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- Sep 9, 2007
- 5,309
- 4,977
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Eventide, GHS Strings, G&L Guitars, NS Design, Tsunami Cables
It's purely aesthetic. I've put a 5-string set of the Brite Flats on my Willcox Fretless (which has the small Gotoh style tuners), and wound the full diameter of the B string around the tuning post. It's not ideal, but it works fine and does not impact the sound.
Ah yes, Brite Flats. I would describe them as Precision flats with a bit more midrange, less thump (but still plenty left). Still lots of wood in the tone.
The Pressurewounds do have a bit of overtone to them, a very polite springiness in the top end without the zing - the nice thing about the PW is how easy it is to modify their sound. Palm mute or foam mute them, and you end up with a clicky flatwound tone with buckets of bottom and that 2-5 kHz bump that can really cut through without overdriving. Keep em undampened and play with a pick to get a nice grinding tone without getting zinged all over the place.
I think the best representation of the PWs (although I suspect the bassist was likely using GHS Boomers or Rotosound RS66s) would be the great tone in Pere Ubu's Non-Alignment Pact:
The Pressurewounds do have a bit of overtone to them, a very polite springiness in the top end without the zing - the nice thing about the PW is how easy it is to modify their sound. Palm mute or foam mute them, and you end up with a clicky flatwound tone with buckets of bottom and that 2-5 kHz bump that can really cut through without overdriving. Keep em undampened and play with a pick to get a nice grinding tone without getting zinged all over the place.
I think the best representation of the PWs (although I suspect the bassist was likely using GHS Boomers or Rotosound RS66s) would be the great tone in Pere Ubu's Non-Alignment Pact:
They claim this length is for through body stringing. I have the same issue with mine!
- Sep 9, 2007
- 5,309
- 4,977
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Eventide, GHS Strings, G&L Guitars, NS Design, Tsunami Cables
I've not used brite flats, but currently use pressure wounds. I like everything about those strings with one exception... the B and E strings deaden quicker than the other three strings, ADG. It becomes noticeable about a few months to where the B and E start to sound more like flats, while the ADG strings are still clearly in round wound territory.
Odd, because pressure wounds have a hex core which locks the windings better.
Anyway, make sure to install these properly by crimping first, then not wrapping around the tuning peg to start. Get a power winder and wind from the start. Wrapping can twist the string. Tune, then gently press down on the inside of the nut and bridge to get the string to break properly over each.
I'm not the only one to notice the uneven deadening of the pressure wounds. GHS needs to address this and improve the strings. If so, these would be about as near perfect.
Odd, because pressure wounds have a hex core which locks the windings better.
Anyway, make sure to install these properly by crimping first, then not wrapping around the tuning peg to start. Get a power winder and wind from the start. Wrapping can twist the string. Tune, then gently press down on the inside of the nut and bridge to get the string to break properly over each.
I'm not the only one to notice the uneven deadening of the pressure wounds. GHS needs to address this and improve the strings. If so, these would be about as near perfect.
One thing about the PW is GHS only offers a 5-string set in medium (44-62-84-106-128).
I purposely selected the ML7200 (44-58-80-102) and combined them with a single 128B. They've been on my Yamaha since April, and so far no issue with B and E going dead.
I did the same on the 5-string. The other two basses are 4-string and have ML's on them. Never tried their mediums. Tomorrow, Amazon is delivering a set of Fender 9050L that are going on the pbass, one of the 4-strings.
If not for the deadening of the low strings, I would not hesitate calling them the perfect string. Pressure wounds are great all around strings that can take on many sounds easily. Palm muting for a good thump at one end, to using overdrive into a growling round wound tone on the other end.
This is my first time using the PWs on a 5-string. Only time will tell how they fare in the long run. "Perfect" or not, I do have to agree they're one of the most versatile strings around, especially the part about working well with overdrive.
Interesting you also mention the Fender 9050L flats...
I'm in the process of test driving the GHS Brite Flats on my Jazz as a possible alternative to the Fender flats.
One week with the Brite Flats, here are a few of my first impressions...
@Arthur U. Poon was right; the initial stickiness I mentioned earlier didn't stick around too long.
The more I play on them, the smoother they seem to get. Sure, they're not quite as silky smooth as the Precision Flats on my P, but not that much worse than D'A Chromes or Fender 9050s.
I'm glad I went for the light set (45-98); the added stiffness does give them a flatwound-like feel, although not to the point of being uncomfortable. In fact, because of their stiffness, I was able to reduce the amount of neck relief to achieve a nice low action for easy fretting without any buzz.
After I put the Pressurewounds on my new Yamaha 3 mths ago (working great) and the Precision Flat on my P 1 mth ago (no complaints so far), I said to myself, "What strings can I put on my J to place it right in between the two tonally?" I probably could have put my well-broken-in Fender 9050CL flats back on it and be done with my "string experiments"... except for the nagging curiosity regarding the Brite Flats.
