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Flatwound Club

#681
I'll get in before you get 'TI's' are all you need he he.
What kind of tone are you chasing? A bit of sparkle? A dull thump? You downtune a tad, so you have less tension there. Do you downtune for keys? Or you just like strings to feel a bit less tense? These kind of considerations will narrow your choices
 
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#682
SoulReflection said:
Don't know about the step down stuff but you can't get much more classic P-bass vibe than LB DTFs.
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Ok, I had to Google LB DTF. It came up with LaBella. Are you referring to these?
Screenshot_20240120-152138-760.png
 
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#683
marsquake said:
Ok, I had to Google LB DTF. It came up with LaBella. Are you referring to these?
View attachment 5323927
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Those are low tension flats. You already said you downtune to E flat, so regular La Bella DTF would be a good option for old school thump. Like these 45-105's Invalid Link Removed

If you want some sparkle it is hard to go wrong with Chromes . Like this set of 50-105's Invalid Link Removed better still, buy 4 Chromes singles 105 085 065 045 and enjoy Invalid Link Removed All 3 options are around $45 u.s bucks. Bear in mind when you get the 'get TI's and be done with it' that they are already low tension, and downuning to E flat would make em loose as a goose. Plus they are twice the price of La Bella dtf and Chromes in the U.S
 
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#688
GIBrat51 said:
Quite a few changes since I posted this:
- The '18 Gibson T-Bird has been sold. So has the Eastwood Magnum, and the 4001 Rick will go very soon, as well. The Epi EA-260 bass went back to it's original owner; I got tired of playing it upside down, and couldn't bring myself to screw it up by converting it. The right handed Kramer "Duke" was wheedled out of me by one of the owners of a local music store, who - surprisingly - records with it. Quite a bit, too... The Kramer Forum III is in pieces - again; it's La Bella 760FGS strings have been moved, as have some other strings...
As of last month, my bass herd is now complete, with the purchase of 5 new basses that filled long empty spots - or fill a spot better than a bass that I got rid of did...
- '17 German Hofner 500/2 Sunburst Club Bass. It will wear it's factory H1133 flats until they need replacing. Probably with the Pyramid Gold Flats I bought recently - and, which seem to be identical to the "factory" Hofners - down to the silk color...:eyebrow:
- '23 Epiphone Jack Casady Bass. It's wearing the La Bella 760FGS Gold Flats that came off the Kramer Forum III - and they sound very good on it, too. Lots of low end, but not quite as much as regular DTFs...
- '88 Tokai TB48 Thunderbird. Same Optima 4099RL "Chromes" as the Kramer 450B wears. So far? They seem to suit this bass very well....
- '23 Guild Starfire I. Medium scale GHS 3120 Precision Flats - the Light set. Not broken in yet, but I like them a lot on this bass - so far...
- '24 Serek Sacramento Short Scale. I ordered it in February, and won't have it in hand for... a while. I ordered it with Dunlop Flats, but after a little research? Dunlop doesn't seem to make short scale flats...:eyebrow: So... we'll see what happens, on down the road. In any case, I have a lot of shorty flats in my string stash... And, finally;
Basses with new strings;
- The old D'Addario Chromes on my G&L ASAT Bass finally died. It's wearing the Fender 9050L's from the Eastwood Magnum now. And, do they ever sound good on that thing...
- I took the Fender 9050L's off one of the Dano DC59s, intending to put them on the Guild Starfire I. But, they are seriously too long; so... I decided to put the Dogal's from the soon-to-be-gone Rick 4001 on it. That "CS90B" designation has always bothered me; that's the model # for a set of CarbonSteel rounds. After careful measuring with my Harbor Freight digital calipers, I'm pretty sure they actually are CarbonSteel "Jaco Flats" - the 40-98 JC106B set. I think somebody just re-purposed a roundwound box, to mess with my mind... In any case, they are still ridiculously low tension; every bit as flexible as TIJFs - if not more so; and sound pretty much like TIJFs and Fender 9050Ls. Decent lows; good low mids and mids; and a really nice high range, too...
So... I'm down to 22 basses - 23, if the Forum III ever gets put back together. And, all but 2 will wear flats - or they will, if the Serek actually gets here with Dunlop Flats on it... :whistle:
Click to expand...
Lots of changes - and new basses - since I posted this. In late March of this year, I decided to see if anybody made left handed, lined fretless basses. Turns out - they do. I bought my first one. a Canadian made, '93 Fury Anthem. Beautiful bass, but the man who made it, intended it to be strung with tape wounds - and to sound as much like an upright bass as an electric bass guitar can. I put TIJF's on it - total disaster. Noises that I Never want to hear, ever again. It now wears Roto 88 Tapes, and - holy bejeezus, does it ever sound like an upright. That bass created another category in my herd; Lined Fretless. And, now I have 3 more of the things; all with flats. But, that is IT; my herd is definitely, finally complete. Really. Honestly... :whistle: Anyhow, changes and additions;
- Carvin LB-20; The Sadowsky Blue Labels reached the point where they would no longer intonate, so... It now wears Optima 4099RL "Chromes". Not quite the midrange of the Blue Labels, but... I'm liking them...
- Kramer 450B; Turns out that it wouldn't quite intonate, because the ball end silks on the Optima Chromes were on the saddles - just barely. The La Bella 760FS's it wearing now, don't have ball end silks; so, it intonates just fine. And, those DTF's definitely tame the 450B's too-hot pickups...
- Rick 4001; Trying to sell it turned into a disaster, so it's back where it belongs. And, the Dogal JC106B "Jaco Flats" are back where they belong, too...
- The short scale Serek Sacramento Bass finally got here at the end of April; it was more than worth the wait. And, it turns out that Dunlop does make short scale flats - they're just a little hard to find. I like the Dunlops on this bass - a lot...
- '24 Schecter Stiletto Studio Lined Fretless. It came from the factory with Ernie Ball Group IV Flats. Not quite broken in yet, but... Man! On the Schecter? They'll blow yer socks off. Should have tried Group Flats decades ago....
- '24 G&L Kiloton Lined Fretless. A Custom Shop bass, since it's a lefty. I put a set of La Bella LTF4-A Low Tension Flats from my Big Box 'O Strings on it, and... they suit this fretless bass down to the ground. And, finally?
- '24 Birdsong Fusion Lined Fretless. A very custom Birdsong. I was going to have Scott put a set of La Bella Tape wounds on it, but... he talked me out of it, and it came with the strings that they normally ship with - D'Addario ECB82 Chromes. Which, I found out, are only available as long scale strings. How he gets them on a 31" scale bass is a mystery, but... there they are. I normally don't care for D'Addario strings, and avoid them if possible - but, I do like the ECB82's. Scott said that their basses - and their pickups - are made with these strings in mind. I think he's right on the money... :cool:
 
