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Favorite flats with high tension

#41
I'm almost 69 years old. I remember that when I bought LaBella flats in the mid sixties- they came in a single wrapper for each string, no tension or gauges listed... they had blue silk. Take it or leave it. There's SO many options now... kinda like regular 60's t.v., vs. hundreds of cable channels, Roku, and and You Tube now.
I've played nearly every flatwound set there is. I'm also a repairman as some of you may know... and I see all kinds of sets. BEFORE you invest maybe 50 bucks in a set of heavy tension flats, make sure your bass can handle that extra tension!
I just removed a set of LaBella Jamerson flats from a client's U.S. Fender Jazz Bass Professional, with the spoke rod adjuster. Those strings are very high tension. They pulled the neck of that bass so hard, the rod was as tight as I could get it, without risking damage, and it was still bowed forward. In addition, the degree of 'deadness' on that set- was unpleasant to my ears. Thicker the string, the deader it was. I replaced that set with a set of current generation Fender 9050 ML's. To me, these are the best 'normal' tension set of flats on the market. VERY even, and the sound is as well, the decay of overtones is not biased towards the lower pitched strings, either. I have several basses strung with those, and I also have Chromes on a number of basses. Great strings, too.
What you should check out, are the Rotosound RS77 Jazz Bass flats. Those are among the stiffest sets I've played. They ring almost like a roundwound, wear in evenly, and seem to last forever. I have a set that's about fifteen years old now, the silk is worn completely off at the headstock end- yet- occasionally, I'll put them on a bass, and am totally blown away by how good they still sound! I believe Rotosound also sells this set as the "Steve Harris" set, as well. They have a .95 'A' string!
The reason I took them off my maple Warmoth -steel rod reinforced neck P-bass- is that they were so high tension, that they BENT the back of the Gotoh 201 bridge on that bass! I currently have a lighter gauge set of Rotosound Jazz Bass strings on my fretless. They are really excellent strings.
 
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#42
3bc said:
Thoughts on how tomastik would compare to a fat beam? fat beams seem to be not that taut, but then tomastiks are only 43-100's.

thanks!
Click to expand...
True that Thomastiks are a slightly smaller gauge and that they also have a looser feel than most strings but I wouldn't refer to it as floppy. The first time I tried them they felt weird at first but after playing them for 2-3 weeks I got used them. They sounded great from the start and they still sound great 3 years later.

For me, the benefits of TI-flats are worth adapting to how they feel. However, you'd be out $75+ if you tried them and they didn't work out. But if you don't try them and spend enough time to get used to the feel, you'll never know.
 
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#45
I bought flatwounds for the first time in almost 40 years not too long ago; based on some recommendations here I gave GHS Precision Flats (45-105 Medium) a try, and strung up my more-or-less normal 34" Precision Bass clone (a recent Warmoth build) with them.

Man, talk about "high tension"!!! These things are like plucking suspension bridge cables!

Not that that's a bad thing. I kinda like it. Kinda...
 
#49
LHbassist said:
I'm almost 69 years old. I remember that when I bought LaBella flats in the mid sixties- they came in a single wrapper for each string, no tension or gauges listed... they had blue silk. Take it or leave it. There's SO many options now... kinda like regular 60's t.v., vs. hundreds of cable channels, Roku, and and You Tube now.
I've played nearly every flatwound set there is. I'm also a repairman as some of you may know... and I see all kinds of sets. BEFORE you invest maybe 50 bucks in a set of heavy tension flats, make sure your bass can handle that extra tension!
I just removed a set of LaBella Jamerson flats from a client's U.S. Fender Jazz Bass Professional, with the spoke rod adjuster. Those strings are very high tension. They pulled the neck of that bass so hard, the rod was as tight as I could get it, without risking damage, and it was still bowed forward. In addition, the degree of 'deadness' on that set- was unpleasant to my ears. Thicker the string, the deader it was. I replaced that set with a set of current generation Fender 9050 ML's. To me, these are the best 'normal' tension set of flats on the market. VERY even, and the sound is as well, the decay of overtones is not biased towards the lower pitched strings, either. I have several basses strung with those, and I also have Chromes on a number of basses. Great strings, too.
What you should check out, are the Rotosound RS77 Jazz Bass flats. Those are among the stiffest sets I've played. They ring almost like a roundwound, wear in evenly, and seem to last forever. I have a set that's about fifteen years old now, the silk is worn completely off at the headstock end- yet- occasionally, I'll put them on a bass, and am totally blown away by how good they still sound! I believe Rotosound also sells this set as the "Steve Harris" set, as well. They have a .95 'A' string!
The reason I took them off my maple Warmoth -steel rod reinforced neck P-bass- is that they were so high tension, that they BENT the back of the Gotoh 201 bridge on that bass! I currently have a lighter gauge set of Rotosound Jazz Bass strings on my fretless. They are really excellent strings.
Click to expand...


