GHS Brite Flats

[HelpImaRock]

I put some GHS Brite Flats on my Reverend Watt yesterday, and had a chance to compare them to the LaBella Super Polished on my Squier Mustang and LTFs on my Guild Starfire.

1. Neither the Super Polished or the Brite Flats sound like flatwounds. The LaBellas are stainless steel and the GHS are nickel/iron. And they sound comparable to stainless steel and nickel rounds, respectively.

2. LTFs are super smooth. Super Polished are not as smooth. Brite Flats are rougher still, but nowhere near as rough as Pressurewounds or "normal" rounds.

3. I'm guessing the Brite Flats will smooth out a little, and mellow out, over the next month or so. The Super Polished sure have.

4. The Brite Flats are 49-109 and I can play them in E standard. I cannot say the same for the Labella DTF 49-109 set they replaced, which I had in D standard. The GHS also sound good in D standard so this is likely the new standard set for the Watt.

5. Like with the Super Polished, I wiped down the strings with a microfiber cloth after I tuned up. Groundwounds can feel "sticky" out of the package. Wiping them down solves that problem.

6/7. As the set broke in last night, they got easier to play than I expected. But my tendonitis is barking this morning. They also have more fundamental and less high end. I'm going with that's the nickel/iron alloy. If the LaBella Super Polished is your tone control on 10, the GHS Brite Flats are your tone control on 5. GHS description on the website is spot on. It does what it says it does on the can.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Definitely in the honeymoon phase with these strings. I'm surprised at how low the action is. They seem to be easier to play even though they're high tension. I can use a much lighter touch. I'll need to see if that translates in the band, or if it's just a beast.

 

[HelpImaRock]

The iron quality is starting to come out and there’s a huge difference between the GHS and LaBella sets now. The GHS sound better and I like the high string tension. But the LaBellas feel better. The polishing really makes a difference.

I’d like a thicker A string on the LaBellas. Not sure that will happen. Both sets have their merits.

 

[Hawk620]

The iron quality is starting to come out and there’s a huge difference between the GHS and LaBella sets now. The GHS sound better and I like the high string tension. But the LaBellas feel better. The polishing really makes a difference.

I’d like a thicker A string on the LaBellas. Not sure that will happen. Both sets have their merits.

Buy another bass. Use both sets. Problem solved.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Buy another bass. Use both sets. Problem solved.

I have the GHS on a Reverend Watt and the LaBellas on a Squier Mustang. They'll stay that way for a while.

Mostly I'm just talking out loud here. First band practice in a while is next week. We'll probably just jam, so I'll bring both and experiment.

 

[Pier_]

I love the Brite Flat (standard 49-108 set) on my Stingray. they've been on this bass for one and a half year now, and after the first "bright and rough" period, they started sounding and feeling perfect.
many times I've thought "maybe I can go back to nickel rounds on this", to have the classic bright bark of the Stingray, but then I play it and no, I don't change.

give them time, and they'll sound more like flats, but with some spark, and the rough feeling goes away, just like the Rotosound RS66 strings, they start super rough in the first days, but then smooth out a bit.

 

[danelectro42]

I use these on all of my basses. They do mellow out after a while.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Car trouble so band practice will have to wait. In the meantime, I'm very happy with these on the Watt. Both the GHS and LaBella sets have mellowed a bit on their respective basses. I'm very much looking forward to putting a set of GHS on the Guild. Dunno which one will go on the Flying Spaghetti Jazz yet.