WOW! Three of my basses have flats on them!

[Coolhandjjl]

Who says flats are dead! Both my Hamer Cruise Basses (J style) have flats, one has Pyramid Golds, the other has D'Addario Chromes. My Ric 4003s with the Toaster & Re-Issue Horseshoe has Fender 9050CLs on it. That leaves my stock Ric 4003 which is strung with DR Lo-Rider steels. Who'da thought a rocker with roots in the 70's could do this! I'm loving the variety!

[jj4001]

Me too. I loving the flats these days.

LaBellas on my 4001 is pure bliss.

Mystery flats on my Vox Apollo. (They're an extremely light gauge with teal silks.)

I just picked up D'Addario Chromes for my 4003. Hoping I'll like them...

[xJasonSmithx]

Better to have 3 basses with flats than 3 bikes.

[RCCollins]

One of these days I'll get a dedicated "rawk" bass and string it with nickel-plated roundwounds, but IMO flats are much more versatile, feel better, cut plenty (with emphasis on the fundamental), and so on. "Modern" flats like chromes and the revamped fender 9050s are now available for those who like the feel of flats but want more top end and overall brightness, and of course there are TI jazz flats with their unique voice and feel. In the 21st century, flatwound bass strings cant be overlooked!

[wideload]

I had flats on my bass, but then I just tuned a little higher and they were OK...

[snyderz]

Flats only for the last 10 years. Don't know where you got the 'flats are dead' quote. Even though rounds are used 10:1, flats have a loyal following, and it seems to be growing. Lakland Osborns are my choice of strings.

[mmbongo]

I think 'flats are dead' means that they literally are dead sounding, not that they are not selling them anymore.

[Coolhandjjl]

No, I did mean the few discussions about them. I'm really surprised that the Fender 9050's get so little mention. Or maybe it's because everyone who buys them is too busy playing to browse forums!

Haven't heard any TI Jazz Flats yet. Any clips or songs come to mind anyone would care to link?

[RCCollins]

Originally Posted by Coolhandjjl

No, I did mean the few discussions about them. I'm really surprised that the Fender 9050's get so little mention. Or maybe it's because everyone who buys them is too busy playing to browse forums!

Haven't heard any TI Jazz Flats yet. Any clips or songs come to mind anyone would care to link?

Fender changed the 9050s radically last year. The OLD versions were my favorite string - high tension, smooth feel, old school thump. Current 9050s are brighter and very close to D'Addario Chromes: a great deal for folks who prefer that type of string.

Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats have got to be one of the most-discussed strings on tb. They are have a VERY distinctive tone profile and are low tension, even in comparison to most rounds. Search and ye shall find...

[Coolhandjjl]

Originally Posted by RCCollins

Fender changed the 9050s radically last year. The OLD versions were my favorite string - high tension, smooth feel, old school thump. Current 9050s are brighter and very close to D'Addario Chromes: a great deal for folks who prefer that type of string....

On my basses, the Fender 9050s seem to have mellower highs, more smooth overall tone. Chromes have highs that seem a bit brittle, overall tonality approachs that of a roundwound IMO. I still get an old school feel out of my 9050s, and when I engage the tailpiece's mute, it nails it for certain things, such as My Eyes Have Seen You/The Doors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6s6IYmo24I

[disasterline]

I was never a fan of flats until one week I went to guitar center and asked for "orange xls" They guy working the counter handed me a pack of cromes instead. I was kinda in a hurry so I decided to buy them and try them out. I got to say im very pleased.

[sethlow3]

Flats on Passives for me. Rounds on actives. I feel like each livens the corresponding tone.

[bassdude51]

My .02 cents. Perhaps on "yester-year" amps and speakers, flat wound strings were "dud, thud and mud". On today's better tech amps and speakers, flats sound fantastic with the correct amount of smooth bass sound and definition! Certainly a pleasure to hear and to play! Favorite flats..........TI, Lakland Joe Osborn, Fender. Wanna try Pyramids but are very pricey! Thank-you for your post, Coolhandjjl.

[whitefuneral]

Originally Posted by xJasonSmithx

Better to have 3 basses with flats than 3 bikes.

Gold.

[THIAGO Ibanez]

Originally Posted by xJasonSmithx

Better to have 3 basses with flats than 3 bikes.

+1. LOL

[Coolhandjjl]

Originally Posted by bassdude51

.....Wanna try Pyramids but are very pricey! Thank-you for your post, Coolhandjjl.

Strings and Beyond had the best price that I could find. Still up there, but then so are LaBella DTBs.
http://www.stringsandbeyond.com/pyr-bass-long.html

Perhaps this will be the decade for flats!

[VitalSigns]

I've never used flats before...

[MrLenny1]

I recently put on D'Addario Half-Rounds on my Pedulla 5.
I like them but have not gigged them yet.
One bass has GHS tapewounds which I prefer over LaBella.
Maybe this will lead to flats eventually.
All the other basses are R/W nickels which I still favor.

[jimmydean]

For those who hate the mud/dud syndrome , try DR SUNBEAMS. Great sound /feel and they will sound even better when they dull .

[roscoestring]

All of my basses have either flats or tapewounds on them. 7 of them I think. I like the flats better than the tapes.