• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Flats that retain "brightness" over time

jcburn

jcburn

Oct 11, 2003
2,628
1,674
53
Tasmania, Australia.
everburn.com.au
#1
Hey everyone - I'm gonna go on a journey to try and find a flatwound string that I like. I like roundwound strings at the point that they are played in and lose their initial super-zing, but dislike the way that they aged past that.

So my thought process - find a bright flatwound string that can deliver the played in rounds tone, but hopefully (because of not having the roundwound "valley" of each wind) a string that will keep that original tone for a decent amount of time.

I'm also not doing a lot of band gigs these days, so less sweat = less string deadening.

My initial thoughts around what I will try are listed below, but don't have much experience with any of them. I have tried the Cobalts before. They sounded good but smelled bad (strong metallic smell). Tried the EB Group Flats too and thought they sounded OK but it's a long time ago.

EB Cobalt flats
D'Addario Chromes
Rotosound Jazz 77
EB Group Flats

Appreciate and comments of experience. In short I'm looking for bright flatwound strings, hex core, that will keep their original tone for a decent amount of time (at least a few months us what I'm after).

I currently play rock covers on a passive PJ bass with EMG GZR pickups. Play mostly with a pick, but also sometimes fingers.

Cheers!
 
#2
jcburn said:
So my thought process - find a bright flatwound string that can deliver the played in rounds tone, but hopefully (because of not having the roundwound "valley" of each wind) a string that will keep that original tone for a decent amount of time.
Click to expand...

Flats that are designed to sound like rounds = Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats (aka Slinky Flatwound).
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Tay_, PBandJazzBass, mcnach and 10 others
#5
Flats don't and won't ever sound like rounds, as I'm sure you know.
As other have said, Chromes and Cobalts are the brightest I own and have played. TI's are what I play most and they feel and sound the best for what I need them for on my active PJ5 (Rock covers, blues, Americana, etc...) and they take pedals well.
But for me, I gave my flats many months to even break in and they only get better with age. Some of my Chromes have gotta be close to 9/10 years old and still sound great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Element Zero
#9
I concur on the Ernie Ball Slinky flats. The only set that sounds as 'roundwound-like' is the Rotosound RS77's- and those definitely break in and lose a bit of that. On my two Sire 5 string basses, they sound remarkably like rounds, but there is that punch and slightly different timbre that only a true flat wound has. The five string set's low 'B' is literally the only flat wound 'B' I've tried that doesn't sound noticeably different than the other strings in the set.
How long will these last in terms of brightness and 'zing' retention? I don't know, I haven't played a gig in a year. That is where you can really gauge the longevity of a set of bass strings. Just shedding at home, they still sound great.
 
#11
Buying any strings that sound good initially, in the hope that they will stay that way, is a fool's errand. All strings lose their initial zing, and sound different rather quickly - if you're looking for flats, thinking that they're going to sound like they do fresh out of the pack for a long while, you're in for a series of disappointments.

If you like the sound of rounds that are "just broken in", but they "go dead" too fast, what you actually need is brighter rounds. All rounds change over time in the same way - bright at first, after some play, the initial zing is gone, and after some time, they then get pretty stable - with a long period where they sound pretty much the same. It's a natural decay process - a lot of things in nature work this way, but the gist of it is....the longer a set of strings takes to get to the sound that you like, the longer they will be there. If you put strings on a bass, and they sound good, or a bit too bright, they're going to fly past your desired tone in a short while. If they're a bit "painfully bright" at first, you've found your strings; you just need to figure out how to get past the "painfully bright" break in period. When I put on a set of strings, I never gig them until they've been played for at least a week; hopefully at least 2 - that's part of playing the "right" strings.

Strings that you will like over the long haul are those that are TOO bright to start with. That means, to your ears, they will take some time to break in, but once they get "there", they will be there for a good long while.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WI Short Scaler, MrClassicMetal, fourstr00 and 1 other person
#12
jcburn said:
So my thought process - find a bright flatwound string that can deliver the played in rounds tone, but hopefully (because of not having the roundwound "valley" of each wind) a string that will keep that original tone for a decent amount of time.
Cheers!
Click to expand...

I have the Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats on my 2 band Stingray and they are exactly as you have described. Have had them on for 11 months now and they sound the same as when I put them on. I tried Chromes and Fender flats before that and they just didn't do it for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sparuto, Kipp Harrington and Yahboy
#14
Just to muddy the waters even more by adding more choices, one of the reasons i love La Bella Tape-wound strings is because they kinda split the difference between flats and rounds. I used to think flats were too dark sounding but i always hated the sound of new rounds. I'd always get new strings and then play them to death the first few weeks to get the "new string sound" out of them. I feel like the La Bella Copper Whites, or Gold Whites sound like that right out of the box. And then how you play them can make them sounds more like flats or more like rounds, if you ease-off or dig-in, respectively.

From darkest to brightest tones they go: Black, Copper White, Gold White, White.
 
  • Like
Reactions: morrisonhendrix, Artman, Grapevine921 and 1 other person
#16
I like GHS Precision in light gauge. I played one set for a year (I practice almost every day) before I noticed the tone was off. And really, it wasn't that. We were going to record some songs, so I replaced my strings. The old ones sounded good but there was a noticeable difference with the new strings.
 
  • Like
Reactions: logdrum

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back