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Best Flatwounds?

#21
GHS Precision Flatwounds - but only on a Precision bass. I don't know what kind of voodoo works go into that string, but I've tried GHS P-flats on a Jazz bass and it was just a no-no to my ears. Chromes and Rotosound 77s were fantastic for a passive Fender Jazz though... Oh well. My vote still goes to GHS. I ordered a custom light gauge of 40-55-75-95 and it is the pure joy to play on now. Tuning set to standard of course. :smug:
 
#22
I love the Thomasik's on my Mike Lull P5.
The 35" scale bumps up the tension a touch and sounds just
amazing on that particular bass.

I also like flats on a 34" Scale Zon Sonus I have.
The Thomastik's are a little too light for that bass for me.

The D'Addario chromes really work well on the Zon for me.
Nice and bright with great sustain.

I am curious about the Sadowsky strings mentioned
in this thread. I'll be trying them next on the Zon.

Good luck in your search.
Ain't it fun?

RT
 
#24
I'd like to share a little experience I had with Thomastik flats several years ago. I bought from a TB member (don't remember who) a set and put them on. Weak E string that had alot of "zing" compared to the other strings. The A was literally deeper than the E. He was very polite about it and sent me another E. Same thing. He sent me yet another. Same thing. Sent me yet another. Third time was the charm and all was well. I've heard people say cut after the bend because you'll break the core otherwise. It was so many years ago I can't remember if I was doing this or not.

Be warned. Thomastiks are definitely an acquired taste. Very mid-heavy and floppy for flats. Just my ignorant opinion.
 
#27
PBnJBassist said:
GHS Precision Flatwounds - but only on a Precision bass. I don't know what kind of voodoo works go into that string, but I've tried GHS P-flats on a Jazz bass and it was just a no-no to my ears. Chromes and Rotosound 77s were fantastic for a passive Fender Jazz though... Oh well. My vote still goes to GHS. I ordered a custom light gauge of 40-55-75-95 and it is the pure joy to play on now. Tuning set to standard of course. :smug:
Click to expand...

I have the Squier VM jaguar, its a PJ mix, what does that mean? :P
 
#32
beefandbones said:
I like Thomastik Infeld Jazz Flats because they have a supple feel, sound fantastic, and last forever, although they're a bit expensive at $50-60 for a set (but worth it imho). I live in a fairly large city and I have to order them online. My favorite 'less expensive' string is D'Addario XL Chromes, which run about $25 or so, and you can find those just about anywhere. LaBellas are good too. Never liked Fender flats, myself, because they felt like steel cables under my fingers, and the sound was... not bad.. but I just didn't like the way they felt. By the way, I encourage you to try flats - they're not for everyone, but once I tried them, I loved them, and now they're all I use.
:cool:
Your right.
TI-flats are extra $$$$, but the payoff in there longevity.
I have a set on my fretless P-Bass, 6 years old and they still sound great.
TI-JF344's are my favorite strings.
GHS precision flats are #2 if you need to save $$$.
Click to expand...
 
#33
Thanks to all you guys that are replying now, though i made my decision a while back, got a set of D'Addario flats, liked them, but switched back to rounds recently because i got more into slapping. Planning on getting a new bass, though, so i might put the flats on this one and possibly get a new pair of rounds. Maybe the colored ones :D Are they good? WIll they hold up to slap?
 
#36
+1 on the Fender flats, especially the 9050CL set of 45-60-80-105. Over the past 36+ years I've tried all the above and then some, and always went back to rounds. This is the set that converted me to a flats guy. They have it all: growl, bite, consistency, both up the neck and string-to-string, long life (I'm still on my first set for the last, well, almost two years now, granted that I'm gigging mostly on double bass, but my electric goes with me to every gig for a few tunes and as a backup), economical.

I was always, even with Roto Swingbass, killing the low E before everything else went, and had to have extra E strings, and this playing jazz charts, not just thumping open strings. I'm still on my original E string with this set as well.

And pick a little closer to the neck and roll off the tone knob a tad, and it can get just as mellow as any other set of flats.

Yes, they have the strange green silks still, but get over it. It's worth it.

As far as speaking length, the silk starts just on the backside of the nut of my custom fanned fret P-style bass, which is string-through standard Fender style on the E string 34 inch scale.
 
#39
One thing to keep in mind about most flats is that they last FOREVER. I know it's hard with low resources to lay down 80 bucks for a set of TI jazz flats for example, but if you like 'em, odds are you'll never have to replace them. The "round-wounders" are always having to replace their strings every few weeks for the elusive "Zing" that's considered a waste product in flatwounds.

Sadowksy Black Label stainless steel flats and D'addario chromes run around 48 bucks for a 5 string set. The nicest really cheap strings in my book are the webstrings.com Detroit Steels (stainless steel, wicked smooth flatwounds.)
 

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