You could also experiment with BEAD tuning. Many players do.
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Flatwounds with a full and warm G
- Thread starter antfarm
- Start date
I have Labellas 45-105 on all my flatwound axes, except for my G&L Kiloton V which I put Legends on. They're hard to describe--kinda "mellow" (have been on now for 4 months and many gigs) with a soft/muted top end, but then you can coax some nice middy grunt out of them. Close to the DTFs, but definitely their own thing. I have used that bass for a couple reggae gigs with great results. Sounds killer with a pick too. Time will tell how they age (some of my Labellas are around 10 years old and sound excellent).
IME that just makes it sound more detailed with more twangy high-end.
I second the suggestions for Ernie Ball Group flats and DR Legends.
This is a great idea! Otherwise, I'm with those who say you should move up the neck and stay on the lower strings. Either way, there's no G-string in reggae.
I put a set of DR Legends on my J bass back in January or so specifically for reggae. This is my first set of flats. The G and the D strings sound like they are from a different set of strings, I thought that might change over time. Here we are, 7 months later and it is the same. Additionally, right out of the pack I had trouble getting the G string to intonate properly, eventually took it to my luthier for a set up, and he confirmed it is a bum string. I contacted DR, probably 3 months ago and am still waiting for that G string to arrive. I was told they were currently none in stock.
The feel of the DR strings is off the hook, so smooth and silky, but maybe thats the way all flats are. When I get a chance these are coming off and I am putting a set of Cobalt flats on to see how close they work for my needs.
The feel of the DR strings is off the hook, so smooth and silky, but maybe thats the way all flats are. When I get a chance these are coming off and I am putting a set of Cobalt flats on to see how close they work for my needs.
Regardless of strings, the G string will never sound as full as the same note on the D string up the neck, and blend with the E and A strings more evenly.
Still, good luck finding a better sounding G string!
Still, good luck finding a better sounding G string!
Every G string I've ever played, regardless string type, doesn't come with bass baked in. My solution to this has been an HPF set around 80-100hz with bass boosted downstream the HPF. Fattens up the G beautifully.
Just as a public service announcement, Fender flats of today aren't the same as the factory Fender (Squier) flats of the 70s, but GHS Precision Flats are a replica of them. Incidentally, GHS Precision Flats are great, deep sounding, and "dead" like you prefer right out of the package. I haven't necessarily experienced weak individual strings unless it was related to the bass itself. I used to have a Music Man with a notorious "weak G." In that case, closer pickup height on the weak string and some compression to round things out was the solution.
I have a cheap 30” scale bass , a nice 32” scale and until recently a decent 34” scale bass.
They all have that wired G string issue with flats, less pronounced on the short scale.
Chromes helped a bit for me to fix it but it’s not perfect.
I also found a parametric EQ and some compression helps.
Best way to help fix with EQ I found is to find the most offensive sounding note on the G string and then with the EQ find what frequency to add to that note to fatten it up.
This should help the sound on the rest of the notes on the same string as well.
There might be better way to fix the G string issue but this is what worked for me.
This helps too. Great technique to getting a fat but tight bottom end from a bass.
This is all subjective, of course, but to me the fullest warmest G is in the TIJF set. One caveat: I've only compared them to other light gauge sets, so heavier sets might be better. The LTF G is awful, the GHS G from the 45-95 set is bad, and pretty much everything else I've tried is not very good. Having said that about the TIJF, I have to acknowledge that pretty much all bass G's are rather thin sounding compared to the same notes played on the D, but the TI's are the best I've encountered in my experience, possibly due to the silk wrap under the metal winds.
Raise the action is how it is done. The light Cobalt, light GHS precision flat and others will work as long as that string is not touching the other frets. Also helps to pluck near or on the neck. It needs to oscillate unhindred
That's unfortunate. I had what I felt was a slightly wonky G string in a set of Legends and they sent me a whole new set, free, in less than a week!
On my bass they are very balanced across the whole bass, from the low B to the G, FWIW. Have used Labellas for 30+ years but these are contenders IMO. Will have to see how they age over the long haul.
I just strung my P bass with Olintos after finding the DTFs unbalanced - twangy D and G, as well as an unbalanced thuddy E. The Olintos are better in this regard. They have a thick E with more definition and the higher strings sound less twangy. Also had to let go of the Low Tension La Bellas due to the same issues I had with the DTF. The Olintos certainly feel stiffer though.
The LTF G is different for sure to the EAD. Possibly due to them having some kind of white thread around the core, which the G appears to lack. It sounds way brighter, but I believe it does mellow. I hope so
See post #33 La Bella LTF-4A Low Tension Flexible Flats .042-.100 vs 760FL Deep Talkin' Bass 043-.104
