not slightly darker. WAAAYY darker.

That's a fact.

To the OP.....
I dig chromes, not because they're bright right out of the pack, but because of how they sound once they settle in. Sort of like this.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm_4M-nBpCE

With my playing habits, the zing is gone in a few weeks, and the mids start to settle in at about 2 months...... and sound just like the clip, with tone rolled off slightly. I don't think anything is going to keep that new string slap happy zing forever...... although, as I said, the old fender flats had some zing out of the pack, and stay that way, but they may not float everyones boat for slap. If the bass you bought had the older version fenders (my guess), then you're not going to get much more tension, and you're not going to get much more zing.

[honeyiscool]

La Bella too expensive? Aren't they like $40 a piece?

I have a set of La Bella flats and I love them a great deal. Considering how much money I waste trying to find "that sound," I'm glad that I have a set of flats I love for only $40 that will last for ages.