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Flatwounds on a "fancy" bass
- Thread starter J. Brooks
- Start date
none of my basses are really all that fancy, fender elite P, stingray and ATK, but all three have three band active preamps and all three have flats.
i use chromes, and typically turn the bass up a hair, treble down several hairs depending on newness of strings, and use the midrange to dial myself in and out of the mix depending on mood.
I will also default to passive P with tone rolled off on the fender if I don't feel like twiddling knobs.
I guess i'm saying flats benefit from "modern" basses as much as the user wants them to.
i use chromes, and typically turn the bass up a hair, treble down several hairs depending on newness of strings, and use the midrange to dial myself in and out of the mix depending on mood.
I will also default to passive P with tone rolled off on the fender if I don't feel like twiddling knobs.
I guess i'm saying flats benefit from "modern" basses as much as the user wants them to.
I don't know how fancy it is, but I put TI flats on my 98 Warwick Streamer LX. It's an extremely bright bass, and the effect is to shift it down to a little darker range. The controls on that bass are such that I can use the sweep as enough of a tonal control that I have an impressive tonal range without getting all shrill and squeaky. The TI flats still retain enough snap that I still get plenty of high end. Plus, they're slick strings and very comfortable all the way up the neck.
Is a Warwick FNA Jazzman fancy enough? I recently sold mine, and I had put LaBella LTF’s on it. I thought it sounded fantastic, and the buyer said he was surprised at how good the flats sounded on it. The MEC preamp gave plenty of options for sound-shaping.
I own several German Warwicks,Rickenbacker,USA Fenders,Gibsons etc.. They all have Flats on them.. Played 30 years with Rounds.. The Last 10 years were an eye opener with Flats.. I'm never turning back!
On my Sadowsky PJ5, which is heavy ash/brazilian RW and is very much more in the 'vintage inspired' camp than say an MTD, I'm rocking 5-year old Chrome Flats, and the tone I get live for certain gigs is absolutely perfect. I'm diming the P Pickup here and I'm in the Pbass universe, but with a more versatile pre/ability to goose the highs when needed. IME, flats take up a smaller frequency range in a mix (low mids with my basses) that just sits perfectly in a mix without that wide, piano-like tone that can sometimes be buried.
Plus I can slap rounds on a bass like this and cover more modern bass tones.
I put 'em on everything. My main 2 basses are active Wilkins PJ5 basses, and those are likely considered to be 'boutique basses'. One always has flats and gets played the most. There is also a passive custom bass I had built by a friend that is very fancy and also had flats. Depending on what genre you play there are some songs that just sound best with flats. Even though I also keep a bass strung with stainless, flats are a huge part of 'my sound' in a band setting and they sound great.
I like active basses these days and have found that each brand of flat sounds different on the same bass and the same set sounds different on different basses. Though I keep my eq pretty much flat on the preap, controlling tone with a blend pot. But gimme a P pickup with light gauge flats and a little grind and I'll be the one on stage smiling..
My japanese Yamaha TRB5IIF (fretless, 3 band active preamp) have d'addario chromes and it sounds excellent with those flats. Also I have Thomastik Spirocore (flatwounds as well 
) on my fretless double bass 
(passive David Gage Realist pickup) and I like them quite a lot.
) on my fretless double bass (passive David Gage Realist pickup) and I like them quite a lot.
Over the years, Sadowsky flats on fretless Sadowsky and USA Lakland basses. Thinking of putting them on the fretted Carl Pedigo build in my Avatar.
After the Bass Player magazine shoot out of bass strings....the GHS Precision Flats were highly recommended ....so I bought a set for my 5 string bassesMy .02...
I've really only used flats for about two years now, but I have them on my Sadowsky Verdine White 5 (Fancy or boutique? Maybe.. workhorse more like it, lol). I play reggae with that bass, the Sadowsky preamp is very well suited to flats IMO.
My tonal goal is low-mid heavy - thick and round but not boomy, while having a clarity as well. The VTC and treble control really work magic together to bring out the upper mid character in my case. Gives a little more depth to the flatwounds IMO. Check out the clip in my sig below if you are interested in hearing that bass. Headphones or monitors, best bet.
I hated the strings ....and kept trying them on different basses over the years
Finally I threw them away
New convert to TI Jazz strings for my 4 stringers.....I like them......But man...I wish I had a Sadowsky loaded 4 string bass
I know what you are saying as I Love my Sadowsky pre amp in my 5 string Jazzers
I do not have a 5ver set of TI Flats....Did not know they make them?
I feel sorry for you, forced to buy basses with bad wood. Hopefully, once you're on your feet financially, you can afford a decent bass with straight grained wood.
Hard to tell in your link video...But the Verdine white 5ver has PJ pickups...Does yours?My .02...
I've really only used flats for about two years now, but I have them on my Sadowsky Verdine White 5 (Fancy or boutique? Maybe.. workhorse more like it, lol
My tonal goal is low-mid heavy - thick and round but not boomy, while having a clarity as well. The VTC and treble control really work magic together to bring out the upper mid character in my case. Gives a little more depth to the flatwounds IMO. Check out the clip in my sig below if you are interested in hearing that bass. Headphones or monitors, best bet.
I love your band.....very much
I wouldn’t ever dream of dream of putting flats on either of my self relic’ed almost vintage Basses. Why in the world with I put flats on on something I’d pay over $3,000 to get.
Luckily, the excellent tone helps to camouflage its hideous woodgrain. Once I scrape up the cash, imma refinish it in matt black . . . problem solved!
..add a poorly matched pickguard and you've got something....and maybe relic the matte black finish. With a coarse bastard file.
To me the sound of my bass is flats or, better yet, nylon tapes so that's what I install no matter the cost of the bass. They've worked great on any bass I've owned from my $25 Dano/Silvertone 1444 to my Sukop and early Lakland.
