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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: 148 20.3%

  • 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
    729
#261
I agree with you guys on LTFs being easier to play but when I'm one of those players who dig in a lot more when they play with a record or on stage so I keep high tension flats and raise my action. I'm pretty heavy handed in general.
 
#262
sloppy_phil said:
So. Many. Opinions! And here's yet another...

You'll find absolutely no love whatsoever in my house for any LaBella or TI strings. The former are pure sonic mud (I've tried DTF and LTF, *and* a set of their SS rounds. Barf!), the latter are like little elastic bands, and I just cannot take them seriously. I realize these are by far the two most popular things among the hive mind here, but that's been my experience. My P-Bass is something of a "treble eater" though, and so I find it gets a more balanced tone with slightly brighter strings.

My favourite for a while was the GHS Precision flats, but after using stainless steels on that P for many a year, I've got some Roto 77 flats on it now. These are great (for flats)! This is my first experience with them, but no problems whatsoever with balanced output that others have mentioned here. They are flats, so it's definitely a warm, old school thump, but there's a little presence and zing to them which I rather enjoy. I only use this bass now for old school soul/RnB gigs, so it doesn't need to do anything but be thumpy; hence my return to flats.
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Never played the RS77LD but on many YouTube videos they sound as a more mid-oriented version of TI JF344, which, personally, I don’t dislike .. what’s their tension with respect to, for instance, Fender flats?
 
#263
JimmyM said:
I am a bit surprised to see TI Jazz Flats as the top choice. I knew they had a lot of diehard fans, but holy cow, more than LaBella? They're some very polarizing strings IMHO. I don't like the way they feel like they're rolling under my fingers, and even though I hear a lot of bassists sound great with them, I couldn't get them to sound like anything but rounds without as much finger noise. But the results speak for themselves.
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I am surprised about the lack of love for the super-vintage and fat sounding Pyramid Gold 45-105 :crying::crying::crying: .. they’re great flats …
 
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#265
Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati said:
I am surprised about the lack of love for the super-vintage and fat sounding Pyramid Gold 45-105 :crying::crying::crying: .. they’re great flats …
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I rocked a set back in da 70s. My local guitar shop in Portland at the time was Freedom Guitar :) (they moved to San Diego and now retired)
They had them in stock for a while. I went in for another set, they were out and didn't restock so I went back to Rotosounds RL 66s rounds again.
 
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#267
Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati said:
Never played the RS77LD but on many YouTube videos they sound as a more mid-oriented version of TI JF344, which, personally, I don’t dislike .. what’s their tension with respect to, for instance, Fender flats?
Click to expand...
I've had the Rotos on a couple of basses, including my P-Bass (a long time ago), and I had the Fenders on that P-Bass until a year or so ago. I currently have them on a couple of my other basses - of which I have waay too many...:rolleyes: I can't speak to the actual pull-to-pitch tension of either, but IME? The Rotos are definitely stiffer than the Fenders. Which is OK by me; I like stiff - especially on a bass that gets played with a pick. And the Rotos are the cat's ass for that... As for the tone? To my ears, the Fenders are very middy and modern sounding; an awful lot like the TIJFs, in fact; just stiffer. The Rotos? I'd classify them as right on the cusp of Old School Thump > mid-range Modern. I had them on my P-Bass when it was my only bass; the Roto's were versatile enough to cover pretty much anything I wanted to play. On my '18 Gibson Thunderbird? Roto RS77LDs will rock yer sox off...:cool:
 
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#268
ficelles said:
I prefer low tension flats myself... TIJFs and LTFs are my favourite for feel. Currently have a set of standard gauge DTFs on one bass but finding them very stiff and switching to light.
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That why I use Dunlops, which came in very low in this poll. But my violin basses have DTF's that will never come off till they break, because that's what you do with violin basses :D I used to think it was BS, but they really do come alive with LaBellas.
 
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#269
JimmyM said:
That why I use Dunlops, which came in very low in this poll. But my violin basses have DTF's that will never come off till they break, because that's what you do with violin basses :D I used to think it was BS, but they really do come alive with LaBellas.
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Put ‘em on my Gretsch…they work on there too. It’s a really good quality instrument but the DTF’s seem to give it a little more continuity/consistency throughout.
 
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#271
JimmyM said:
I am a bit surprised to see TI Jazz Flats as the top choice. I knew they had a lot of diehard fans, but holy cow, more than LaBella? They're some very polarizing strings IMHO. I don't like the way they feel like they're rolling under my fingers, and even though I hear a lot of bassists sound great with them, I couldn't get them to sound like anything but rounds without as much finger noise. But the results speak for themselves.
Click to expand...

