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Flats for the first time

J

jacobm

May 31, 2002
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#1
So I put flats on my mm sterling. Im not exactly happy with it. i used fender stainless steel flats medium light gauge (50-100).

they were not nearly as thumpy as i expected. And the tension is alot higher than im used to, the "recoil" wasnt there at all.

I hear that flats get better with age, i hope so cuz right now im not exactly a fan.
 
#3
I keep my MMSR5 strung with rounds and my MIA Jazz V with flats (D'addario Chromes). I feel like I get the best of two worlds - bright, gritty, gnarly, grind outta my MMSR5 - thumpy, thuddy, thunky, gentle, old-school-funky goodness outta my Jazz 5.

I thought about flats on the Stingray, but I feel the "thing" about a Stingray is it's active, bright, modern sound - so I feel that rounds are the call for that instrument. The Jazz can go either way in my mind, so I feel like flats are right at home there.
 
#4
In all honesty, I haven't heard that many great things about Fender flats. I personally have not tried them, but I have tried D'Addario Chromes, TI flats, and Labella Tapewounds. All of these strings sounded great and I would whole heartedly recommend any of these strings, dependant of course upon the context of their use (style of music). If you're looking for thump, I'd try the Labellas or the Chromes (favoring the Labellas though).
 
#5
I love the 9050ML's on my SX P. It did take awhile for them to get settled in and the tension doesn't bother me at all. I guess I'd rather have a string with a bit more tension rather than being floppy.

Have you read this thread? Lots of info and opinions on the Fender flats.
 
#6
Flats vary greatly from brand to brand , both in sound and tension , some sound bright and clean (D'addario's) whilst others sound dark and thumpy (dean markley) , TI's are very low tension whilst Fender's are pretty much the highest tension strings you can get. Bottom line is try as many brands as you can as they will all sound different and find what works for you
 
#7
Three things about flats:

1) Different brands and versions of flatwounds sound very different.

2) All flats change tone significantly as they age, and there seems to be general agreement that flats sound best after months of use.

3) Someone who's used rounds for a long time has his amplifier's tone controls fine tuned to where the sound is optimized for those strings, according to his taste. When switching to flats, there will need to be a certain amount of trial and error alteration of these settings over a period of time in order to optimize for the new strings.




A few years ago, I switched one of my basses to Rotosound flats and I wasn't happy with the sound at first. It took about six months of playing and tweaking to be really happy with the new tone and a lot of that was tweaking the amp with completely different settings in order to get the most out of the strings. I switched to La Bellas this past spring and I really love the tone.

Of course, I can't really use this bass now to get a good ringing, piano like tone, but I can get a wonderfully complex "MmwaaahHn" sound out of it that I can't get from my other basses with the rounds.
 
#9
I use Chromes on my Rick C64 and they are real nice strings. Even though they have been on for about a year, the low end is still nice and clear. I've thought about giving the TI's a shot but the low tension and the expense right now are postponing it. I tend to like medium tension strings since I play mostly with a pick. But sometime when I can spare the cash, I might give the TI's a try.
 
#11
I think the Fender flats are great. I have been playing around with flats quite a bit lately (Chromes, EB, TI, Labella) and I like the Fenders best. They have plenty of thump once broken in, and I love the tension -- I have the MLs.
 
#12
jacobm said:
So I put flats on my mm sterling. Im not exactly happy with it. i used fender stainless steel flats medium light gauge (50-100).

they were not nearly as thumpy as i expected. And the tension is alot higher than im used to, the "recoil" wasnt there at all.

I hear that flats get better with age, i hope so cuz right now im not exactly a fan.
Click to expand...

Fender flats are my least favorite flats. They have crazy high tension! They made my neck very unstable. I went to the opposite end of the spectrum with TI Jazz Flats.

Joe
 
#13
So tonight i actually played in a live situation and these strings are starting to grow on me,

I changed the eq on my amp and started to get the sound i had in my mind when i bought these strings.

what impressed me how responsive these strings were to technique changes, chords just sounded cooler, and notes in the upper registers had more depth to them.

I put them on my sterling because i wanted to justify keeping it, i just got a 30th anniversary stingray. i really couldnt justify having two very agressive sounding basses.

i could still go for a lighter tension but im goin to see how these turn out with age

thanks for the input guys
 
#14
jacobm said:
i could still go for a lighter tension but im goin to see how these turn out with age

thanks for the input guys
Click to expand...

I don't think the tension will decrease with age. You just get more used to it.

Fender Flats are very high tension. But once they break in will have a lot of thump.

I still prefer the LaBella's (and the Chromes for rock), but it is a matter of degree. If I had to use Fender Flats for some reason I would be happy with them.
 
#15
Jacobm,

I totally know how you feel. I've had an off again, on again, love, hate thing with flats.
My first impression was suck...but then I found the perfect set for my SR5 HH....EBMM Group III flats. Their tension is money, although some people say B and G can be slightly floppy, the feel is more silky than other sticky flats, and the tone is beast.

You might want to try some different sets, because you may love them in the end.

Funny thing, I put the GroupIIIs on my Fretless 30th SR4 and it was a no-go, so the fretless is back to rounds.
 
#16
jacobm said:
So tonight i actually played in a live situation and these strings are starting to grow on me,

I changed the eq on my amp and started to get the sound i had in my mind when i bought these strings.

what impressed me how responsive these strings were to technique changes, chords just sounded cooler, and notes in the upper registers had more depth to them.

I put them on my sterling because i wanted to justify keeping it, i just got a 30th anniversary stingray. i really couldnt justify having two very agressive sounding basses.

i could still go for a lighter tension but im goin to see how these turn out with age

thanks for the input guys
Click to expand...

Fender flats are high tension , however they do a lighter gauge set, 95-40 I think, may be worth trying those if you cant get used to the tension
 
#17
jacobm said:
...I changed the eq on my amp and started to get the sound i had in my mind when i bought these strings. what impressed me how responsive these strings were to technique changes, chords just sounded cooler, and notes in the upper registers had more depth to them. ... I put them on my sterling because i wanted to justify keeping it, i just got a 30th anniversary stingray. i really couldnt justify having two very agressive sounding basses.
Click to expand...


That's how I use flats; as an alternative to my more aggressive bass strung with rounds that I use for more modern rock or heavy metal. I tend to use flats for old classic 60's stuff like Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel and Motown to 70's Pink Floyd, Cream, CCR and Black Sabbath.
 
#19
I tried Fender flats and GHS Bright Flats on my EBMM Sterling. I think that the sterling sounds ok with flats, it definitely rounds the tone out a bit. The chromes have everything you like about the Fenders tone wise, but are easier to play.

I recently have put flats on my Jazz, and i'm really liking it. Chromes are a great string, but in retrospect I wish I would have dumped the money on some TI's.
 

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