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Flatwounds for an Epiphone Embassy Pro

#22
I’ve used a lot of different flatwounds on various basses over the years.
Chromes were very bright sounding, but I couldn’t handle the stiff tensiony feel of them.
I just recently put a set of Thomastik Jazz flats on my Rickenbacker Cheyenne, they are quite roundwound sounding,
and they feel great. Smooth and low tension, but decent stiffocity. ;)
I used to have an Embassy Pro, but sold it because I found it sounded quite a bit like my preferred 4004 basses with hb pickups. I had GHS Pressurewounds on the Embassy which sounded full and grindy, but were easy on my fingers and the frets. I think the TI set would probably sound really nice on there.
 
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#24
Terrapin1993 said:
I just picked up an Embassy Pro and want to put flats on it, but I don't want the bass to end up sounding like mud. I don't really want a bright sounding bass per say, I just don't want it to sound like a piece of wool in the bottom of the ocean. I used to have a Fender Jazz with flats and loved it, but Pro Buckers are soooo different from single coils. TI's, GHS Precision and DR's have interesting reviews. Their lower tension is attractive, but I'm willing to reduce gage of other brand strings if they would provide a clearer, but still warm sound. Any suggestions to maintain an articulate, clear warm tone? Please explain why, too. Thank you.
Click to expand...


Okay... here we go; my long scale basses with flats;
- Alembic Epic: TIJF 344 Jazz Flats. They might work for you. But, don't confuse "tension" with "stiffness"; they aren't the same. There are flats with less actual tension than TI's (like La Bella LTFF's, or Dogal "Jaco" CarbonSteels), but they are noticeably "stiffer" than TI's. TI's are about the least stiff flats I've ever used. But, if you need their complex overtones? Mighty hard to beat - which is why they're on my Alembic. But, not on anything else...
- Carvin LB-20. Sadowsky Blue Label Flats. The Carvin, like your Epi, is a long scale solid body - with Humbuckers. You might like these strings. Moderate stiffness, and a wide tonal range. I'm really happy with them - as are a lot of other people around here...
- Dano DC59 Pro. La Bella 760FX's. 39-96 gauge, and hard to find in long scale. If you want "that Dano sound", these are for you. If not? Well, probably not quite as bright as new D'Addario Chromes, or EB Slinky Cobalts - but they're close...
- Dano DC59 Pro. Fender 9050L's. With apologies to @iiipopes - who's opinion I respect a lot - I think the Fender's might be worth a try. I've liked them on every bass I've put them on, but... mahogany? No...
- EBMM 4HH Stingray Special. Galli JF4505 Jazz Flats. These might make you happy. Slightly to the darker side of the Fender 9050L's, which are, IMO, dead center in flat wound tonal range; but a pretty broad tonal range nonetheless. And smooth? Like wet ice on Teflon... On this solid body bass with humbuckers? I like them a lot...
- Epi Jack Casady Bass. LaBella 760FGS Gold Flats. A little more flexible - and a little more mid-range-y - than the regular 760FL's. Maybe you'd like them; maybe not...
- Fender P-Bass. GHS M3050 Precision Flats. Lots of low end, but good low-mids and mids, and a decent top end. They give me exactly what I want from a P-Bass with a foam mute in the bridge cover. You might like the lighter gauge, 3025 set better, though...
- Gibson Thunderbird. Dogal R44 Traditional Flats. Good tonal range, but definitely low end focused. Fairly flexible, too. The T-bird is a mahogany bodied bass with... gee; the same pickups you have. Might make you as happy as I am...
- G&L ASAT Bass. Fender 9050L's. Well, they do sound good on this Sugar Pine bodied, semi-active bass, but... ?
- G&L Kiloton Fretless. La Bella LTF4-a Flexible Flats. Lower tension than the TI's, but they feel like "normal" lighter gauge flats, and I can do anything I want to do on a fretless with them. Another Flat wound string you might like. They're absolutely great on this bass...
- Kramer 450B. La Bella 760FS's. Maple/Mahogany body; aluminum neck; and I think the Kramer-wound pickups are humbuckers. Really, really high output humbuckers. These low-end champs are on this bass to tame the pickups, mostly - but they do sound good. Probably not what you want, though...
- Rickenbacker 4001. Dogal JC106A "Jaco" CarbonSteel Flats. Stupid low tension, but they don't feel like it. More like normal, lighter gauge flats. Evidently, Jaco liked them; they have a pretty "mid-range, modern" flat tone. They work really well on this old Rick...
- Rickenbacker 4003. Optima 4440 RB Flats. Close copies of the fairly flexible, low tension Maxima 4440 Flats that Rick's used to ship with. Pretty wide tonal range; you might like these strings... Why don't I have these on the 4001? Long, sad story...
- Schecter Stiletto Studio Fretless. Ernie Ball Group IV Flats. Seriously; you should try these things. The tonal range is to die for; flexible enough to do anything I want to do on a fretless bass. They're the cat's ass, IMO...
- Tokai TB48 Thunderbird. Optima 4099RL "Chromes". The Tokai's body might be Mahogany of some kind - it's certainly heavy enough - and it has humbuckers. Optima Chromes, though, are stiffer - and a little darker sounding - than their RB's. Still fairly flexible, though. Might work for what you want - or, they might not...
And, that's it for the long scale basses in my herd - and their flats. Hope it helps...:whistle:
 
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#26
They are not thumpy like Chromes get after they lose their zing. They are not grindy like, from slight to chainsaw, Ernie ball stainless, Fender flats, or EB Cobalts. Because of the mahogany body, like my Ibby 5-string, you want a neutral string so it doesn't get nasal in tone. [/QUOTE]
Question: I was unfamiliar with Cobalts until this post. I've read that they are bright and may offset the dark nature of the humbuckers. iiipopes, you mention that that are grindy. Is this due to their texture? And do you think a bright string, in general, is good for a Humbucker/Mahogany combo?
Anyone else want to chime in? Please do.
 
