Best Flatwound Strings?

[jdwhitak]

I'm not typically a big fan of flatwounds, but I am wanting to try something different with my Precision. I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for flats. I typically use DR High Beams which are also made in flats, but I am also curious about trying out Sadowsky Strings or any other bright sounding flats you guys can recommend.

All flatwounds are going to give you the same basic tonality. The differences between the brands comes down to different shades of the same basic flavor. If you are wanting a string with some of the characteristics of a flatwound, but brighter then I would highly suggest the SIT Bass Silencers. Those are nickel plated steel strings that are rollerwound to give a feel kind of like a flatwound, but with the roundwound sound.

 

[DaveAceofBass]

My two cents:

D'Addario Chromes: The brightest flat. Almost as bright as a roundwound with a fuller fundamental. Tension is pretty high on these, and the finish is shiny, making them a bit "sticky". Buy the extra long set for through-body stringing. Blue silk.

Sadowsky Flats: Made by LaBella, but different from LaBella's normal 760 series flats. Brighter, more flexible, but they mellow out after time. These retain some brightness after a while, but not nearly as much as Chromes. The B string is taper core on the Sadowsky flats. Do not run these through-body. Silver silk.

LaBella 760 series: I've used both light and standard gauge. These are super smooth and shiny, thumpier than both Chromes and Sadowskys. They are very even sounding strings, bright at first but quickly mellowing out to a very traditional sounding flat. They are great strings, but not as versatile as the Sadowsky strings, and nowhere near close to round wounds like the Chromes. If you need through-body stringing you have to order them that way. Black silk.

DR Legend Flats: Bright highs, thumpy lows, tension is not as "even" across all the strings. Very smooth to the touch. Great strings, but I didn't like them enough to want to use them again. Yellow silk.

GHS Precision Flats: These strings are awesome. They have a percussive attack to the front of the note that the others just don't have. They are very dull after they settle. The highs are attenuated, but there is an upper mid presence that makes them growl. Nothing like roundwounds, but if you're looking for a thumpy sound, this is it. Very smooth finish, tension is a little higher than the others, maybe not as much as Chromes. The price make these the best buy. Purple silk.


For me, they're all great. They each serve a purpose or a bass.

 

[peterpalmieri]

I have a set of Labella 760FX (extra light39-96) on my AV64 jazz. I always loved the original 54s (Jamerson set) but don't like the high tension. IMO The extra lights sound everybit as good and feel way better.

I also tried those same strings on my AVRI57 Precision but prefer that bass set up with TIs.

These two sets of strings have really converted me to the light guage, low tension side of things. I also use a set of TI jazz rounds with a similar light feel. This gives me a bit more consistency when coming from the DB or NS Omni which have lower tension strings. Everything else feels very tight in comparison.

 

[DaveAceofBass]

I have a set of Labella 760FX (extra light39-96) on my AV64 jazz. I always loved the original 54s (Jamerson set) but don't like the high tension. IMO The extra lights sound everybit as good and feel way better.

I also tried those same strings on my AVRI57 Precision but prefer that bass set up with TIs.

These two sets of strings have really converted me to the light guage, low tension side of things. I also use a set of TI jazz rounds with a similar light feel. This gives me a bit more consistency when coming from the DB or NS Omni which have lower tension strings. Everything else feels very tight in comparison.

I meant to mention TIs in my earlier post:

They are super expensive due to the exchange rate. Personally, I love TIs on my uprights but I don't use them on electric. I have tried them...they are more "springy" and loose feeling than the rest. DRs and Sadowskys have the closest feel in terms of tension, but TIs are in a league of their own. I'm sure they are fantastic as Thomastik is a fantastic company...but my wallet prefers everything else.

