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Help me pick the correct Flatwounds

E

e41k

Jan 7, 2012
16
0
Maarssen
#1
Hi guys,

My girlfriend's birthday is coming up soon and with all the money she'll be getting she's going to buy a Fender 50s roadworn P bass. She already decided she wants flatwounds on it. I'm kinda puzzled which one to get her though. She loves playing old rock n roll and especially indie. Some of her favorite bands are The Beatles, The Kills and Arctic Monkeys. She's not too sure on what sound shes going for herself but she does find it important to have a warm midrangy tone. Any advice or reccommendations you guys can give me? Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post :)

Tldr; Warm midrangy Flatwounds for 50s roadworn pbass
 
#10
I love threads like this - by the time it over every flatwound string made will be listed, 'casue there's always somebody that thnks their choice is perfect for that warm, midrangey tone.

I have three basses and they all have a different brand of flats on them.
Here's some good ones Fender, LaBella, and DAs. I'd say the Fender's are more mid-rangey.
 
#11
Yea I'm getting a lot of different recommendations haha :)
Anyway thanks for the input people!

Also another thing that might weigh in. She has like these really small hands, so I'm guessing strings with a lot of tension might be harder to play?
 
#12
My favorites for that description are TIJFs.

But she might already have a favorite. Or know which set she wants. There's been lots of differing opinions here so far; who's to say she doesn't have her own?

An alternative: a gift certificate (or functional equivalent) from bassstringsonline (or functional equivalent), & let her get her choice.
 
#13
e41k said:
Yea I'm getting a lot of different recommendations haha :)
Anyway thanks for the input people!

Also another thing that might weigh in. She has like these really small hands, so I'm guessing strings with a lot of tension might be harder to play?
Click to expand...

I don't think the size of hands detemines how strong the fingers are. This, of course is a matter of muscles. As the muscles of most women are a little less developed, one might expect them to like less tension. However, there's one exception: the bassist. If one plays the bass frequently, the muscles will develop and stay at that level. I experienced this as well. I developed a very powerful grip.
 
#14
I just put a set of Chromes ECB82 (.050-.105) on my 2008 American Standard P-Bass. Unbelievable! I put them on this afternoon and cannot put the bass down. The tone is fantastic. I was actually thinking of selling it because I couldn't get the tone that was in my head. I had tried TI's and just took off a set of LaBella 760FL's today (which were my favorite flat before today). The TI's low tension were not a good match for my playing style and the 6 month old LaBellas still went "thud". The ECB82 Chromes are just amazing right out of the package and I know they will just keep getting better. They sound great for R&B, Classic Rock, Alternative, Blues and I'm sure some genres that I haven't even tried yet. I have been sitting in front of the TV surfing the cable music channels and just playing along for hours.

I top loaded them since the ECB82 set only comes in long scale and is not a good length for stringing through the body. No issues putting them on and the 4 strings are a very balanced set. I had to give the truss rod a quarter turn in compared to the 760FL's. I'm so glad I didn't sell this bass. It is an awesome player and now has the tone to match.

There is a noticable tone difference between the Chromes ECB82 medium set that I have now and the ECB81 light set (.045-.100). The light set is noticably brighter. The D and G are almost equally bright as D'addarrio EXL165 nickle rounds. The ECB81 flats have a stronger fundamental and less harmonics than the EXL165 rounds but they are bright. I know this because I had both sets and put the E and D from the round set and the A and G from the flat set on the same P-Bass as a side by side test. The mixed set sounded like one matched set! Hard to tell the difference with the tone rolled off.

Get the ECB82 set and you will be very happy. Very smooth wrap and the tension is very playable IMO.
 
#15
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#16
"Midrangy"? That would be TI Jazz Flats. "Warm" would be GHS or maybe the 45-105 set of Rotosound flats after 6 months.

She really can't go too far wrong with any flats on a P Bass.

To me, "the" flatwound sound is La Bella, either the 760FL or the 760FS set.
 
#18
A lot of the strings mentioned here are really high tension. I think what it will come down to is if she has strong fingers or not. If she really can dig in and move fast on a bass, then she'll probably have no problem with GHS Precisions or Chromes. On the other hand, if she has a light touch and she tends to hang on notes, she might need a lower tension string. TIs are by far the lowest. Then you have Pyramid Gold Flats that are low to mid tension and can get a nice short decay sound like Paul McCartney. Both these strings are really expensive. If money is an issue, try very light gauge versions of the GHS, Chromes, or Sadowsky (my personal favorite).
 

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