Flatwounds with Tapewound Low B

[Anthony Clement]

Hi y'all, I'm currently playing a 50s style pbass with the bottom 4 strings from a 5 string labella deep talking flats set. I love the sound of the E A and D strings, but the low b is lacking and sounds a little muddy. I'm thinking about putting some sort of tape wound there, maybe one of the dadarrios. Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

 

[Neon Blues]

Yep, I've done this. Had a half round or similar on the B String. I am yet to experience a good sounding B string Flat.

 

[Yahboy]

You can consider with EB Group Flat 130B string.

 

[_Tay_]

I have a Thomastik Jazz Flat B string on a bass and that sounds alright. Needed to adjust the setup/pickup height though. Pretty expensive for just one string but i plan on never changing them ever.

 

[michael_t]

I love the sound of the E A and D strings, but the low b is lacking and sounds a little muddy. I'm thinking about putting some sort of tape wound there, maybe one of the dadarrios....

The only thing about mixing a tapewound B with flatwound E-A-D is the difference in stiffness, the B being noticeably more flexible, even floppy in comparison.

I would suggest trying one of the brighter flats for the B, such as the Ernie Ball Stainless Steel Flats 130B, as already mentioned above, or D'A Chrome 132B. Or, even the GHS Brite Flats 130B, which is an Alloy 52 half-round/groundwound.

I do mix-and-match low B's on my two 5-string Yamahas, although I would never use flats on them.

 

[iiipopes]

The EB 130 stainless flat is the most underrated B string out there.

 

[onda'bass]

I would say A chrome .132 but can't go wrong with either.