 

[peterpalmieri]

To clarify for anyone coming in new TIs are the Thomastik Infeld Jazz flats (just for reference)

Dave I find the lighter tension gives me more of the feel I have on the upright, some of that is because we play pizz on the fingerboard so the distance the string moves when you pull on it is further than if you are over a pickup or close to the bridge on a bass guitar plus the smaller string length. So for me standard guage strings feel like I'm playing a pencil, when I hit them they don't respond back to me. I hope that makes sense, so I get that feel of pulling the string when I want it. I'm not saying everyone should think this way but it works for me.

It's been said before with the TIs having a life of a year or more makes up for the additional cost.

That all being said the TIs are just one unique flavor of flatwounds that I really enjoy and for me are expressive in ways that I don't find using other strings.

 

[peterpalmieri]

Last night I switched the jazz from the labella 760fx to TI jazz rounds. It's a great pair to swap between as it needs no truss or saddle adjustments.

I had considered picking up a second AV 64 to have one with rounds and the other with flats but the swap is pretty easy even with the bridge pickup cover on.

The TI flats don't swap as easy as the silk windings start to unravel after a few swaps.

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

The TI flats don't swap as easy as the silk windings start to unravel after a few swaps.

Experienced this too... here's my tip - I singed the silks with a candle, and carefully wicked some of the hot wax onto them. I also do this whenever installing new strings on upright basses.

All that said, I now have TI Jazz Flats on all but two basses, got the TI SuperAlloy set on those.

 

[SturmUndDrang]

GHS Brite Flats!

 

[sneakyblueberry]

Being totally new to this forum (lurking for a while), and recently switching from guitar to bass in my band, I've seen so many players talk up flats like; "Can't wait to put a set of flats on this new bass" etc. I bought some to put on my Thunderbird and... I hate flats with a passion. I get that some players like the 'mellow' tone thing but honestly I expected at least a tiny bit of sparkly goodness. Ugh. $40 down the drain. Live and learn.

 

[BigBeatNut]

Live and learn.

You will learn ... one day, you will learn

 

[jessicabass]

Being totally new to this forum (lurking for a while), and recently switching from guitar to bass in my band, I've seen so many players talk up flats like; "Can't wait to put a set of flats on this new bass" etc. I bought some to put on my Thunderbird and... I hate flats with a passion. I get that some players like the 'mellow' tone thing but honestly I expected at least a tiny bit of sparkly goodness. Ugh. $40 down the drain. Live and learn.

Problem with people who try flats like you for the first time is that they take them off in a few days.
Flats cannot be appreciated untill they have at least a few weeks to a month to settle into their tonal territory.
The feel and sound change alot in that short period.

 

[Gizmot]

D'addario Chromes are nice strings but they pale very badly in comparison with Thomastik Jazz Flats. The Jazz Flats are smooth as butter in their feel and have very low string tension. The sound is brighter than other flats, but they sound truly musical and well balanced. They're supposed to last 5 - 7 years, so the expensive price is minimized by the long life.

 

[el_cody_loco]

Most well-rounded flats are D'Addario Chromes. GHS makes some good flats too, but I always come back to D'Addario.

 

[Moving Pictures]

Since I posted about loving TI's last year I have drifted away from them. I have found that LaBella Deep Talking Flats work better for me. I had them on my Precision, which I sold, and they are on my SG bass. I love the feel and tone. They really work for me. TI's are great strings but my tastes have changed. Maybe I'll try them again in the future but for now these are it.

I also have GHS Precision Flats on my RumbleKat and they really work well on that bass. So we will see. I don't plan to change these strings anytime soon. They are also a fantastic string for me.

I am using the light gauge sets for both brands. Easier on me.

Tried Chromes again but still not for me. Many love them, just not me .

 

[DaveAceofBass]

Most well-rounded flats are D'Addario Chromes. GHS makes some good flats too, but I always come back to D'Addario.

Not. They're great strings...but this is a bit biased sounding. To me, these are the least flatwound sounding of the bunch. That being said if you like roundwounds and don't really want to lose all of those qualities, this is a good choice.

