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Flats - Do I need to man-up?
- Thread starter 4StringDave
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Yes - I just couldn't read all 14 pages, but I'm really liking GHS Pressurewound. To me, . . . best of both worlds and they feel great.
Peace
Peace
Which just goes to show that the string threads almost always devolve into people just saying which string they like to use best (at any given time).
It’s my not so humble opinion that most advice with regards to strings in this context should be be ignored, and god knows I’ve been guilty of giving it. The only way to really know is to buy and use the damn things. I have seen so many contradictory opinions on the matter, that nothing really matters! Buy and try. Use the consensus as a general guideline. Know that no two brands, or even lines within a brand, or gauges, are the same. The rest is just white noise, including this post.
I tried chromes and rotosound 77. Not so great. Too tense, too bright. Chromes had this ringing overtone.
La Bella LTF are great though. Looser if you like the flexibility of rounds, and very slick, dark, woody and rubbery sound right away. Not much break in needed. Sounds good for the OP perhaps?
La Bella LTF are great though. Looser if you like the flexibility of rounds, and very slick, dark, woody and rubbery sound right away. Not much break in needed. Sounds good for the OP perhaps?
Compression wounds are really good I agree. I've recently used a set of SIT silencers on one of my basses, almost feel like flat wound, almost sound like round wound, they're a good string if you don't want rounds or flats.
Yes, 14 pages... we're a helpful bunch here aren't we? I was a bit sceptical when I first used flats but I persevered and it worked out well.
Try wiping the flats with alcohol when done. Or go to tapewrapped strings. I did 12 -13 years ago, and never looked back. Always preferred flats, playing everything, but the tape wrapped are all I have on all 7 of my players. Wipe them when done, kick on.
My 2 cents (after not reading all 14 pages...), no need to 'man up' haha, maybe they don't work for you, but maybe you haven't given them time to be all they can be.
Flats are a unique thing, and for most players (other than Steve Harris) flats get better with age. Once they settle in, they feel better and that tone lasts forever. That settle in time can be 20-30+ hours of play, though. As a primary use string, they are not for everyone, but for the OP's situation, they are a very viable option.
Something I really like about flats is that the intonation doesn't get nearly as wonky as they start to wear out at the frets like rounds. This wear takes literally forever to happen, though. Another great thing about flats is when another player picks up and plays your bass, they don't kill the strings. Wipe 'em down and all is the same as it was.
That said, I mostly play rounds, but do have a P with 50-105 Chromes (that are 4.5 years old now) and a Foundation with 45-105 Cobalts (nearly 4 years running). The Foundation gets played a lot and the P comes out for those 'P w/flats' moments. Add a little foam to the strings at the bridge on the P and it's classic 60s tone all day! FWIW, a P with flats is pretty ubiquitous in the history of music and having one is a necessary tool for the performing and recording bassist. I always recommend to get a designated flats P. Doesn't have to be an expensive bass, just one that feels good, there are many basses around $200 that are perfect for the job. The flats and typical thumpy amp tones dialed in will override a lot of the nerdy details of the pickup's inherent tone, etc...
I'm sure it's been mentioned, but Chromes are pretty smooth feeling and break in to a nice, classic, thumpy tone. Cobalts are not as smooth feeling as the Chromes, but keep a brighter zing to them for much longer. They do settle in and thump eventually, though.
Flats are a unique thing, and for most players (other than Steve Harris) flats get better with age. Once they settle in, they feel better and that tone lasts forever. That settle in time can be 20-30+ hours of play, though. As a primary use string, they are not for everyone, but for the OP's situation, they are a very viable option.
Something I really like about flats is that the intonation doesn't get nearly as wonky as they start to wear out at the frets like rounds. This wear takes literally forever to happen, though. Another great thing about flats is when another player picks up and plays your bass, they don't kill the strings. Wipe 'em down and all is the same as it was.
That said, I mostly play rounds, but do have a P with 50-105 Chromes (that are 4.5 years old now) and a Foundation with 45-105 Cobalts (nearly 4 years running). The Foundation gets played a lot and the P comes out for those 'P w/flats' moments. Add a little foam to the strings at the bridge on the P and it's classic 60s tone all day! FWIW, a P with flats is pretty ubiquitous in the history of music and having one is a necessary tool for the performing and recording bassist. I always recommend to get a designated flats P. Doesn't have to be an expensive bass, just one that feels good, there are many basses around $200 that are perfect for the job. The flats and typical thumpy amp tones dialed in will override a lot of the nerdy details of the pickup's inherent tone, etc...
I'm sure it's been mentioned, but Chromes are pretty smooth feeling and break in to a nice, classic, thumpy tone. Cobalts are not as smooth feeling as the Chromes, but keep a brighter zing to them for much longer. They do settle in and thump eventually, though.
Roto77s are known to be extremely stiff feeling.
As far a Chromes, that's common when fresh. They need to be broken in. Fender 9050s, similar to Chromes, don't have that ringing right out of the box
All I used for many years was flats, but my Warwick is a different beast. I talked to the Luthier at Warwick here in Nashville, and his advice was put flats on after a gig and play/practice with them. Then put the rounds back on for the next gig. Did that and it took about 3 months before the flats really began to sound very nice and silky. I did have to file the bridge to get them to fit, again Warwicks are not made for flats. Anyway about a year ago I went back to rounds and forgot about the flats. A few months ago I got them out and put them back on. Oh man, age did wonders for them. They sounded wonderful, like they were made for the Warwick. Smooth, easy on the fingers, etc. All I needed was time for them to get broke in. I alternate now between flats and rounds every 3 months. Just to be crazy - no other reason than that. Sometimes we need to be crazy and flats do it for me.
Would that be Picato? I have them on my Squier P with SPB1 and on my Lakland 5 string J and love them!
I should say the rotos and chromes were on the jazz bass. The rotos are nice, unique growl sound, low output, but not really what I'm expecting out of a flat. I liked them enough to get a second set in light gauge which solved the stiffness problem.
The chromes have a scooped eq, which coupled with the jazz scoop loses the fundamentals on higher notes. Had to use neck pickup only. Also kind of a bad excess overtones. I suppose they would be ok on a different bass when they eventually went dead. Or put a foam mute on.
The La Bella LTF are on the Starfire. Great. (The jazz is back to rotosound swing bass rounds!) I'd suggest anyone to first try La Bellas, or TI if you don't mind high price and low tension.
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I have different basses strung with different string.
My working principal is "let the bass tell you what it wants"
My working principal is "let the bass tell you what it wants"
My basses tell me what they want, and if they balk at very light strings and low action, I tell them to go live with someone else
Most likely. I just bought a set of 'Olympia' which were cheap on Amazon. Normally I go to Strings Direct for my strings, but these popped up when looking for something else, as did TIs at half price. I haven't tried out the Olympias yet. £14, though, seemingly from Korea.
Gigging again last night with the 60s band. Took two jazz basses - my no1 with the dead rounds, and the Fenix with the flats. Tried both at soundcheck. Flats sounded ok, but nothing spectacular. Felt quite cumbersome to play though. Changed to no1 and the feel was just there. Sounds was good too - a little more present and clear than the flats but still deep and holding the bottom. I ended up playing the bass with the dead rounds for the whole gig, which I think tells me everything I need to know. I'll keep the flats on the other bass for special occasions etc, but I'll stick with the D'Addario XLs (well worn in!) on my main bass.
I believe a suggestion was made to look at the bridge string height. Also consider varying your your pickup height. Also, you may have to be bothered with technique. Bummer/
Nah - I'll stick with the rounds. I'm managed well for the last 30 years with my poor technique on those.....