One of the things that got me interested in the BFs is the fact they use Alloy 52 for the wrap wire - the same nickel-iron alloy used for the Pressurewounds. I love the extra punch and responsiveness of this special alloy, thanks to its magnetically active properties. So, I wanted to find out how it would do as half-rounds.
So, how do they sound? I would describe their tone as "punchy and full-bodied" with just enough going on in the mids to bring out some bark and bite when needed. Not quite as "crunchy" as the Pressurewounds, and not quite as "thick and thumpy" as the Precision Flats, they do possess unique tonal characteristics of their own, which is exactly what I wanted. I should also mention here that I'm one of those people who are partial to the sound of J bass with flats for more of "smooth and mellow" than the typical "zingy, ringy, burpy" J bass tone. And these BFs do deliver in that regard.
So far, so good... Will be back in another few weeks.
@Arthur U. Poon was right; the initial stickiness I mentioned earlier didn't stick around too long.
The more I play on them, the smoother they seem to get. Sure, they're not quite as silky smooth as the Precision Flats on my P, but not that much worse than D'A Chromes or Fender 9050s.I'm glad I went for the light set (45-98); the added stiffness does give them a flatwound-like feel, although not to the point of being uncomfortable. In fact, because of their stiffness, I was able to reduce the amount of neck relief to achieve a nice low action for easy fretting without any buzz.
After I put the Pressurewounds on my new Yamaha 3 mths ago (working great) and the Precision Flat on my P 1 mth ago (no complaints so far), I said to myself, "What strings can I put on my J to place it right in between the two tonally?" I probably could have put my well-broken-in Fender 9050CL flats back on it and be done with my "string experiments"... except for the nagging curiosity regarding the Brite Flats.
One of the things that got me interested in the BFs is the fact they use Alloy 52 for the wrap wire - the same nickel-iron alloy used for the Pressurewounds. I love the extra punch and responsiveness of this special alloy, thanks to its magnetically active properties. So, I wanted to find out how it would do as half-rounds.
So, how do they sound? I would describe their tone as "punchy and full-bodied" with just enough going on in the mids to bring out some bark and bite when needed. Not quite as "crunchy" as the Pressurewounds, and not quite as "thick and thumpy" as the Precision Flats, they do possess unique tonal characteristics of their own, which is exactly what I wanted. I should also mention here that I'm one of those people who are partial to the sound of J bass with flats for more of "smooth and mellow" than the typical "zingy, ringy, burpy" J bass tone. And these BFs do deliver in that regard.
So far, so good... Will be back in another few weeks.
I know you published some tension specs recently but just curious - did you need to tighten the truss rod for these?One week with the Brite Flats, here are a few of my first impressions...
@Arthur U. Poon was right; the initial stickiness I mentioned earlier didn't stick around too long.
I'm glad I went for the light set (45-98); the added stiffness does give them a flatwound-like feel, although not to the point of being uncomfortable. In fact, because of their stiffness, I was able to reduce the amount of neck relief to achieve a nice low action for easy fretting without any buzz.
After I put the Pressurewounds on my new Yamaha 3 mths ago (working great) and the Precision Flat on my P 1 mth ago (no complaints so far), I said to myself, "What strings can I put on my J to place it right in between the two tonally?" I probably could have put my well-broken-in Fender 9050CL flats back on it and be done with my "string experiments"... except for the nagging curiosity regarding the Brite Flats.
One of the things that got me interested in the BFs is the fact they use Alloy 52 for the wrap wire - the same nickel-iron alloy used for the Pressurewounds. I love the extra punch and responsiveness of this special alloy, thanks to its magnetically active properties. So, I wanted to find out how it would do as half-rounds.
So, how do they sound? I would describe their tone as "punchy and full-bodied" with just enough going on in the mids to bring out some bark and bite when needed. Not quite as "crunchy" as the Pressurewounds, and not quite as "thick and thumpy" as the Precision Flats, they do possess unique tonal characteristics of their own, which is exactly what I wanted. I should also mention here that I'm one of those people who are partial to the sound of J bass with flats for more of "smooth and mellow" than the typical "zingy, ringy, burpy" J bass tone. And these BFs do deliver in that regard.
So far, so good... Will be back in another few weeks.
Going from the PW ML7200 to the BF L3075, the actual tension went down from 169.3 lbs. to 152.3 lbs. So, I initially loosened the truss rod about 1/4 turn. Then I realized I could lower the action due to the added stiffness of the BF so I tightened the truss rod by 1/8 turn to reduce the amount of neck relief. So, overall the truss rod was loosened just a touch.
I like my Jazz bass to sound like it is trying to speak while scarfing down a Twinkie.
Would that be a Southern Deep Fried Twinkie, or one of them limp wristed Yankey Twinkies?
