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Flats -darkest to brightest list
- Thread starter Grissle
- Start date
I've been playing flats now exclusively for 9 years...I've tried many different brands and the ones I settled on are the La Bella 760FL...once they break in they have nice balanced, warm tone but still have some mid bite. The TI Jazz's sound nice but were too floppy feeling to me, I like a little more tension....Chromes were a bit bright and after they break in a little too much mid-range. I do like the GHS Precisions..nice old school tone like the La Bellas.
Pyramids are darker than La Bella except for the G string. After the break-in period, the G gets a bit poppy and that's one of the best things about those strings. You play deep, dark, and thumpy, and you throw a nice high pop in every now and then if you pluck the string hard enough. It's like an added bonus! ; )
Ah, vive la difference! That is one thing I don't like about them. I can't stand twangy G-strings with the repertoire I play that needs even tone through out the registers.
I notice Roto 77's make more than one person's list as the brightest. Are they significantly brighter than Chromes? Are the Rotos around the same tension as Chromes when compared to to them in the same gauge? It's sounding like I need to try a set of these.
They're the brightest on the first week but they mellow out quickly. Chromes will stay brighter a little longer while the rotosound start to get thumpy in about a month.
I'm not sure I'd call the G string 'twangy', but it does give the ability to pop like a round wound G string. And to me, playing a bass that doesn't give you the ability to pop the G string is like missing a feature.
That's why I love these strings. On a song that require a funk pop, they've got it covered. ; ) The only other flats that seem to have that covered are Chromes, but I'm not too crazy about the other 3 strings. 
THIS is right on the money. I find La Bellas (760FL's) to be wildly out of balance until they have been ridden hard for a LONG time. Right out of the pack they are quite nasty sounding to me. It says right on the package "Perfectly Balanced Sets"...they need to add the word "Eventually"
The 45-105 set is a little better in this regard IME.Having spent a lot of money and time testing flats I will offer an opposing view on some of the others:
The GHS Precision Flats are just junk to me, they are never balanced, and I have never been able to tolerate them long enough for them to get that way. I went through 4 sets of them, called GHS to complain, and they sent me replacements, which were just as bad.
The TI's are very popular if you can work with the rather floppy tension, but personally I found them really lacking in low end fundamentals. I would have to dial up the low freqs substantially compared to other strings and then it would sound boomy.
My favorite flats remain the 45-100 Chromes, mainly because they are so consistent (I have never had a dead or overly zingy string from these, unlike every other brand I've tried) and the fact that they are so versatile...dime the tone knob and they approach the brightness of broken in nickel rounds, but without the brittle highs...roll the tone back and they are fat and smooth. I also really dig the feel of these strings. La Bellas are like glass, actually too slippery for me, but the Chromes have a little texture to them so I can really finesse my touch on them.
The Sadowsky Black Labels are nice but they always seem to be out of stock when I try to find them. Kind of similar to the Chromes in feel and tone.
By the way, if you play only fingerstyle you may not notice or be bothered by the tonal imbalance of some brands, but take a pick to them and it becomes really apparent.
All of these comments are purely my observations based on playing all of these strings, not trying to rile anyone up
Meh, you just need to let those GHS'es wear in.
And if GHS P flats are scooped, I'm a zebra from now on.
And if GHS P flats are scooped, I'm a zebra from now on.
Don't let the cheetahs get you. That's my experience also: deep, dark, woody, hollow, etc. I'd call it "scooped," but that would imply a top and a bottom with the middle taken out. With the GHS, once they settle in, really not much top, either. So from that perspective, I can see why folks will call them "scooped" or "not scooped."
I'll leave the rest of the scooping to the zoo hands.
I see where you're coming from. When the strings are new, they have a slight HIGH-mid scoop, but once they wear out, it becomes more of a low-mid bump, if you know what I mean.
Yes, indeed. That's what those who love them love about them, especially with a low-q amp and at least one 15-inch driver in the array, with a slightly smaller enclosure to get a good mid-bass bump around 150 Hz to go with it.
Number one, I posted that 4 months ago.Jeezez... again ? christ man, let it go
go and be happy with your roundwounds
Number two, am I supposed to lie about how I feel about a product just because you have a different opinion?
Number three, there is no number three.
Number four, I'll post my opinions about whatever I feel like posting whenever I feel like posting.
Now if you have something useful to contribute, or maybe you can tell me why my opinion is wrong, always happy to hear you out. But come at me with this nonsense, and you will find out how adept my tuning-you-out skills are.
Personally, I'd put the EB's between the GHS Precision Flats and the Labella Deep Talkin' Flats, with the proviso that GHS goes really dark when seated in, Labellas tend to retain some high mid/low treble articulation, and the actual "voice" of the EB's is actually more similar to the Fender with the mid presence.
Dont know why EB's get no love on here.
After you get them broke in after a couple months they are fantastic.
And they are not the same as chromes!
Had the same gauge of chromes and EB on the same bass and they were different animals.
After you get them broke in after a couple months they are fantastic.
And they are not the same as chromes!
Had the same gauge of chromes and EB on the same bass and they were different animals.
.... here?
Side by side comps..... maybe makes using our words more helpful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R2LOXMqyg8
Side by side comps..... maybe makes using our words more helpful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R2LOXMqyg8
I don't know, ya'll tell me, that's what this list is for. Hopefully this can give people at least a starting point when searching for the right flats for them.