#689
Yahboy said:
Replace the LTF4A with TI flat yesterday, without truss rod tweak, the Ti flat has zero neck relief. Need counter clock 1/4 turn on truss rod to get the .010 reading back.

Even tension chart list LTF4A has lower tension than Ti flat, but she has more tense on this experience.
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I think that you're confusing "Tension" (pounds/kilograms of pull needed to get to pitch) with "Stiffness" (how flexible - or inflexible - a string feels). Yes, the La Bella LTF's DO have less "tension" than the TI's. Not much, but a little. However; the TI's were also made to be very flexible - the Le Bella's were not. They were made to feel as much like a "normal" set of flat wounds, as a set of light gauge flats can. I use - and like - both the TI's and the LTFF's. But, I use the TI's on a bass that I only finger pick, and where their flexibility is to my advantage. The La Bella's? I usually play them with a pick - where their stiffness is also to my advantage... :whistle:
 
#690
GIBrat51 said:
I think that you're confusing "Tension" (pounds/kilograms of pull needed to get to pitch) with "Stiffness" (how flexible - or inflexible - a string feels).
Click to expand...
It really doesn't look like it's the case: Yahboy is talking about neck relief and unplayed strings. The only determining factor is tension proper in this case.

I've long suspected that, when La Bella increased the gauge of the LTF-A A string from 070 to 075, they forgot to update the tension value (or did not bother to measure the tension of the new gauge string). Then, when a La Bella representative was asked about it, they concocted a fancy tale about tension having stayed the exact same, and gauge having been increased for the only purpose of reducing rattle at the nut. Which is not impossible per se, mind you, but not super likely.
 
#699
Just stopping by to say hello. I took off the 65-145T D’Addario XL Nickels (BEAD) from my Schecter Raiden and reinstalled my year-old set of 45-105 Rotosound RS77 flats (EADG). Loving the feel of flats again. I have two praise band gigs this weekend so I’ll get plenty of play time with them, but I’ve been a fan of the tone for as long as I’ve had them.

I’ve got my eye on the new Ernie Ball Pino Palladino Smoothie flatwound string set. I may pick up a set when they’re available. Not sure yet if I’ll go for the 43-108 set or 38-98 set. I like the idea of the lighter set but I also occasionally tune to Drop D. We’ll see!
 

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