non-floppy flatwound low-B?

mlbarlow · #1 01-20-2007, 04:32 PM

What do you like, 5 or 6 fretless players?

mlbarlow · #2 01-21-2007, 07:50 AM

certainly someone out there play a fretless bass with more than four strings ?!

winston · #3 01-21-2007, 02:39 PM

I've had good luck with the TI Jazz Flats--nice low B, not too much tension but not floppy. Fernando Saunders uses D'Addario Chromes on his fretless 5s and always gets a great sound. IMO GHS and Dean Markley flats are real old school so you won't get too much mwah.

ibz · #4 01-21-2007, 07:39 PM

Sadowsky Bright Flats.

Great strings, great B.

Kael · #5 01-21-2007, 07:55 PM

-1 on the TI flats. They are definitely nice sounding strings, but they define floppy flatwound strings. They have crazy low tension.

PS: I dig D'Addario chromesteels, but I am afraid that I've only used them on 4 stringers so I can't speak to their low B strings.

Brass Nut · #6 01-22-2007, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kael

-1 on the TI flats. They are definitely nice sounding strings, but they define floppy,,,,,

Strange,,,I just dropped a set on a Yamaha. That B is like a trans-Atlantic cable. In comparison to some others I've tried, I didn't think it was so floppy myself. Then again I play prety light with below average action set-ups.

All - in all, I like them for the action, but it's a bit early to tell on the tones - too new yet.

chunkstyle · #7 01-22-2007, 08:43 AM

TI flats might define floppy, but what i think they original poster is talking about is floppy in relation to the other strings.

TI flats are amazingly uniform in tension. in fact, i think the b-string has more tension than the e- or a-string.

sunbeast · #8 01-22-2007, 09:22 AM

I don't find the Chrome's B string to be floppy at all- if anything, I think that it is a little boomy. They use a .132 gauge B over a .105 E (or maybe .100, I can't remember), which is a large leap in size! The floppiest I've tried was definitely the Rotosound 77's B- I think it was dead out of the package as well, but I never bought another set to verify that!

Karl

iamoldschool · #9 01-22-2007, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kael

PS: I dig D'Addario chromesteels, but I am afraid that I've only used them on 4 stringers so I can't speak to their low B strings.

Same here. I use them on both of my 4's but I just now put a set on my 5'er and it didn't work out so well -- yet. 4 out of the 5 had silk over the nut; and these were long scale. My Studio 5 isn't particularly long, not strung through body, so I don't understand what's going on yet. I have opened an RMA with D'Addario. Hopefully, they were just made on a day when the silk machine was on the rampage.

mullet0909 · #10 01-22-2007, 08:59 PM

I'll third the D'Addario Chromes. i just took a set off and the B was not floppy at all. However because of the guage i had trouble hearing it out of my 4x10 cab.

mlbarlow · #11 01-24-2007, 02:38 PM

this has all been very helpful

seanm · #12 01-24-2007, 02:47 PM

I just bought a G&L L-2500 Tribute and put the chromes on it. I find the B to be very floppy, but I may have a high standard for floppy. And the only five string chromes I could get had a 100 E, so the E isn't quite as, for lack of a better term, strong as I like.

But my reference for chromes is the 50 to 105 four string set. I find that set well balanced. I find with the 45 to 100 the G feels weak. So maybe that helps as a reference.

I find using the B below the E or Eb to be fairly unusable except for effect. e.g. I play one song in B where the bass plays a B and lets it ring as the guitar plays the outro. Hitting that open B is very very very cool.

mlbarlow · #13 02-11-2007, 02:37 PM

well I bought some chromes, and the B is much less floppy than my tapewounds. I lowered the saddle to a reasonable height!

PocketGroove82 · #14 02-14-2007, 11:41 PM

TI JF B string sucks so bad

Baird6869 · #15 02-16-2007, 02:31 PM

NOT the Ernie Ball Slinky 125.

My kids think it sounds like farts when played open. Sorry, 9 and 11 year old boys.

winston · #16 02-16-2007, 09:57 PM

I play with a lightish touch and medium action and I don't find the TI Jazz Flat B to be sucky or floppy. It sounds and responds just like the other strings on my Pedulla Rapture J-2000-5. Setup, technique, and instrument play a big part in the response of a string, and perception of its quality. TI Jazz Flats and Rounds are pretty low tension which means they're not suited for people who really want to dig in.

Joe Smithberger · #17 02-19-2007, 07:03 AM

Actually I was going to recomend the Chrome set with the 0.100 E string. On my Stingray, this is the best set I have tried yet. Much better string to string balance than TI flats. Sometimes a slight increase in saddle height will do big things for the feel of the B.