Anyone using Lakland 44-02/44-94 with flatwounds? Recommendations?

[Thom Fioriglio]

I have a Lakland 44-02 and I am curious if anyone strings their 44-02 or 44-94 with Flatwounds. It’s been a while since I’ve used flats on my bass. I’ve seen videos of EBMM Stingray’s with flats and kind of dig the tone. I know they are different basses but are both active. Anyone use flats on their Lakland active bass and if so, what recommendations? Thanks.
Thom

 

[GIBrat51]

Sorry, but I don't own a Lakland bass. Why? Let's just say that the folks at Lakland and I, are not on cordial speaking terms - and let it go at that... However; all but 2 of my 24 bases wear flats of some kind - including my 3 active basses (an Alembic Epic; an EBMM 4HH Stingray Special; and a Tom Hamilton Sig. G&L ASAT Bass).So... what flat wounds should you use? That's completely up to you - and the kind of music you like/want/need to play. Flatwounds run the gamut; from pure, Low End Thump, through mid-rangy, "modern" tones; to "Are you sure these are flats?" bright. I don't like really bright flats, myself, although I do have the 39-96 La Bella 760 Flats on a couple of my Danelectros - for the Vintage, twangy "Dano Sound". Which I doubt you'd want from a Lakland...
My 3 active basses all have midrange-y, "Modern" flats. Because I have so many basses, most of them are set up as
"one Trick Pony's". But, that seems like a waste of an active bass, so they're set up to be versatile. The Alembic wears TI Jazz Flats. Because of the difference in stiffness, the Alembic is the only bass that always gets finger-picked. The Stingray Special wears Galli Jazz Flats; very, very smooth, and IMO? A little on the "low end" of the midrange category. Definite low end; good low-mids and mids; and also a useful top end, too. The G&L ASAT Bass? It wears probably my favorite flats; Fender 9050Ls. IMO, they define the mid-range, Modern flats category. Every other flat I've ever played (and in 50+ years of playing flats? I've played a lot of them) has been either brighter than the 9050s - or thumpier. I've had them on as many as 5 basses at the same time, but the only bass with them at the moment, is the G&L ASAT...
As for the Low-end Thump? Most La Bella DTF's are the default strings for that, but the heavier GHS Precision Flats (which I have on both my long- and short-scale Precision Basses) will work just fine, too. Pyramid Flats are supposed to be very thumpy (never tried them, though), and Roto RS77LDs, although I'd consider them the thumpiest of the Mid-range Flats, will work, too. They were awesome on my '18 Gibson Thunderbird...
So, bottom line? It depends on the tone you want from your bass. Decide what you want to hear from that bass - and choose accordingly...

 

[Thom Fioriglio]

Sorry, but I don't own a Lakland bass. Why? Let's just say that the folks at Lakland and I, are not on cordial speaking terms - and let it go at that... However; all but 2 of my 24 bases wear flats of some kind - including my 3 active basses (an Alembic Epic; an EBMM 4HH Stingray Special; and a Tom Hamilton Sig. G&L ASAT Bass).So... what flat wounds should you use? That's completely up to you - and the kind of music you like/want/need to play. Flatwounds run the gamut; from pure, Low End Thump, through mid-rangy, "modern" tones; to "Are you sure these are flats?" bright. I don't like really bright flats, myself, although I do have the 39-96 La Bella 760 Flats on a couple of my Danelectros - for the Vintage, twangy "Dano Sound". Which I doubt you'd want from a Lakland...
My 3 active basses all have midrange-y, "Modern" flats. Because I have so many basses, most of them are set up as
"one Trick Pony's". But, that seems like a waste of an active bass, so they're set up to be versatile. The Alembic wears TI Jazz Flats. Because of the difference in stiffness, the Alembic is the only bass that always gets finger-picked. The Stingray Special wears Galli Jazz Flats; very, very smooth, and IMO? A little on the "low end" of the midrange category. Definite low end; good low-mids and mids; and also a useful top end, too. The G&L ASAT Bass? It wears probably my favorite flats; Fender 9050Ls. IMO, they define the mid-range, Modern flats category. Every other flat I've ever played (and in 50+ years of playing flats? I've played a lot of them) has been either brighter than the 9050s - or thumpier. I've had them on as many as 5 basses at the same time, but the only bass with them at the moment, is the G&L ASAT...
As for the Low-end Thump? Most La Bella DTF's are the default strings for that, but the heavier GHS Precision Flats (which I have on both my long- and short-scale Precision Basses) will work just fine, too. Pyramid Flats are supposed to be very thumpy (never tried them, though), and Roto RS77LDs, although I'd consider them the thumpiest of the Mid-range Flats, will work, too. They were awesome on my '18 Gibson Thunderbird...
So, bottom line? It depends on the tone you want from your bass. Decide what you want to hear from that bass - and choose accordingly...


























sound

Thanks for the thorough reply. I appreciate it. I’ve used the Fender 9050s before on a P bass I used to have and really liked them. They seem to get a lot of love here in the forums as well. I’ve tried LaBellas and Chromes and found them too stiff and dull. EB Cobalts I really liked a lot too. I’ve never heard of Galli flats. I’ll have to look into them.