What kind of flatwounds have...

[RobbeyRd]

What kind of flatwounds have a dark navy blue wrapping?

Hi... I just found this forum and it sure looks like the place to get some bass questions answered!!!

I'm not really a bass player, but I've been playing bass in a middle aged start-up cover band and having a blast.

I have been using my 5 year old 30.5" scale Epiphone Viola bass on which I use Rotosound RM77s (40 50 75 90). I have also used Pyramid flats and ThomasInfeld flats in the past. I obviously prefer the classic flat sound and feel.

Recently I picked up a 1960s vintage short scale Framus bass with a real cool Bill Wyman kind of vibe. It is a double cutaway with a single f-hole on the top and a pickguard on the bottom. Got the Framus laminated neck, and it sounds great. And the neck width is the thinnest neck I've ever seen on a bass: 1 5/16" at the nut. Very appealing to someone used to pushing around 6 thinner strings...

But the main thing that has my attention right now is the strings that came with it. I really want to identify them 'cause I want to try them on my Epi. They are larger gage and darker colored flatwounds with Navy blue wrapping that have more "presence" and clarity than my Roto flats.

Thanks in advance for anyone's knowledge of what these strings are!!

[SGT. Pepper]

They sound like either Chromes or GHS Precision flats.

[Spacelordmother]

my GHS brite flats have a dark blue wrapping.. dunno if that helps or not. while not exactly flats (they're actually ground wounds) they feel like rough flats. i love them, if only i could find a 5 string set of them.

[nad]

My set of D'addario Chromes have dark blue wrapping.

[teleharmonium]

I have a NOS set of German flatwounds that I would say are from the 60s. It says "Krone" and "Regina" and from the text on the back, I'm guessing "Regina" is the line of strings and "Krone" is the brand/distributor/maker. These have dark blue wrapping and are quite possibly the same strings that would have been on your bass originally, ie. they may have never been changed.

The closest thing you will find nowadays, I would say would be the Pyramid Gold nickel flats. It's possible that the ones you have, and/or the ones I have, were made by them; if not, they're at least made in the same style by a maker that was active then and would have been a competitor. They are low tension flatwounds, which gives them a different feel than say D'addario Chromes.