A little 'issue' with GHS flats.

Nashrakh · #1 08-25-2009, 07:21 AM

Hey there,

I bought myself a set of GHS Flats (light) sometime ago and the E string sounds a lot different from the rest.

It's like the E string is totally dead from the start, which I adore, but I dunno if the rest of the strings will come close once they break in.

Been playing them for about 3 weeks now, some zing is gone but maybe someone can shed some light on this?

JTE · #2 08-25-2009, 09:49 AM

Precision Flats or Brite-Flats? There's a world of difference between the two. The Precision Flats are a real flatwound string (using a flat ribbon of wire for the outer wrap) while Brite-Flats are a moddified roundwound where the outter wrap is a round wire which is ground down smooth on the outer surface after the string is wound. They age differently because of this difference.

I've use GHS Precision Flats (medium gauge) but it's bee so long since I last put a set on anything, I don't recall how long it took for them to balance. I've had the same set on my P bass for at least eight years, probably 10. I put a set on my Sting about four years ago, and even though I don't play it much, they all balance nicely. I'd suggest that you play it for at least two months before you make any changes- that's not uncommon with flatwound strings.

If it's the Brite-Flats, my experience is that they just sound like dead roundwounds, never like a true flatwound. If that's what you have, the three treble strings are going to age down a good bit over time, but I quit using them because they never sounded balanced across the neck.

Note that all my experiences are with the medium-ish gauges, in the 45-105 range. Also that I haven't used Brite-Flats since around 1987 or so.

John

Nashrakh · #3 08-25-2009, 12:14 PM

I'm talking about the GHS Precision flats.

Dunno, I love the tone they provide, but the e string seemed kinda odd. In a band context, you can barely hear the difference when changing from say the a string to the e string, but I just wanted to know if anybody had a similar experience.

I'll definitely give them some time, but I want to try La Bella Flats next.

Craig_S · #4 08-25-2009, 02:10 PM

I'd return the dead string for an exchange.

Britbonic · #5 08-25-2009, 06:17 PM

I had a dead G in a set recently, discovered by the guy who was doing my setup after some fret work. It was actually a Lakland string. I contacted them and they sent me a replacement for free. Apparently some are bad out of the box. Never had the problem with any other string.

Nashrakh · #6 08-26-2009, 03:27 AM

On the package it says:

"Traditional deep percussive tone with improved presence of A and E strings, thanks to cross winding of the underlay wraps. Final cover is polished stainless steel flat wrap."

So I thought it may be a 'normal' occurrence for all sets (= the cross winding makes em sound dead). Seems I was wrong.

Thanks for the replies so far, I'll see what I can do. Either get a new e string or get a new set altogether (because this is just my 3rd set of flats and I'm still looking for "my" set)...

1954bassman · #7 08-26-2009, 03:31 AM

Contact GHS directly. They will gladly send you a replacement string.

Nashrakh · #8 08-26-2009, 09:34 AM

Instead of contacting GHS (since I don't live in the US), I contacted the seller from whom I bought the set.

He told me I should send back the whole set and he'll check it, sending me a replacement set of strings if the string is indeed dead.

Hmm, don't know if I WANT to do that...

Pharmdoc · #9 08-26-2009, 08:33 PM

I experienced the same issue with GHS flats - a dead-sounding E string.