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Best flats for a P poll

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 165050
  • Start date Start date

Best flatwounds on a Precision

  • TI Jazz Flats

    Votes: 171 23.5%

  • La Bella LTF

    Votes: 64 8.8%

  • Dunlop flatwound

    Votes: 29 4.0%

  • DR Legend

    Votes: 13 1.8%

  • D'Addario Chrome

    Votes: 99 13.6%

  • Roto 77

    Votes: 34 4.7%

  • Ernie Ball flatwound

    Votes: 37 5.1%

  • La Bella DTF

    Votes: 147 20.2%

  • GHS Precision

    Votes: 61 8.4%

  • Fender flatwound

    Votes: 53 7.3%

  • Gibson flatwound

    Votes: 2 0.3%

  • Optima Flats

    Votes: 2 0.3%

  • Pyramid Gold

    Votes: 7 1.0%

  • Sadowsky

    Votes: 9 1.2%
  • Total voters
    728
D

Deleted member 165050

Guest
#1
I know this has been done a bazillion times before but it's always good to get a fresh perspective... best flats for a P (that's Precision) not just best flats, but best specifically for a P.

Reason being, I'm looking for some flats for my P and I'm not liking TIs or La Bella LTFs on it. Looking for smooth feel, not too stiff, not too dull, even output across the set.

I will add any suggestions to the list as I see them...
 
Last edited:
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#8
ficelles said:
So the best flats for a P are rounds :)
Click to expand...
FWIW: that string set is unique and it may very well check all of your boxes but one! ;)

ficelles said:
Did I use the word fretless i the title? I didn't, oh well...
Click to expand...
no you didn't...just thought i'd help a brother out..... :thumbsup:

.....back to our regularly scheduled programming. :D
 
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#9
JRA said:
FWIW: that string set is unique and it may very well check all of your boxes but one! ;)

no you didn't...just thought i'd help a brother out..... :thumbsup:

.....back to our regularly scheduled programming. :D
Click to expand...

Actually I have a set of rounds on my Warwick fretless, not totally opposed to the idea... I love the smooth feel of flats though :) Doesn't Tony Franklin use DR Sunbeams on fretless P?
 
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#10
So here are my €0.02:

TI Flats: Singing mids. Feel like boiled Spaghetti. I like that a lot, on many a bass - but not on my P. (The sound I dig, the feel I don't).

LaBella DTF: Once they settle in, they have the classical oldschool thump, but it's a good few hertz lower than 'normal'. These thump bassier.

Chromes: Slightly rough to the touch at first (rubbing alcohol and a clean cloth will help), these sound a bit more metallic and retain their upper end more.

What I'd like to try next: Optima Flats. I have them on my Jazz and they sound, for want of a better word, organic. A bit wooden.
 
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#11
el murdoque said:
So here are my €0.02:

TI Flats: Singing mids. Feel like boiled Spaghetti. I like that a lot, on many a bass - but not on my P. (The sound I dig, the feel I don't).

LaBella DTF: Once they settle in, they have the classical oldschool thump, but it's a good few hertz lower than 'normal'. These thump bassier.

Chromes: Slightly rough to the touch at first (rubbing alcohol and a clean cloth will help), these sound a bit more metallic and retain their upper end more.

What I'd like to try next: Optima Flats. I have them on my Jazz and they sound, for want of a better word, organic. A bit wooden.
Click to expand...

I wish I could add Optima Flats to the list but it looks like poll editing is time-limited like post editing.
 
#15
You won't get any meaningful answers whatsoever unless you tell us what kind of tone you're looking for. Different flats have a MUCH wider range of tones (and feel) than roundwounds. You wanna sound like Motown? You'll need the LaBella DTFs. Roger Waters? That would be the Roto 77s. A modern tone with more upper mids presence and a sort of "orchestral" vibe? Thomastik Jazz Flats.

And then there's tension and even more importantly stiffness. Flats vary a LOT more than roundwounds in this regard, even if we're talking about similar gauges. Rotos are VERY stiff (unless you get the lighter gauge sets that sound extremely unbalanced across the strings). Thomastik JFs are VERY floppy and also very low tension. LaBellas can be extremely high tension (at least if you go for the higher gauge sets).

Etc. etc....

You really need to tell us what you're looking for. I can tell you MY preferences (which are several different types of flats btw, depending on what kind of tone I need) but I won't. It won't help you AT ALL. At least not until you tell us what kind of tone you're looking for and whether you want to avoid very floppy/stiff or high/low tension strings. If might even help to know what kind of pickup you've got in that bass. Is it dark or bright or middle of the road compared to a typical, average P-bass pickup? Overwound?

There is no "best" here. Every single option on your list are good quality strings but they're very, VERY different.
 
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#18
I voted TI flats. I haven't played every set you have listed, but TI flats were truly an "ah-ha" revelation for me in terms of their versatility. Yes they have a floppy A string but I quickly acclimated to that.

I do keep Labella DTF on a shortscale but that's for a very specific sound that does not work with most the music I play.
 

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