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Flatwound Club

#281
jnewmark said:
Well, I've been doing some reading, and checking out some reviews, and I think I'm going with a set of D'Addario Tapewounds, close to my guage. They seem to get good reviews and have the tone I'm looking for. Went to the LaBella site, but could'nt find any flats called " Jamersons ". Does it have a different name ? Also, I hooked up with Bassstringsonline, and got a super deal on the Tapewounds. :bassist:
Click to expand...

0760M, aka 1954 Originals, aka Jamersons. Badass strings, nothing else sounds like them, not even other LaBellas.

I'll take #94, please, that's my favorite gauge of Sadowskys
 
#287
I just put some GHS Precision Flats (0.045-0.105) on my Gibson Midtown Standard. I am new to both flats and the Middy.

The A, D, & G strings (fresh out of the pack) are very close to the sound I am looking for (with nearly flat EQ, just a bit of extra bass). I am sure they will be what I want when they break in more.

But the E string really has quite a bit of both "grind" and vibrato to it--neither of which I want. (I am hoping to use this bass for blues, bebop jazz, and traditional-type music--bluegrass and Cajun and Balkan.)

I can EQ the E string to sound reasonable by rolling back the tone on the instrument, only using the neck pickup, boosting the amp's bass EQ and completely cutting the mids and treble. But, this seems a bit too extreme to me.

Any ideas? Should I just be patient with the E? Maybe get a different gauge?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Cheers!
 
#289
shrimpflea said:
...but at least give them a few months.
Flatwound String Review
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I've often heard what you are saying. But, I got excited when the higher pitched strings sounded very good. I was expecting the lower pitches to have better tone, sooner.

Maybe my intuition is off on this... I was thinking that heavier gauged strings have fewer windings per inch and thus would have fewer harmonics to be smoothed out.

Is my physics off or is there some manufacturing part that I am missing, or both?
 
#290
B0_mon said:
Thanks for the advice. I've often heard what you are saying. But, I got excited when the higher pitched strings sounded very good. I was expecting the lower pitches to have better tone, sooner.

Maybe my intuition is off on this... I was thinking that heavier gauged strings have fewer windings per inch and thus would have fewer harmonics to be smoothed out.

Is my physics off or is there some manufacturing part that I am missing, or both?
Click to expand...

I have no expertise. I have my personal experience.
I always found heavier gauge strings take longer to break in.
Had it happen at least 2-3 times when i tried different gauges with same brand.
 
#293
I've been playing roundwounds for years, but my tastes seem to be changing towards flatwounds too. I've got three pretty nice basses and a thrown-together-from-leftover-parts Frankenfender with Chromes on it. Guess which one sounds the best to me now...
I've been constantly messing with the three nice basses lately, trying different strings and experimenting with the setups, searching for the sound I want from them. It dawned on me recently that I was actually trying to get them to sound more like the Frankenfender with flats! Tomorrow I'm putting a set of Chromes on a Kubicki ExFactor. To my mind one of the most ultra-modern sounding basses around, and I'm trying to make it sound more like my cheap P bass. Go figure...
 
#294
I may as well commit to full time membership because I tried in vain (again) to love rounds and its just not happening. I had even planned on dedicating a new AmStd Precision to strictly rounds. I had ordered a backup set of GHS Precision Flats to have on hand if the experiment failed and it did. After trying DR, LaBella, D'Addario and Fender rounds, it wasn't long before I found myself ripping open the GHS. They will stay on this bass. I'm not going to try to kid myself into thinking rounds will ever work for me again. I've been spoiled. So now my Classic 50's P wears LaBella Deep Talkin 45-105 and my AmStd wears GHS Precision Flats 45-95. I'm done.
 
#295
Once I discovered flat wounds I'm never going back! I'm totally sold. The sound & playability are just the best. I exclusively play short scale basses now too. My cheap violin bass has Rotos they feel just OK. My nice fender mustang bass has La Bella's and those are excellent a match made in heaven. Short scales basses and LaBella flats are the way to go.
 
#300
My string:

DTB.FLAT_.0760M-351x356.jpg


Inspired by @JIO I think I'm gonna make me t-shirts with this picture printed upon :D
 
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