I joke that my favorite rounds are TI flats.

IMO It has so much to do with playing style(plucking angle and intensity) and equipment I think. For me personally...anyone I've ever studied with encouraged me to dig in harder which just isn't naturally in my nature. I feel like I'm able to pull that kind of tone with TI's without having to dig in beyond my comfort zone. Dunlops really fall into that same category for me. The 45-105 tension is higher but the flexibility falls in line with much lighter sets.

Funny enough...had my first rehearsal on Thursday with my SWR610 that I picked up used for $250 around a month ago and the TI's, for the first time were a bit too mid forward for that set up. Had to tweak my eq much differently to get my sound. No doubt the broke in Dunlops will suit me better with this set up...which I'm going to try in about a week when we get back together. That's kind of what I love about TI's though...even with that set up I was able to make them sound like flats by rolling off the tone on my Moollon and tweaking the eq even though they very much sounded like rounds when we started in. The set I had on is about 3 years old. I just can't seem to pull tone on a long scale bass from DTF's. The just sound blanketed and muddy when I play them. When I listen to Jamerson play them on the records I love them.
 
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#272
uwrossl said:
I joke that my favorite rounds are TI flats.

IMO It has so much to do with playing style(plucking angle and intensity) and equipment I think. For me personally...anyone I've ever studied with encouraged me to dig in harder which just isn't naturally in my nature. I feel like I'm able to pull that kind of tone with TI's without having to dig in beyond my comfort zone. Dunlops really fall into that same category for me. The 45-105 tension is higher but the flexibility falls in line with much lighter sets.

Funny enough...had my first rehearsal on Thursday with my SWR610 that I picked up used for $250 around a month ago and the TI's, for the first time were a bit too mid forward for that set up. Had to tweak my eq much differently to get my sound. No doubt the broke in Dunlops will suit me better with this set up...which I'm going to try in about a week when we get back together. That's kind of what I love about TI's though...even with that set up I was able to make them sound like flats by rolling off the tone on my Moollon and tweaking the eq even though they very much sounded like rounds when we started in. The set I had on is about 3 years old. I just can't seem to pull tone on a long scale bass from DTF's. The just sound blanketed and muddy when I play them. When I listen to Jamerson play them on the records I love them.
Click to expand...
If you like low tension, Dunlop makes a 40-100 flats set that is right on par with the TI's. That's what I use because I like the low tension, too.

Nice score on the SWR cab BTW!
 
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#273
JimmyM said:
If you like low tension, Dunlop makes a 40-100 flats set that is right on par with the TI's. That's what I use because I like the low tension, too.

Nice score on the SWR cab BTW!
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100% agree on the 40-100 set being on par with the TI's. Have recommended them in several threads as an alternative that I think does develop more of the old school thump than TI's when broken in.

And yeah...I'm feeling really good about that old SWR610. Sounded great. Funny that I need a bigger cab for our rehearsal lockout in DTLA then I need on most gigs. But it seems to be fitting the bill and the budget quite nicely. There's some Ampeg porn in there for you too that shook the curtains of the wall :D
IMG_0799.jpg
 
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#275
JimmyM said:
That why I use Dunlops, which came in very low in this poll. But my violin basses have DTF's that will never come off till they break, because that's what you do with violin basses :D I used to think it was BS, but they really do come alive with LaBellas.
Click to expand...

I'm looking forward to trying the 43-104 DTF set on my TB10, 45-105 is hard work with the high action. Nice sound though. I'd go for LTFs but I need extra long scale and can't find them anywhere in the UK :(
 
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#276
ficelles said:
I'm looking forward to trying the 43-104 DTF set on my TB10, 45-105 is hard work with the high action. Nice sound though. I'd go for LTFs but I need extra long scale and can't find them anywhere in the UK :(
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It obviously depends on your tone goals, but have you considering doing as @coyote1 has, i.e. putting actual (1/4 scale I think?) double bass strings on the Takamine? I was pretty impressed by his sound sample video. I'm now of the opinion that that silk damping in orchestral strings plays a not insignificant part in creating the classic DB sound. If only they weren't so goddonn dear...
 
#280
73_Blazer said:
How would you describe the Chromes ?
Click to expand...

Pretty similar to Fender 9050 flats. Surprisingly bright with strong upper mids. The brightness lasts a long time and there is a bit more tension compared to other strings of the same gauge. I prefer a more traditional flatwound string like La Bella, but Chromes are a good choice if you want a bright sounding flat.

- Steve
 
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