A couple of years ago, I posted a thread inquiring about Dogal flatwounds. Here's a link:
Dogal Traditional Vintage Flats ?
Since then, I've tried a ton of other flatwounds but never pulled the trigger on the Dogal Jacos or Dogal Traditionals. I scored a set for Xmas (what a cool surprise) so I figured I'd post my initial impressions here since they seem to be a pretty rare string.
First off, the packaging is the only thing I really have a gripe about. It's minor, so don't let it color the rest of the review for you, but the strings came with a blurry photocopied sleeve inside the standard plastic package.
I'm not sure if this is standard packaging for Dogal, but for a $60-70 set of flatwounds you'd think that they'd have something less blurry & which didn't look like it was printed in my High School Computer Lab back in 1991. I'm fully into DIY / small batch / funky boutique aesthetics, but it just made me chuckle to see the corny photocopied graphics.
The individual strings themselves are packaged in high quality envelopes, very pro. No gripes there.
I put these on my main P Bass, and strung up the E string first. I wanted to play them side by side with the TI Jazz Flats which were previously on the bass so that I could get a good feel for tonal / tension differences. TI Jazz Flats have become my "standard" on this P Bass, though I've also loved GHS P Flats and La Bella LTF on there too. I'll compare them all as I proceed.
Feel: My set is 45-105, and they're round core. In hand, the strings are not as "noodly" as TI Jazz Flats, and feel a bit more like GHS Precision Flats (lights) or La Bella Low Tension Flats in their flexibility. The silks are a nice deep shade of turquoise. These are nice & smooth, not tacky,grippy or sticky, though there is some polishing residue on my set. (Left a "graphite" haze on my finger tips when first playing, no big deal though.)
Tension:Tension wise, the Dogal Jacos are pleasantly mild. Pretty close to the tension of La Bella LTF, actually... just a touch tighter. (LTF are .100s and these are .105s, though, so keep that in mind) They're supple & easy to fret for the left hand, but provide nice resistance to the plucking hand. Great balance, so I was impressed by their feel right off the bat.
Unplugged sound:Tonally, these have less center mids than the TI Jazz Flats which doesn't surprise me because the TI mids are pretty unique. There is a pleasant "hollow" character to these Dogal Jacos that I noticed right off the bat when playing unplugged. They have a terrific tight low & low mid quality, but the mid frequencies which are "bumped" in the TI Jazz flats are "notched" a little in the Jacos. Highs are present but subdued, similar to TI Flats when new.
Amplified sound: The acoustic attributes mentioned above still apply here, but the lows really project in a nice way right out of the package. These aren't "thumpy" old school flats like La Bella or GHS P Flats, though they have a nice full low and low mid presence. There is a lot of clarity and plenty of "note" to the E and A strings, and even when dialing the tone knob back I've still got quite a lot of definition.
One thing I love about TI Jazz flats on a P Bass is that, because the mids are so prevalent, I can roll the tone back gradually and get lots of varying shades. With these Dogal Jacos, I don't get quite the same broad range out of the tone knob because the midrange is a bit scooped. The positive side of this is that I can run the tone open wider without fighting mids on the amp like I sometimes do with TI Jazz flats. I also notice that cutting the tone way back to about 2 or 3 still gives me the cool slightly hollow, defined low & low mid content of the strings' natural voice... really cool for someone like me who likes a rootsy, deep sound with more note definition than some traditional flats.
I'll have to let these age and settle before I have a real feel for their personality, but I'm really impressed with them so far. They sound clear and defined, but not bright & modern like Chromes or EB Cobalts. They have solid fundamental without being overbearing or muddy. I can compensate for their mid scoop by bumping the mids on my amp a little, so that's not a huge deal either.
Initial impression? I'm really impressed by their mixture of depth & clarity and I feel that these are some of the more unique flatwound strings I've tried in the past couple years.
PICS:
Dogal Traditional Vintage Flats ?
Since then, I've tried a ton of other flatwounds but never pulled the trigger on the Dogal Jacos or Dogal Traditionals. I scored a set for Xmas (what a cool surprise) so I figured I'd post my initial impressions here since they seem to be a pretty rare string.
First off, the packaging is the only thing I really have a gripe about. It's minor, so don't let it color the rest of the review for you, but the strings came with a blurry photocopied sleeve inside the standard plastic package.
I'm not sure if this is standard packaging for Dogal, but for a $60-70 set of flatwounds you'd think that they'd have something less blurry & which didn't look like it was printed in my High School Computer Lab back in 1991. I'm fully into DIY / small batch / funky boutique aesthetics, but it just made me chuckle to see the corny photocopied graphics.The individual strings themselves are packaged in high quality envelopes, very pro. No gripes there.
I put these on my main P Bass, and strung up the E string first. I wanted to play them side by side with the TI Jazz Flats which were previously on the bass so that I could get a good feel for tonal / tension differences. TI Jazz Flats have become my "standard" on this P Bass, though I've also loved GHS P Flats and La Bella LTF on there too. I'll compare them all as I proceed.
Feel: My set is 45-105, and they're round core. In hand, the strings are not as "noodly" as TI Jazz Flats, and feel a bit more like GHS Precision Flats (lights) or La Bella Low Tension Flats in their flexibility. The silks are a nice deep shade of turquoise. These are nice & smooth, not tacky,grippy or sticky, though there is some polishing residue on my set. (Left a "graphite" haze on my finger tips when first playing, no big deal though.)
Tension:Tension wise, the Dogal Jacos are pleasantly mild. Pretty close to the tension of La Bella LTF, actually... just a touch tighter. (LTF are .100s and these are .105s, though, so keep that in mind) They're supple & easy to fret for the left hand, but provide nice resistance to the plucking hand. Great balance, so I was impressed by their feel right off the bat.
Unplugged sound:Tonally, these have less center mids than the TI Jazz Flats which doesn't surprise me because the TI mids are pretty unique. There is a pleasant "hollow" character to these Dogal Jacos that I noticed right off the bat when playing unplugged. They have a terrific tight low & low mid quality, but the mid frequencies which are "bumped" in the TI Jazz flats are "notched" a little in the Jacos. Highs are present but subdued, similar to TI Flats when new.
Amplified sound: The acoustic attributes mentioned above still apply here, but the lows really project in a nice way right out of the package. These aren't "thumpy" old school flats like La Bella or GHS P Flats, though they have a nice full low and low mid presence. There is a lot of clarity and plenty of "note" to the E and A strings, and even when dialing the tone knob back I've still got quite a lot of definition.
One thing I love about TI Jazz flats on a P Bass is that, because the mids are so prevalent, I can roll the tone back gradually and get lots of varying shades. With these Dogal Jacos, I don't get quite the same broad range out of the tone knob because the midrange is a bit scooped. The positive side of this is that I can run the tone open wider without fighting mids on the amp like I sometimes do with TI Jazz flats. I also notice that cutting the tone way back to about 2 or 3 still gives me the cool slightly hollow, defined low & low mid content of the strings' natural voice... really cool for someone like me who likes a rootsy, deep sound with more note definition than some traditional flats.
I'll have to let these age and settle before I have a real feel for their personality, but I'm really impressed with them so far. They sound clear and defined, but not bright & modern like Chromes or EB Cobalts. They have solid fundamental without being overbearing or muddy. I can compensate for their mid scoop by bumping the mids on my amp a little, so that's not a huge deal either.
Initial impression? I'm really impressed by their mixture of depth & clarity and I feel that these are some of the more unique flatwound strings I've tried in the past couple years.
PICS:
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