#30
#31
Terrapin1993 said:
That's a fine herd! Wow. I'm not familiar with Galli JF4505 Jazz Flats. How much do they change tonally with age?
Side question. From your entire herd, with or without flats, what is your desert island bass?
Click to expand...
Actually, I have 28 basses in total; those are just the long scale ones...:rolleyes:
I put those Galli Jazz Flats on the 4HH Stingray Spl. when I got it, at the end of 2019. So, the way I described them is how they sound when they're well broken in. And, how they'll sound for years - maybe decades - if I take reasonable care of them. The Fender 9050L's on my Dano DC59 are the ones I put on my Fender P-Bass in the early 2000's. They're still going strong...
What is my "Desert Island" Bass? Well, that would have been my '73 Rick 4001 - until I started playing fretless basses. Now? One of those - particularly my 32" scale '93 Fury Anthem lined fretless, with Roto 88 tape wounds - might de-throne the old Rick. Jury's still out, but... the 4001's been my favorite, go-to bass that's always sitting next to the amp, since about 5 minutes after I put new strings on it - in 2009. We'll just have to see...

Terrapin1993 said:
They are not thumpy like Chromes get after they lose their zing. They are not grindy like, from slight to chainsaw, Ernie ball stainless, Fender flats, or EB Cobalts. Because of the mahogany body, like my Ibby 5-string, you want a neutral string so it doesn't get nasal in tone.
Click to expand...
Question: I was unfamiliar with Cobalts until this post. I've read that they are bright and may offset the dark nature of the humbuckers. iiipopes, you mention that that are grindy. Is this due to their texture? And do you think a bright string, in general, is good for a Humbucker/Mahogany combo?
Anyone else want to chime in? Please do.[/QUOTE]
To me, "grindy" means bright and raspy sounding. Which, TBH, pretty much describes round wound bass strings in general. Describes bright flats, too... I've never tried EB Slinky Cobalt flats. I had some, but the opportunity to put them on a bass that didn't have flats I liked on it already, didn't occur until about a year ago. I had a set of old, very broken-in D'Addario Chromes on my G&L ASAT Bass. I'd salvaged them from a project bass years earlier, and kept them in case I needed a set of strings in a hurry. I didn't have a new set of flats for the ASAT that I thought were suitable when I got rid of the rounds it was wearing; so, I put the Chromes on it. Yes, even broken in, they were a tad brighter than I would have liked - but the ASAT's controls took care of that. Otherwise? I thought they were just... Meh. they didn't sound - or feel - bad; they were just... Meh. But, Life intervened, and what with retiring from the bank; selling my house (and 2/3's of my stuff); packing most of the rest into a trailer and moving from Las Vegas to just outside South Bend, Indiana... I never got around to replacing them. They finally just died, about a year ago; God only knows how old they actually were. I was going to finally put the Slinky Cobalt Flats on a bass, and I figured that if the other contender for the "Brightest Flats" crown worked OK, then the Cobalts probably would, too. Sadly, it turned out that they weren't the real thing - they were just clever fakes. However, I had a pretty good idea that Fender 9050L's would work really well on the ASAT, - and I was right. However...
Regarding the whole "mahogany body/Humbucker" thing? Couple of points;
- Quite a few people here who also own an Embassy Pro Bass, consider it to be what a Thunderbird Bass should have been all along. All the tone that Thunderbirds are famous for - without the uncomfortable, weird body. Personally, I happen to love my Thunderbird's "weird" body, but... to each his own. My point is; it ain't going to sound like a Fender Bass - or any other non-Thunderbird. Embrace what you have, and work with it. Stop trying to make it something it's not...
- The pickups. That bass has Thunderbird pickups. MODERN Thunderbird pickups. Those humbuckers really no relation to the old, reviled Gibson "Mudbucker" that everybody dislikes. They're modern sounding, high output humbuckers. The ones in my T-Bird - and the ones in the '18 T-Bird that I sold off - are as bright and articulate as any other humbuckers in any of my basses. I take what that Mahogany body and those pickups give me, and use strings that make the best of that. Which is warm; mellow, but not really dark; and very clear and articulate. My '13 T-Bird wore hex-core GHS Bass Boomers for years, until I sold the sold the '18 T-Bird. I decided on replacing the Boomers - which are probably the least bright rounds there are, and have been the strings for T-Birds for a long, long time - with flats; but I didn't want to lose that tone. The Dogal R44's don't sound exactly the same - the round's "grindy" overtones aren't there - but overall? They're pretty close...:cool:
 
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#32
I put LaBella Deep Talkin Black Nylon 750N strings on mine and it brought an amazing tone to my bass! Roll the tone how you like and you can get wooly warm tones to sweet nite good enough for slap. Plus the added bonus of no fret wear!!
 

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