Flats never die...?

weird, it took my la bellas 18 months to break in

 

No string is going to fully tolerate the detune/retune thing. It's metal fatigue. A very light equivalent of bending a coat hanger back and forth until it breaks.

BTW, if your doing 200 gigs on two sets of strings, you're winning. I'd go through 10-12 packs of rounds in that time.

 

I would think they would last. I'm doing the same thing. One band plays std. the other down 1/2 step. I've decided to just dedicate one bass tuned down. I have TI's on the one bass and down a 1/2 they are a little loose. I'm going to use another bass with flats on it for the 1/2 step down band. Those are the labella LTF's not as loose. It messes with my set ups too much.

 

I know all about not having money but is a new set of the strings you know you like every six months really that much of a financial burden? Even if you double your gigs, it's still a new set every three months.

 

Hi there, when you write "die", do you mean "loose the snap of freshness" or more along the line of "begin to sound like they're being played trough an distorting distant digital amp"? Because I have the latter problem with the D and G strings on my P Bass, and I can't figure out wether it's the strings (I have had the same flats on for three years time, but the two other stribgs sound fine), or wether it's the pickup that causes that "farting" subtone on those two strings.

 

About one year for me. D'Adarrio chrome flats.
They will last years but at about a one year the D & G strings start to lose their tone and don't seem to
hold the tuning. I like the thud tone and clarity of new flats but not the mud of ancient strings.
Could just be my bass or my ears but $30 once a year for peace of mind is not a bad deal.

 

...and this is a big reason why many bassists and guitarists who use alternate tunings have separate guitars in different tunings that stay in those tunings and are used accordingly.

 

IMO a string isn't dead unless it affects the intonation. I only change strings for that and when I really want that new string sound. I can usually achieve the desired level of brightness with year old strings, EQ and preamp settings.