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Differences between string brands (regarding flats)

HankHillWaluigi

HankHillWaluigi

May 2, 2015
312
465
#1
So I've been thinking about this for a little while. I absolutely adore flats as they helped me find my tone and feel amazing to play to boot, but how much of a difference is there between brands? Now some are obvious, like Thomastik-Infeld flats being low tension and mid-oriented and Labella Original '54's being ridiculously high tension and the Motown sound. However, I'm looking at the specifics of the differences between string brands and how much of a difference in sound and tension they are. What makes Fender flats different from D'Addario Chromes, DR Legends different from Dunlop flats, etc. etc.

And yes, it is a slow day at work :p
 
#5
HankHillWaluigi said:
So I've been thinking about this for a little while. I absolutely adore flats as they helped me find my tone and feel amazing to play to boot, but how much of a difference is there between brands? Now some are obvious, like Thomastik-Infeld flats being low tension and mid-oriented and Labella Original '54's being ridiculously high tension and the Motown sound. However, I'm looking at the specifics of the differences between string brands and how much of a difference in sound and tension they are. What makes Fender flats different from D'Addario Chromes, DR Legends different from Dunlop flats, etc. etc.

And yes, it is a slow day at work :p
Click to expand...
i find there can be a huge difference in tone and tension between different brands of flats, definitely more so than with rounds. There are many factors involved but the obvious ones are the thickness of the core wire and how tight the outer wraps are. The relative sustain of a flatwound (which is affected by many construction factors) seems to have a marked effect on the tone, for example a flatwound like Chromes or Ti with a relatively strong sustain has a fairly bright tone for a flatwound, i think this is because the highs are less choked by the short sustain. I have only tried a few flats but have found them all to be very different. Chromes i cannot get on with, there is something about the lows/low mids that seems a bit muddy and tends to get lost in the mix. Ernie ball flats are better and darker sounding than Chromes and not so tight feeling bit they have the same muddy lows/low mids that get lost in the mix. Labellas are fantastic strings,very musical strings,great clarity and definition without being a string that i would classify as being bright and great punch to them. Ghs flats are great also,very dark sounding strings, lots of low mids, quite flexible feeling for their gauges also
 
#9
pyramid gold - low output, all nickel, good bass and mids and high mids, little to no treble, very tense if you get 45-105 or 50-110
ti jazz flat - basically a roundwound sound but flat. light bass, heavy mids and treble. very low tension
labella - medium tension, good bass, scooped mids, decent treble
chromes - medium-heavy tension, good bass, scooped low-mid mids, good high mids and treble bite
ghs precision - medium tensions, good bass and mids, light treble
DR Legend - heavy tension, good bass and mids, good treble
ernie ball - good bass and mids, light treble, heavy tension
 
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