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"Adventures with Flats"

Grinderman

Grinderman

Inactive
Dec 21, 2013
6,376
11,346
Eagle Rock, Los Angeles CA
#1
and a purpose.

An open free-flowing chat broadly about trying all kinds of flats and all things related. Worthy of a sticky in Strings?

Anyway, I ordered a set of Rotosound RS77 Jazz Bass monel flats today to try next on a P bass. The fact that Roger Waters and Glen Matlock use/d these strings is enough cause for me to be interested.

The 45-105 RS77 set has just a little less tension in pounds than 55-105 GHS P Flats so setup adjustment won't take much.
 
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#6
These are black tapes though. +yellow silks correlate to Roto 88.

So either he has used both, each at different times, or something is crossed up between Rotosound marketing and a bunch of online string retailers.

Either way, it hardly matters to me.

1-jpg.1450802
 
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#7
I play bass uke only, which all came with polyurethane strings. I didn't really like them much, too sticky. I tried a few different versions, but found that they all were too sticky in humid conditions. Then a few years ago Galli came out with metal flatwounds on nylon core just for bass ukes. When I tried them, that was it, I now use only those on all my bass ukes.
 
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#8
michael_t said:
It was just a few months ago when I thought I was done with flats for good. I was wrong as I'm starting to get itchy to try another set of flats on my P bass.

I will be ordering a custom set (40-55-75-95) of Ernie Ball Stainless Steel Flats (not Cobalt) in the next couple of weeks to try for the first time.
Click to expand...

Michael, I could have written this post. Please let us know how you'll like the Group IV, probably the last flat strings I'm curious about...
 
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#9
michael_t said:
It was just a few months ago when I thought I was done with flats for good. I was wrong as I'm starting to get itchy to try another set of flats on my P bass.

I will be ordering a custom set (40-55-75-95) of Ernie Ball Stainless Steel Flats (not Cobalt) in the next couple of weeks to try for the first time.
Click to expand...

Sounds interesting! Let us know how they feel and sound. I wonder how they would compare to Chromes.
Good luck!
 
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#10
Bobbadfinger said:
Michael, I could have written this post. Please let us know how you'll like the Group IV, probably the last flat strings I'm curious about...
Click to expand...

EB SS Flats have been on my mind for quite some time as one of the flats I should try at least once as a "middle-of-the-road" flatwound both in tone and feel. Not too old-school or too modern and roundwound-like. The only thing I don't like about the factory "Group IV" set is the gauges, 40-60-70-95, as they're a bit uneven in tension for my taste as a former balanced-tension enthusiast. ;)

I have a fourth bass coming (Yamaha BB435) in the next couple of weeks, so I figure at least one of them should have flats. And my P bass is the best candidate for that as it's still wearing the SIT Silencers, which unfortunately didn't work out.
 
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#11
michael_t said:
It was just a few months ago when I thought I was done with flats for good. I was wrong as I'm starting to get itchy to try another set of flats on my P bass.

I will be ordering a custom set (40-55-75-95) of Ernie Ball Stainless Steel Flats (not Cobalt) in the next couple of weeks to try for the first time.
Click to expand...

The EB Group IV flats on my 79 StingRay are settled in properly here at the 14 month mark. I was a bit nervous when they were new because I really liked the G and suspected it would lose its magic as the set broke in. Turns out I like the G even better now, especially an open G.

The EB Group flats remind me a bit of Dunlop flats.
 
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#12
GwenOnBass said:
The EB Group flats remind me a bit of Dunlop flats.
Click to expand...

Dunlop Flats would have been my other choice, but the EB is $20 cheaper for the 4-string set ($55 vs. $35), not to mention they've been quietly competent with excellent QC over the years. I say "quietly" because their "extroverted sibling" (Cobalt Flats) have been getting most of the attention. :D
 
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#13
Grinderman said:
The 45-105 RS77 set has just a little less tension in pounds than 55-105 GHS P Flats so setup adjustment won't take much.
Click to expand...

Roto flats are very stiff. This means that:

1) You can get away with lower action than with most other strings at similar gauges.

2) You will probably find them uncomfortable and hard to play unless you take advantage of 1).

The truss rod will probably not need a lot of adjusting but if you want the best playing experience from your Roto flats you may need to optimize the saddle and nut heights.
 
#14
Boy I just got bored with my flats. Gigged them for 3 or so years straight (Chromes, DTF, TIs). Love how they feel and encourage me to play smooth and silky, but there's so much they don't do well. Any bass I had flats on just felt limited in what I could get out of it. What to do... well I've been digging La Bella tapes for several months now to get the feel of flats and at the same time tap more of what the bass can do. Hoping they stay good!
 
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#16
Grinderman said:
My difficult experiences with Dunlop flats, largely due to how they're constructed, including the core they use, while their price went through the roof, put me off those probably permanently. Definitely not worth the retail price.
Click to expand...

I was almost ready to pull the trigger on the Dunlop at one point, but it was your post about intonation issues with them that made me hesitate. I'm kind of glad I didn't go through with it. ;)
 
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#17
Deleted member 271037 said:
Roto flats are very stiff. This means that:

1) You can get away with lower action than with most other strings at similar gauges.

2) You will probably find them uncomfortable and hard to play unless you take advantage of 1).

The truss rod will probably not need a lot of adjusting but if you want the best playing experience from your Roto flats you may need to optimize the saddle and nut heights.
Click to expand...

I've played 52-110 LaBella DTB 760M '54/"Original"/"Jamerson" flats without any problem.

I simply found I prefer the sound 55-105 GHS P flats and which of my P basses I want those to stay on.

Now I'm looking for other flats to pair with my other P, avoiding completely redundant tone--the LaBella sound isn't exactly what I want.

The difference in total tension in pounds between 55-105 P flats and 45-105 Roto 77 flats is tiny. It's 229 lbs vs 214 lbs respectively.
 
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#19
michael_t said:
I was almost ready to pull the trigger on the Dunlop at one point, but it was your post about intonation issues with them that made me hesitate. I'm kind of glad I didn't go through with it. ;)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't want anyone here to possibly go through that same hassles.

Plus, when I got them the retail price was still quite reasonable then, but as I was working through the problems with the product itself I noticed that their prices quickly and coincidental shot up too.
 
#20
higain617 said:
I didn't care for them on my old Tobias. They were bright when new, but lost that quickly. Also, very stiff. I went back to SS rounds.
Click to expand...

I prefer in the firm to stiff range. What I'm most interested in hearing is what the Roto 77 flats sound like in the fundamentally and in the mids when broken in, not so much bright highs.

If I wanted aggressively bright strings I'd just stick with rounds; selecting heavy enough gauges to be sufficiently firm or stiff.
 

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