TI jazz flats or roto jazz flats?

[sir juice]

these seem to be the best 2 options for 6 string flats available to me, i know generally people prefer the TIs around these parts, because the rotos don't have are more round sounding than normal.

i'm getting a custom fretless 6 string built, one of the purposes being that it is a fretless that i can slap. as the rotos sound more "punchy?" would they be the right choice for what i'm looking for. i'd still like a flatwound fingerstyle fretless tone, perhaps quite bright, but quite a bright slap tone.

any opinions?

[masprague]

Originally Posted by sir juice

one of the purposes being that it is a fretless that i can slap.

You sure you want to slap a fretless??? I mean it can be done, but I would be worried about the wood at the end of the fretboard....

"holy crap, the wood is just splintering off that bass"

.....I would go with the Rotos. The TIs may be too low tension for slapping

[sir juice]

this fretless is partly designed to be slapped, it's gonna have an ebony fingerboard with a slap plate at the end of the neck (a bit on aluminium shaped to the radius of the fingerboard) so it doesn't hurt the fingerboard too much

[Koki]

go with halfrounds or rounds

[winston]

The TI Jazz Flats (and Rounds) have a layer of silk between inner core and outer wrap, like orchestral strings. This filters out a lot of weird overtones but IMO it also absorbs some of the energy of certain techniques like aggresive slapping. TIs don't rebound from slapping like "normal" strings, and their low tension means the string will move further from its resting state with a given attack.

It's not a problem per se, but the silk layer means TIs sound/feel different than other strings out there (which is mostly a great thing), something to consider given their price. I haven't tried the Roto flats but I can recommend D'Addario Chromes as slap-ably bright flats. Steve Lawson also gets great results with his signature Elite Flats. If you're concerned about fingerboard wear on an uncoated fretless board but want bright tone consider coated roundwounds. I prefer DRs (where the wrap wire is coated before being wound around the core) to the Elixirs (where the entire string is coated after winding). Hope this helps.

[sir juice]

Originally Posted by winston

I can recommend D'Addario Chromes as slap-ably bright flats. Steve Lawson also gets great results with his signature Elite Flats.

i was originally planing to get one of the 2 you said, but i can't seem to find a 6 string set for either. if anyone knows where i can get a 6string set of either one, then if you caould let me know it would be much appreciated

[Steve Lawson]

If you call the Bass Centre in London, and ask for a 6 string set like mine, they should be able to sort you out. They were custom ordered for me by Elites, and are supposed to be being made available as a sig. set at some point, but I'm not holding my breath. Still, people have been able to get them from there before now...



Steve
www.stevelawson.net

[sir juice]

i've generally never been a fan of elites. i had a set of ounds of theres and they just sounded completely dead

[Steve Lawson]

Your call - I've never had a bad string from them, in over 10 years of playing nothing but Elites, and their flats are by far my favourites of all the ones I've tried (followed by the TIs, if your initial choice still stands)...

If you want another option I think Status will custom order 6 string flatwound sets, if you contact them via their website.

Steve
www.stevelawson.net

[Aaron Saunders]

I've honestly never heard someone satisfied with Rotosound flatwounds, but then again I haven't done any research on strings in, oh, around 3 years

So while things might've changed, honestly, TI flats are far and away above them. The only reason I don't use TI flats now is because I'm using their roundwounds on my fretless . If I had the extra cash, I'd be buying a second fretless to keep strung up with the flats!


EDIT: FWIW, I did a fair amount of slapping with the flats and have been doing a lot of it with the rounds too. A clean, practiced technique will keep the fingerboard looking great, and I'm using a $500CDN factory Yamaha bass with a rosewood fingerboard, so I'm sure you can get an ebony slab on that custom sucka and/or a fingerboard coating.

Also, there's the fact that Thomastik has been making flatwound strings for over a century for anything from cellos to electric guitars, double basses and violas -- they know what they're doing. Probably why I use their Dominants on my DB!

[BassManPatsFan]

I'm on my second set of TI Jazz flats on my Guild Starfire fretless and I actually don't really like them all that much. The tension is okay and they feel fine, but they give me a weird kind of buzzing against the fretboard sometimes, which didn't happen with the strings that the bass came with. They do sound good, but no better than the old GHS flats I used to have. I remember liking the feel of the GHS flats more, so I just ordered a set of GHS Brite Flats. I guess we'll see how those do.

[sunbeast]

Originally Posted by Aaron Saunders

I've honestly never heard someone satisfied with Rotosound flatwounds, but then again I haven't done any research on strings in, oh, around 3 years

So while things might've changed, honestly, TI flats are far and away above them. The only reason I don't use TI flats now is because I'm using their roundwounds on my fretless . If I had the extra cash, I'd be buying a second fretless to keep strung up with the flats!

Personally I've heard more comments about the low tension of the TIs being an issue than people who simply didn't like the Rotos at all. I personally love the Roto flats, but wouldn't use a flatwound string of any sort to slap with...and I like the TIs, but the tension makes them unusable for me- I do tune down either a half or full step on all my basses though...I would second the coated DRs as great strings- alot brighter than flats, but not too bright- I don't know that the coating would save your fingerboard though.

Karl

[bigfiddle]

TI JF's

[ibz]

Thought about a set of tapes for fretless slapping?