2nded for the 9050s. What you say is what I would. I used Chromes and 760 Labellas, and I like the tension and tone a lot, plus the articulation. I have a friend with a 62 P and the Jamerson set. His bass neck is not bowing, but the string height is set really low. No buzz at all and beautiful tone with a light touch. But I still like my Fenders over his Jamersons.
 
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#50
I'm like you, as concerned with right hand efficiency as left hand ease. Besides if your frets are good, one can get a nice low action which makes them easy on the left and perfect for the right hand. High tension with low action is a wonderful combo.

Been playing LaBella 760FM which have pretty high tension. I thought I'd try slightly less tension so I tried the popular 760FL and to my surprise found them feeling like skinny floppy spaghetti in comparison. Next: tried what is between the two, which is 760FS. Better but still not enough tension (and lighter gauge), so I've just put the 760FM's back on, and all is right in the universe.
 
#52
Stating the obvious here- but we are all different...As I advance in years, I find that I really don't care for the Thomastik Spirocore Orchestras on my Lowendall upright, that I used to love.. switched to D'Addario Helicores, life was good, for many hundreds of gigs and a decade or so, and I loved those, too. I'm not 39 anymore. My hand strength, as much as I'd like to imagine I'm Superman- is not what it used to be. So, even those came off my upright, and now it has rope core Thomastik Super Flexibles on it. Those are slightly lighter than the Helicore medium tensions.
How this relates to this discussion- is that not only do we all play differently, with different preferences. What one person likes, another may not...that's obvious. What I'm doing, is comparing the relative tension between sets I've played, owned, still own and some I no longer use. There's very few flats I have not seen, played on, or heard. I got a set of the holy grail Thomastik flats about 20 years ago. I took them off within an hour, because the tension was far too light for my big- and then stronger, hands. I gave them to a friend. I have used the heavy Chromes- those are great strings- but they are too stiff for me now. I gave those to a friend, as well.
I even have an early 70's vintage set of green tape Fender flats somewhere in the shop. I love flats.
 
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#56
It sounds like you’re asking for a Chromes recommendation. You do ALL the work, the strings do none. You’ll get arthritis after 3 songs. I hate them but they sound like what you’re going for! :D
 
#57
3bc said:
I’m lookin at flats for the first time ever. Most strings are pretty taut by the bridge. I’m more comfortable playing by the neck pickup (or only pickup on a P), and i find many strings too loosey goosey in that position.

Any recommendations for a nice set of flats for a new P bass with high tension level?

Thanks! I’m mostly playing fat beams these days on other bass, and that’s about the tautness I’d like.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

La Bella 760M “Original 1954” set. High tension, very thick, thump for days. I used them for about ten years on my Fender and they definitely do that classic sound.
 
#59
3bc said:
I’m lookin at flats for the first time ever. Most strings are pretty taut by the bridge. I’m more comfortable playing by the neck pickup (or only pickup on a P), and i find many strings too loosey goosey in that position.

Any recommendations for a nice set of flats for a new P bass with high tension level?

Thanks! I’m mostly playing fat beams these days on other bass, and that’s about the tautness I’d like.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

La Bella 1954 DTF
 
#60
I have had la bella deep talking 45-105 on the bass now for about 10 days. I like them, they maybe a little stiffer than i prefer. my main player with fat beams on it is in the shop, so when i pick that up one day this week and see how much easier (or not) that is to play i'll be able to make a better judgement call on whether something that plucks a little easier is the way to go. so far i enjoy them and enjoy the tone. it definitely feels harder to play, but i'm also still getting used to the chunkier neck on this P than i'm used to as well.
 

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