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Bright Flats for P Bass
- Thread starter gimmeagig
- Start date
The Sadowsky flats are not exactly what I would consider "bright flats".
That said, ever since I put a set (40-100) on my P, I keep getting comments from people (both musicians and audio techs) how "clear and punchy" my bass sounds now. Again, just sayin'...
By the way, I should also mention my P bass had a set of La Bella 760FL before the Sads. Thumpy with a big bottom? Yes! Clear and punchy? No so much...
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I tried the black label Sadowsky flats, but that was on my Moon JB5 and I didn't like them. I still have them and I might try them on the PJ, who knows... But I have higher hopes that the half rounds will be it for me.
Yes the Halfrounds and/or Cobalts will probably be exactly what your looking for. Maybe at some point check out some tapewounds also. I was shocked how good they sounded on my 4003s. They sound like rounds with just a tiny hint of top end gone. Plus they have no string noise when sliding etc... I go between D'addario tapes, Fender 9050 flats and Dean Markley Blue Steels on the Rick. Variety is the spice of life. Except, according to my wife, when it comes to women.
Tapewounds... and I thought those were really dark and thumpy sounding. I've never tried them. Yeah variety is good in basses and strings. I can afford that, but variety in women... that would cost a lot more.
Yeah like my marriage! Some tapes are thumpy, but the D'addarios seem to retain some high end without a lot of overtones and no finger noise. Labella makes white tapes that are supposed to sound great as well as copper and gold tapes. Not thumpy like the black Labellas. I have no experience with any of those however.
Actually a lot of the tapes have more mids and highs than some flats.
I have the La Bella White Tapes on three of mine and the La Bella White Copper Tapes on two. The Whites definitely are brighter than the blacks by any company and the Copper are brighter than the White. Haven't tried the La Bella White Gold Tapes yet, and they are supposed to be brighter than the Copper. I think the GHS 3060 tapes have more mids than the La Bella Deep Talkin'.
I believe the majority of tapes are roundwound strings with a plastic outer coating. Their may be one brand that uses flats or half rounds.
The # is EBT92. They only have one set for long scale as far as I know. I'm 99% sure they are rounds. They are a lighter gauge with the nylon added to bring it up to a normal gauge. They are very flexible and low tension. I have them on my Fender Tbucket acoustic, as well as stated above I have a set I use on my Rick
and they sound great on both.
I just finished putting together my new P Bass and since i just ordered the Half Rounds yesterday I put on a set of used DR Hi beams. They sound really good but I think I'm going to like the Half rounds better for the Latin stuff I'm doing. The pickups are the EMGX P/J setup. I've got Hipshot tuners.a 2 stage D-tuner (C and D) and a Ken Smith bridge.I bought a Mighty Mite rosewood neck from a company called CDG Hardtails, they do a fret mill and totally dial in the necks they are selling.A little bit more money but totally worth it. The bass is amazing. I couldn't be happier.
let's resurrect this topic:
I have this wonderful 1971 Precision I was talking in a NBD topic, and I'm struggling with the string choice
as far as "sound" goes, this bass has so much character on it's own that every string I've tried seem to give me almost the same sound out of the amplifier, with just small different nuances, so by far I've settled with Rotosound RS66LD for a matter of feeling, they are stiff but don't pull too much (compared to D'Addario EX165, I had to release the truss rod 1/8 turn), so I can lower the action a bit more.
I'm also well used to their bigger G string, and I like the overall feeling.
however, I was also evaluating flatwounds, but this bass is a bit on the "dark" side. I've tried Fender 9050L, but didn't like the overall feeling, and now I'm waiting for a set of Rotosound RS77LD I've used on other basses, but they tend do mellow out a bit too much from the starting sound, and I don't want to lose too much the "bright pick sound" so my mind and hands went back to my Stingray, which is strung since a couple of years with a set of GHS Brite Flats in the 49-108 gauge (lovely set!).
now, the Stingray is super bright, with tons of hi-mids and highs, so these strings just give it some more punch in the low mids filling the gap the Stingray usually have on the low mids, but I don't know how'd they sound on a Precision.
the Stingray with GHS Brite works really well with a pick, so much that my guitarist in the punk band didn't like that bass, calling it too harsh and bright, so I imagine that they would match with a Precision giving it the "spark" without too much finger/pick noise.
however, before spending money on a new set, being unable to switch the Stingray's set on the P, I searched for some videos on youtube, but they seem to be almost nonexistent
just a few videos on a short scale Schecter, a Mustang with lots of effects, and nothing on a regular Precision.
has someone used them on a Precision?
I have this wonderful 1971 Precision I was talking in a NBD topic, and I'm struggling with the string choice
as far as "sound" goes, this bass has so much character on it's own that every string I've tried seem to give me almost the same sound out of the amplifier, with just small different nuances, so by far I've settled with Rotosound RS66LD for a matter of feeling, they are stiff but don't pull too much (compared to D'Addario EX165, I had to release the truss rod 1/8 turn), so I can lower the action a bit more.