 

[el_cody_loco]

Not. They're great strings...but this is a bit biased sounding. To me, these are the least flatwound sounding of the bunch. That being said if you like roundwounds and don't really want to lose all of those qualities, this is a good choice.

If by biased you mean "tried them and never went back to anything else"... then this is true haha. I love the "sponginess" of them (if that makes sense) on my fretless rosewood board J bass. I could get TONS of usable tones out of them. The feel leaves something to be desired for a few weeks though. The break in period turns a lot of people away from them. My genres include rock and metal-based styles so I will admit, what you said about not losing as many roundwound qualities is very true. They're definitely usable in heavy genres.

 

[Steve York]

Thanks for all the info. I mostly played flatwounds through the 70's when there weren't many choices. For me it was medium LaBellas on my P basses and lighter gauge Fenders on my Jazz basses, although I had to go through about 5 sets of Fenders to make up one good set!
I started playing 5 string in 2001 with Lakland basses and went back to flats for certain gigs. I love the GHS/Lakland flats. Dan Lakin sent me a few experimental B strings but none of them sounded good.
At this point I use LaBella Black Nylon on my Lakland 5 when I want the flatwound sound, but they have a sound of their own. The B string works very well.
I'm back on the search for a good set of steel flats for my Lakland 5 string.. At this point I've ordered a set of GHS. I've seen mixed reports on the B string but I'm hoping it's improved in the last 13 years! Also waiting for a set of Sadowskys as I'm hoping the tapered B will work out.
I'm also very interested in trying the new LaBella White Nylon Copper strings. Does anyone know if they are closer in sound to flats or rounds?
I live in Mexico and it is a convoluted process to order strings here. I will be seeing the Sadowsky's in August and the GHS in October! In the meantime I am interested in any reports the subject of flatwound B strings that will fit a 35" scale Lakland 55-94!

 

[JustForSport]

Just installed a set of S/S flats:
(Since I couldn't get a Chrome B to sound good on anything I've tried them on, I've been using WebStrings S/S flats- great B on everything they've been on).
But, due to reading another thread here, I used a Webstrings .110 and .085 from their 'heavy' set, a .065 and .045 from their light set, and a .032 S/S Chrome tuned BEADG on a 35" bass.
The only issue was the .110 was 36 1/4" ball-to-end of top wrap and just missed reaching the nut, so I used a folded/compressed foil shim in the slot to make up the diameter for now.
Sounds great, tho- excellent definition on the (big) bottom, even tonality and feel across the strings: like 'em. The rest of the strings are 36 5/8" or more ball-to-end of top wrap. Maybe it was just that string, but you can email them, tell 'em what length you need and see if they can verify it for you. The strings will not be long enough for 35" thru-body, tho.
I've tried the LaBella White Nylon Copper strings on only a couple basses so far- they sound and feel great: even/progressive tone (like broken in nickel rounds) and feel across the strings on a 34" maple/maple rosewood 6 string. But not good at all on an alder/maple/rosewood 35" 5 string- more like dead nickel rounds or 'flat' flats.
(Don't know if it's the 'tonewood', scale length, or what, but it was the same set tried on both- the 35" first, then the 34".)
BTW- the above mentioned flats set replaced the nylons on the 35" bass and sound way better, and more musical.

 

[Steve York]

Just installed a set of S/S flats:.........

Thanks! That's helpful! Regarding the Webstring. I just measured my Lakland. It looks like the binding would be over the nut, and I would need about another 8" of wrapped string for the A string! Thanks for the info about the White Tape strings!

 

[JustForSport]

On the A, I've got 5 1/2" from nut to tuner, 5 wraps around post, and had cut some off- on 34" scale.
The ones on the 35" bass were prev installed, also, and I don't have any un-installed sets to measure- I think you'd be alright, tho.
Just be sure to 'bend first, then cut'- I think they mention that on the package. I've always done that (altho there are others that say it's not req'd) and have re-strung flats and rounds (round-core) without a problem.