Rotosound flatwounds

Tom-Jens · #1 02-03-2002, 09:53 AM

Doen anyone uses Rotosound flatwounds?
Are they any good?
I just bought a Warwick Fortress One fretless and I'm a complete novice on fretless, so I don't know what strings I should use.
I hear flatwounds are better for fretless basses, but I've never played flatwounds before.
I could use some advice on this subject...

AMJBASS · #2 02-03-2002, 01:30 PM

I like the Rotosound Flats, but if you would like to retain a lot of the Brightness you get from roundwounds, and still save your fingerboard, I would highly recommend Thomastick Jazz Flatwounds. I can not believe the sound you get out of them. They are fantastic! Just a thought!

The Mock Turtle Regulator · #3 02-04-2002, 01:06 PM

Rotosound flatwounds sound surprisingly bright when new- eg. the Steve Harris Iron Maiden sound, but mellow out very quickly.

I've got RS77 Jazz flats in light gauge 35-55-75-95 on my defretted Hohner TWP600B acoustic bass.
the string tension is tighter than roundwounds of the same gauge.
I'd avoid heavier gauges of Roto Jazz flats as you won't get much fretless "mwah" out of them.

Peter McFerrin · #4 02-04-2002, 02:41 PM

Steve Harris has been known to wear out a set of Rotosound flats in half a set. He's got great tone, but man, I'm so not about changing strings that often.

Of course, he's a Big Rock Star, so he can just have ten basses on the road with him, but still...

The Mock Turtle Regulator · #5 02-04-2002, 04:49 PM

the Steve Harris signature set of Roto 77's is a bit of a bad idea to me- as if you're after his bright tone you're better off using roundwound strings, unless you want to change strings or boil them after every gig or practice.

but I've had the same set of Roto flats on my Hohner for about 5yrs now- I don't need to change them as I'm after a thumpy-meets-mwah approximation of a double bass sound.