Well...
- Yes, Fender 9050L flats are what lots of us flat wound fans recommend to first time flats users. Not too thumpy; not too stiff; and not too expensive. I have flats on almost all my 29 basses, and at last count? Three of them are wearing 9050Ls...
- Yes, Fender 9050L's are "midrange-y, modern sounding" flats. Pretty much at the midpoint of the flat wound tonal spectrum, IME; and, over the last 50+ years, I've played lots of different flats. There are a few that are brighter - when they're all broken in; and quite a few that are darker and "thumpier" - when they're all broken in. Just depends what you want...
- Yes, flat wound strings do take longer to break in than rounds - as a general rule. However... some will break in much quicker than others; and some seem to take roughly forever to break in. Fender 9050Ls, IME, break in fairly quickly - for flats. And, they're pretty typical during the break in process. The E string starts off really dull/dead sounding, and the other strings start off really bright. As they break in, they will all sort of meet in the middle - and if you take reasonable care of them? They'll stay that way for... well, I have a set of 9050Ls that are currently on their 4th bass. They're almost 16 years old, now; still sound great, too.
- As for Rotosound Monel Flats sounding "bright"? Well... not in my experience. They're not as dark and "thumpy" sounding as La Bella Deep Talkin' Flats - or the heavy gauge GHS Precision Flats -, but... they're pretty dark. Steve Harris's Roto Flats sound bright (well, bright-ish), but, that's because he changes them after every performance. They never get broken in... I've had them on one of my Gibson Thunderbirds, and they were on my '78 Fender P-Bass for years. "Bright" is not how I'd describe them - at all... But, I liked them - a lot... They were still on that T-Bird when I sold it; they came off the P-Bass when I decided that I wanted the same tone from it, that had when it came new from the factory - with light gauge Squier Flats. There are strings that give me that tone; but, they're not Roto Monel Flats...
So... enjoy those 9050Ls. Just know that if you decide that you want some brighter - or thumpier - flats? They're definitely available...
- Yes, Fender 9050L flats are what lots of us flat wound fans recommend to first time flats users. Not too thumpy; not too stiff; and not too expensive. I have flats on almost all my 29 basses, and at last count? Three of them are wearing 9050Ls...
- Yes, Fender 9050L's are "midrange-y, modern sounding" flats. Pretty much at the midpoint of the flat wound tonal spectrum, IME; and, over the last 50+ years, I've played lots of different flats. There are a few that are brighter - when they're all broken in; and quite a few that are darker and "thumpier" - when they're all broken in. Just depends what you want...
- Yes, flat wound strings do take longer to break in than rounds - as a general rule. However... some will break in much quicker than others; and some seem to take roughly forever to break in. Fender 9050Ls, IME, break in fairly quickly - for flats. And, they're pretty typical during the break in process. The E string starts off really dull/dead sounding, and the other strings start off really bright. As they break in, they will all sort of meet in the middle - and if you take reasonable care of them? They'll stay that way for... well, I have a set of 9050Ls that are currently on their 4th bass. They're almost 16 years old, now; still sound great, too.
- As for Rotosound Monel Flats sounding "bright"? Well... not in my experience. They're not as dark and "thumpy" sounding as La Bella Deep Talkin' Flats - or the heavy gauge GHS Precision Flats -, but... they're pretty dark. Steve Harris's Roto Flats sound bright (well, bright-ish), but, that's because he changes them after every performance. They never get broken in... I've had them on one of my Gibson Thunderbirds, and they were on my '78 Fender P-Bass for years. "Bright" is not how I'd describe them - at all... But, I liked them - a lot... They were still on that T-Bird when I sold it; they came off the P-Bass when I decided that I wanted the same tone from it, that had when it came new from the factory - with light gauge Squier Flats. There are strings that give me that tone; but, they're not Roto Monel Flats...
So... enjoy those 9050Ls. Just know that if you decide that you want some brighter - or thumpier - flats? They're definitely available...