I'm also well used to their bigger G string, and I like the overall feeling.
however, I was also evaluating flatwounds, but this bass is a bit on the "dark" side. I've tried Fender 9050L, but didn't like the overall feeling, and now I'm waiting for a set of Rotosound RS77LD I've used on other basses, but they tend do mellow out a bit too much from the starting sound, and I don't want to lose too much the "bright pick sound" so my mind and hands went back to my Stingray, which is strung since a couple of years with a set of GHS Brite Flats in the 49-108 gauge (lovely set!).
now, the Stingray is super bright, with tons of hi-mids and highs, so these strings just give it some more punch in the low mids filling the gap the Stingray usually have on the low mids, but I don't know how'd they sound on a Precision.
the Stingray with GHS Brite works really well with a pick, so much that my guitarist in the punk band didn't like that bass, calling it too harsh and bright, so I imagine that they would match with a Precision giving it the "spark" without too much finger/pick noise.
however, before spending money on a new set, being unable to switch the Stingray's set on the P, I searched for some videos on youtube, but they seem to be almost nonexistent
just a few videos on a short scale Schecter, a Mustang with lots of effects, and nothing on a regular Precision.
has someone used them on a Precision?
Well... I'll say right up front that I am not a fan of "bright sounding" flats. 24 of my 28 basses wear flats; 2 wear rounds (and one of those is new, and will be wearing flats very soon) and 2 wear tape wounds. Which are definitely not "bright".
In my experience? The brightest flats are D'Addario Chromes; Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt Flats; and the really light La Bella 760FDs (made for a Danelectro Longhorn Bass) and 760FX's (slightly heavier than the FD's). And, the La Bellas, IME, are "bright" only in comparison to other La Bella flats... I use the FX's on 2 of my 3 Danos that I want "that Dano sound" from.
I have used a set of D'Addario Chromes, for a year or two. I salvaged a set of old, very broken-in Chromes from a project bass. Years later, on a whim, I put them on a new-to-me '15 Custom Shop ('cause it was a lefty) G&L Tom Hamilton Signature ASAT Bass. I thought they were surprisingly nice, but too bright for pretty much everything I like to play. The ASAT's tone controls could dial a lot of the bright out, so I left them on the bass. When they eventually, actually did die a couple of years later? Well; that bass wears Fender 9050L's, now... Which, other than the La Bella FD's, or the one set of TI Jazz Flats I have on an Alembic? Are about the "brightest" flats I use. IME, the 9050L's are the mid-point of the flat wound tone spectrum. So...
If you want bright? EB Cobalt Flats; D'Addario Chromes; La Bella 760FX's (which will take some snooping around for). Then, TI Jazz Flats (or TI Jazz Rounds, which are on my 1 bass that actually wears rounds); then Fender 9050Ls. But, you're more into mellow, "modern" sounding flats, by then. Any other flats, IME, are going to slide over into "Old School" Thump territory... As for Rotosound Flats? Well, I've never used the light gauge SM77s, but I've used the RS 77s a fair bit. They were the first strings I put on my '78 Fender P-Bass; it wore them for several years. Had them on my '18 Gibson T-Bird, too. I liked them, but "bright" is not the word I'd use to describe them. Considerably to the dark side of the Fenders, to be honest; teetering on the edge of Old School Thump - depending on the bass. On a P-Bass? Definitely edging into OS Thump territory...
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I have tried many, many different varieties of flats, semi-flats, tapewounds, and related strings on my custom P/J fanned fret bass. For flats, to get a modicum of brightness and definition without clanking and still retaining the flatwound vibe, the best set is the current Fender 9050L 45-60-80-100. Don't be concerned about the E string not being a 105. The difference in tension between a 100 and a 105 of the same make and model of string is only about two pounds or so. Just raise the bridge saddle 1/2 turn and it will feel just like the rest of the set. Link to my P/J custom bass: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/a-different-custom-p-style-bass.755914/
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The Fender 9050 flats have been my favorite for one of my Jazz basses for the last 10 yrs. As a former "balanced tension enthusiast" I used to swear by the 9050CL set (45-60-80-105). Since that set was discontinued (for the 2nd time!), I've adjusted fine to the 100E. The 9050L set that's on my Highway One Jazz is 28 mths old now and they're sounding better every day.
Fender flats are mysteriously missing in the chart above, posted by @BASS YODA, but we can safely put them in the same category as the Ernie Ball Stainless Steel Flats (medium tension/modern vintage). Speaking of Ernie Ball, I've been enjoying the Group IV (40-95) stainless steel flats on my recently-acquired Squier Classic Vibe 60's Precision. And I would say "modern vintage" is the right description for their tonal character.
If I may expand on @michael_t , I can tell you that as much as I prefer the now-discontinued 9050CL set, the 105 would get a little thumpy before the rest of the set would finally go beyond well-seated in tone. That, and compounded by two additional aspects, that Fender does not sell single replacement strings, and that the 100, being ever so slightly more flexible, and therefore a little more consistent tonally with the rest of the set, is pretty much how everyone goes now as far as flats gauges, with a couple of notable exceptions, namely those sets that have the higher middle gauges of 45-65-85-105. Nothing new in the world. When you research scans of old "golden era" Fender strings, the regular flats set was 50-100; so the G string didn't sound twangy and the E string didn't sound thumpy.
Well, I must have mis-copied the link to my thread. Let's try this: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/a-different-custom-p-style-bass.755914/
