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Dunlop Flat Love Thread

Mike Vee

Mike Vee

Inactive
Oct 8, 2012
3,718
8,234
Los Angeles
#1
Man, these are awesome!

These are some of the only flats I never tried before now. Recently, I got a new Stingray SLO special that I was having trouble getting to sound good. In the past, Ernie Ball Coblat flats worked great on my Stingrays, but not on this one. For some reason they sounded bad on this particular bass, thin, metallic, felt stiff...just not good.

I decided to try Dunlop flats on a whim (the lightest gauge) and let me tell you, these are THE flats for a Stingray! The seem to have basically all the good qualities I like about various flats, and NONE of the bad, without compromise. They don't neuter the Stingray tone like many flats do, but they aren't too bright or edgy either.

They have the matte silver, super smooth, frictionless/dry feel of Fender/Chromes but without that annoying metallic overtone. They are pretty flexible, more so than Cobalt flats. They are warmer, more even, and fuller than Cobalt flats, but still have that perfect Stingray growl to them on this bass. They possibly remind me a lot of EBMM Group flats, but again, much more flexible even at 95 vs. 100. Slightly less flexible than LeBella LTF.

Overall I'd describe them as very close to EBMM Group flats just better sounding and feeling, more flex and seem higher quality as well. I would also highly recommend them to anyone who likes Fender flats or Chromes, as they are similar, only better in every way.

Who's using these and what are you favorite qualities about them?

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#3
I found them to be the best option in a 5-string short / medium scale flat. It’s true, there are few options to compare them to with that spec, but these shorties perform like long scale strings with a very even B. The G-string does intonate long, which has annoyed some users - it looks funny but it intonates just fine. They are softer than many flatwound strings, but not as soft as TI, even at my 30.5” scale. I agree they sound much like EB Group strings, which I like a lot in a 34” 4-string. Only drawback - cost!
 
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#6
TomB said:
The G-string does intonate long, which has annoyed some users - it looks funny but it intonates just fine.
Click to expand...

Much more than an annoyance with a floating bridge, as I discovered. The bass cannot be intonated properly across all four strings. Replaced the Dunlop flats with problem-free Pyramid Golds, and off the Dunlop brand for good. Expensive lesson.
 
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#7
GwenOnBass said:
Much more than an annoyance with a floating bridge, as I discovered. The bass cannot be intonated properly across all four strings. Replaced the Dunlop flats with problem-free Pyramid Golds, and off the Dunlop brand for good. Expensive lesson.
Click to expand...
That makes sense if you’re dealing with a fixed saddle position. My most recent set of Dunlop flats intonate much closer to other brands than some earlier ones, but the G speaking length is still longer than average. With a Hipshot bridge on a solid-body bass it’s not a problem, but I can see how it might be on a hollow-body.
 
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#8
TomB said:
That makes sense if you’re dealing with a fixed saddle position. My most recent set of Dunlop flats intonate much closer to other brands than some earlier ones, but the G speaking length is still longer than average. With a Hipshot bridge on a solid-body bass it’s not a problem, but I can see how it might be on a hollow-body.
Click to expand...

This is how the floating bridge looked with the Dunlop flats adjusted so the G was sort of intonated. The D string — forget about it lol. No adjustment I ever made worked.

Liked the strings well enough, but couldn't keep them.

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#10
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#11
I just switched to these from La Bella DTF's on my P-bass. I love the classic La Bella sound, but I only have the one P-bass for now and was looking for a more versatile flat. And these are it. I can get all the sounds I want by rolling tone on or off on the bass.

Guessing I'll lose some of that treble and bite with the tone up as the strings age, but we shall see!

Oh, and my G-string intonated a bit long as well. I guess they still haven't solved that weirdism. Not really a problem, unless I want to throw a mute on at the bridge - then it can be a slight annoyance. But honestly I prefer where my saddles are at now to where they were. My last two sets of La Bella 760FS's, I've had to set the D-string saddle way far ahead of the others to get it to intonate. At least if it's the G-string that's a little funny, I can just angle the NordyMute a bit to compensate.
 
#12
Just got a medium scale .105 set for my recently acquired Mustang, and there's an issue...

All of the strings except A sound great. But A is like if I used a stiff mute very close to the bridge. Nothing wrong with general sustain, but the "envelope" drops more from the initial pluck to a lower volume when the string vibrates freely, while the other strings ring as they should. Funnily, this almost entirely goes away when plucking close to the neck, and gets worse closer to the bridge. The other strings are very consistent no matter where you pluck. A also sounds a bit more "hollow". There are overtones, but a bit lower in frequency than for the other strings. I think.

I know there can be duds, but I don't even understand how this can happen. What could be causing it? There is no twist and witness points have been set (very sharp over the bridge saddles though).

I wonder if this could be better with playing. But I doubt it. If all of the strings sounded like A, I would probably not think anything was wrong. But I also would think it wasn't a very nice set of strings.
 
#13
Kyle_S said:
I just switched to these from La Bella DTF's on my P-bass. I love the classic La Bella sound, but I only have the one P-bass for now and was looking for a more versatile flat. And these are it. I can get all the sounds I want by rolling tone on or off on the bass.

Guessing I'll lose some of that treble and bite with the tone up as the strings age, but we shall see!
Click to expand...

Can anyone provide a tone comparison of LTFs and Dunlop light flats?

Also, how do the Dunlops age?
 
#14
Makten said:
I wonder if this could be better with playing. But I doubt it.
Click to expand...
My doubts seem to have been wrong! The strings are getting better with every minute. Still a bit strange overtones on A (and to some extent E), but a lot less than only a few hours of playing ago. All of them are getting more similar.
With this pace, it will probably be a couple of weeks of ~1 hour playing a day, before they've settled completely. Which is a lot slower than DTF's and a lot faster than DR legends. 😄

BTW, the medium scale set fits perfectly on the string-through 30" Mustang. The silk on E starts exactly where the string touches the tuner peg. :thumbsup:
 
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