Fender Flats

[Eddie Jones]

Just a quick question...do any of you have experience with the Fender Flats 9050L 45-100 strings? I want to try flats on my Vintage VJ74 Re-Issue as I think flats are the sounds in my head when I think of music from my childhood. And Pitbull had them on sale with taxes and shipping for less than $25.00.

 

[michael_t]

Fender 9050L are a very nice "middle-of-the-road, all purpose" flat. I would categorize them as "semi-modern" in their tonal character, meaning they can fit into a lot of different styles of music with a full-bodied punch and some growl and grind. Not quite as old-school as either La Bella or GHS.

The only thing about them is they start out fairly bright and even "clangy" when new and do take a month or two of regular playing before they settle. So, be patient.

 

[tzohn]

GHS precision flatwounds are closer to the sound you are looking for and overall they are great strings.

 

[5andFretless]

I use them on my Tony Franklin. They settle in quickly and seem to be stable.

 

[Yahboy]

Just a quick question...do any of you have experience with the Fender Flats 9050L 45-100 strings? I want to try flats on my Vintage VJ74 Re-Issue as I think flats are the sounds in my head when I think of music from my childhood. And Pitbull had them on sale with taxes and shipping for less than $25.00.

Worth a try.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Just a quick question...do any of you have experience with the Fender Flats 9050L 45-100 strings? I want to try flats on my Vintage VJ74 Re-Issue as I think flats are the sounds in my head when I think of music from my childhood. And Pitbull had them on sale with taxes and shipping for less than $25.00.

You may be disappointed they don't sound like those records, yet mind-blown how good they sound in and of themselves. At the same time. And then, want an extra J, so as to keep both types of flats. Do it.

 

[Phaidrus]

They're good (construction quality, tone), I think very highly of them.

 

[2saddleslab]

Fender 9050L are a very nice "middle-of-the-road, all purpose" flat. I would categorize them as "semi-modern" in their tonal character, meaning they can fit into a lot of different styles of music with a full-bodied punch and some growl and grind. Not quite as old-school as either La Bella or GHS.

The only thing about them is they start out fairly bright and even "clangy" when new and do take a month or two of regular playing before they settle. So, be patient.

^This. Damn good all purpose string.

 

[Eddie Jones]

They sound awesome in the above video clip. To me, a novice, they sound focused and tight

 

[Kukulkan61]

I've used them before and I still use them on my Jazz Bass!! My other 2 Pbasses have Chromes, they are very similar..

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Just a quick question...do any of you have experience with the Fender Flats 9050L 45-100 strings? I want to try flats on my Vintage VJ74 Re-Issue as I think flats are the sounds in my head when I think of music from my childhood. And Pitbull had them on sale with taxes and shipping for less than $25.00.

They're good flats. Kinda woody sounding, with a decent high end snappiness. And they're cheap, so no big deal if you realize you don't like flats.

 

[bonin in the boneyard]

I've had a set on my G&L SB-1 for 3-4 years. Great strings.

 

[azureblue]

I have MLs on my BB PJ bass. I like them because they are responsive to technique changes, like playing at the end of the neck, vs the bridge. Fingers vs pick vs slap. play lightly and they are nice and warm, play hard and they bark. Add a mute and you get the old motown sound. I had chromes and I felt like Chromes did one sound really well, but lacked a bit in the mids that was needed to cut through. I wore through the G string winding in about 6 years of playing, so I wouldn't expect them to be as durable as LaBella Strings.

 

[sxaxsx]

Similar to Chromes, I like them more though and have them on both my Jazz and P.

 

[overit]

Had them on a Fender PBass and liked them enough not to change them. Have GHS Precision Flats on a Jazz 5 and prefer them. Wonder how they would've sounded and felt on that PBass.

 

[MtManiac]

Just a quick question...do any of you have experience with the Fender Flats 9050L 45-100 strings? I want to try flats on my Vintage VJ74 Re-Issue as I think flats are the sounds in my head when I think of music from my childhood. And Pitbull had them on sale with taxes and shipping for less than $25.00.

Yes, they're one of my favourite flats. Definitely great bang for the buck, and a perfectly excellent choice for a long term commitment.

 

[Killing Floor]

Yeah! What @michael_t said. Clearly a genius. They are good strings and there is no good reason for $$$ TI to be your first set of flats. Fenders are fine, they sound full and they are a good value.
I'd add that a lot of flats start surprisingly bright out of the wrapper so don't stress. Just play through it and they will calm down.

 

[eldorado2001]

Excellent strings imo. They settle in quickly and have what I consider a classic flatwound tone. I also use Roto flats and TI flats. I'm happy with any of the above. The Rotosounds stay brighter longer ime.

 

[Eddie Jones]

Excellent strings imo. They settle in quickly and have what I consider a classic flatwound tone. I also use Roto flats and TI flats. I'm happy with any of the above. The Rotosounds stay brighter longer ime.

I considered the Roto-Sounds as they were cheap as well. But since it is a Jazz bass, I figured Fender had it figured out.

 

[jj4001]

The 9050L strings are definitely my favorite. For me, they sit perfectly in between LaBella 760FL and TI Jazz Flats for both feel and tone. Looser feel than LaBella, but tighter than TI. More growl and midrange than LaBella, but not nasally like TIs can be. They did go through some kooky phases tone-wise on my Precision during the break-in process, but it's worth the patience, IMO. Just put them on a '66 Mustang I recently acquired and they kill on that bass right off the bat. I have no problem dropping $50-70 on a set of flats if I wanna try them but it turns out I like the el cheapo Fenders best.