Want big bass sound for a fretless? La Bella old 1954's or larger Deep Talkin' flats. La Bella's are comparatively expensive but well worth it and last just about forever.
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fretless, flats for fat bass sound?
- Thread starter irieyogini
- Start date
I’ve never had tapes go dead like that. I always thought that they stay fairly consistent. But everyone has different experiences with strings.
If you’re looking for deep and fat and 10 years use, I’d personally go with LaBella Deep Talking Flats
Opinions are all over the place here but to add yet another ! LOL ... I have a custom short scale fretless that had TI jazz rounds on it that I just changed out to Labella black nylon Deep Talking tapes . I haven't quite made up my mind yet as to which will end up there . At first after the change I was pretty convinced that the TI's sounded way better on my bass . After a few more days of practice though I have come to appreciate the laBellla's more than I expected . I am not sure how it'll work out but I don't think I can go wrong with either choice and maybe that's my main point ..... Good luck though - Kelly
I am mostly a reggae player and I must say that I really don't like fretless for reggae. It does not have the thump. Although Sting played a few Police tunes with fretless and EUB
While I use flats on my PBass and Jazz Bass, I played a lot of fretless before and a fretless is a lot more fun and lively with rounds. It really never really sound like an upright with flats anyway. Even with tapewounds.
People might think differently but that's what 35yrs of playing taught me.
While I use flats on my PBass and Jazz Bass, I played a lot of fretless before and a fretless is a lot more fun and lively with rounds. It really never really sound like an upright with flats anyway. Even with tapewounds.
People might think differently but that's what 35yrs of playing taught me.
You will get lots of good ideas and suggestions from all who reside here.
I have a different perspective simply because I’ve played Double Bass since I was in middle school. I’ve been looking for strings that felt and sounded like Upright strings. Two years ago I found them Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt Flat Wounds. On my fretless Lakland 55-02 they are as close as I can get to my Double Bass.
I have a different perspective simply because I’ve played Double Bass since I was in middle school. I’ve been looking for strings that felt and sounded like Upright strings. Two years ago I found them Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt Flat Wounds. On my fretless Lakland 55-02 they are as close as I can get to my Double Bass.
Not trying to sound snobbish but on fretless, TI Jazz flats are the only string I'll use. They'll last you better than 10 years...
lol, these are the black ones, too. they definitely were sticky; i had to develop new techniques to get the notes/grooves out, and the bounce of the string felt different, too. i got into over time but, recently the E string just lost its sustain and the A is catching up... E's flat Ah's flat too, maybe thats what mingus meant, haha
, jk nerd joke.if i go back to non tape, they may feel too bare now... hmm...
maybe i just need a new bass to try different strings, oh no, im getting GAS hanging out here... lol
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i hear you! most people say that, including my guitar player but, now he wont let me play the fretted and theyve come to the flat and fretless side, whaaa haha. im open, learning and just enjoying the creativity of those expanded tones while striving for the staccato and punchy feels too. a full upright sound def wouldnt cut it... but i wouldnt ever intentionally put rounds on a/my fretless.. for me would be a travesty to groove the neck..
i would be open to musical feedback, if that happens here, but, likely would need to connect with a mentor/teacher for my styles and level. thanks for the thoughtful response.
I agree
In humid environments tapewounds can feel sticky or if my fingers sweat. A little fingerboard oil made them predictable.
raggae and groove stuff ? try to buy round wound but not bright enough,..sound setting by amplifier or preamp will do the rest,..and yes,..i am using labella black nylon tape wound to surpress the attack of my ibanez sr1400 mlg,...it's like dead string for roundwound but completely perfect for vintage tone.,........
I have been running TIs on my fretless basses. They might have a lighter tension (about like a round wound) but they have can have a pretty ballsy tone to them with a more even sustain than most flats which makes them sound more like an older round than a traditional flat. My 97 Jazz Deluxe sounds very gritty with these (run passive) and my other Jazz with Delanos also has some punch. I can dig in pretty hard playing live. I ran Labella White tapes for a while which do sound brighter (at first) but IMO, without the character of the TIs. I will say I have not had the same luck with my fretted basses. I have the same Jazz Deluxe fretted and it was so so with the TIs and has rounds now.
Great strings, I’ve used them for years on my 1958 Fender Precision.
Their essentially just modified Thomastik Spirocore Weich Double Bass Strings. Four string sets are pretty reasonably priced and do last a long time, but their 5 String set is pretty expensive and that would be fine, but the B string is rather large since they’re going for tone and pitch on the fundamental, which is a good thing sonically but throws the sets balance between the E and B string off a bit, especially if you have smaller hands like I do.
I would throw in another vote for DR Legend flatwounds. I've tried just about every set out on the market and, though there are a lot of great choices, I always seem to come back to the Legends. They're nice and taut, but I feel like the round core (as opposed to hex core like most other strings have) gives them a unique bit of extra flexibility and tendency to vibrate more freely, making for a nice fat and open sound... as abstract as those descriptors are. Also a nice smooth feel and I think the gold silks look really classy up at the headstock.
I've been using GHS Precision flats on my fretless Jazz and Precision basses for 30 years, they may be what you want. On the other hand, Ric said he likes Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt Flat Wounds, maybe I'll give those a shot.
SLaPiNFuNK
Sorry Jason is the owner of Fret Nation goes by above. There are going to be a hundred recommendations on strings here.
If you're looking for that dub tone either DR Legends, Labella's or GHS Precision flats imo. I brought up Jason because he's helped a lot of us here with his suggestions. Good luck.
All the LaBella's mentioned are great strings and are deep and fat, very little upper harmonic content, think of 50s & 60s rhythm and blues, Motown, etc. But.....they need weeks/months of break-in. Right out of the box, they are bright and you would be disappointed.
Optima Black Label 4099 Flats are dark and fat right out of the box.
IMO, fretless and fat do not go hand-in-hand. Fretless basses give a mwahh. Kind of a mid-rangy thing.
As mentioned, Jason can aid you in selling you the right strings based on what you described. I do not believe he sells Optima however.
Optima Black Label 4099 Flats are dark and fat right out of the box.
IMO, fretless and fat do not go hand-in-hand. Fretless basses give a mwahh. Kind of a mid-rangy thing.
As mentioned, Jason can aid you in selling you the right strings based on what you described. I do not believe he sells Optima however.
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I've tried lots of different flats out of curiousity but always come back to GHS Precision Flats. They're very smooth and clear, not muddy, and feel great (not sticky).
^^^This^^^ Plus they last a long time, and are not too expensive.
