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How do chords sound with flatwound strings?

D

de la mocha

Aug 20, 2005
1,488
16
NEW JERSEY
#1
I have roto sounds on my P bass now and I miss my flats, but I've been doing a lot of chord work lately. My question is, will chords sound muddy with flats? I have Fender 9050s staring me in the face right now.

Should I? I don't need it to be super bright like rotosounds, just non muddy and clear.
 
#2
After 26 years of playing bass I just bought my first set of Flats (DiAddario Chromes) on my fretless P bass. I Freaken Love them. Its that tone that i just could never reach with EQ alone. Chords? Oh ya! sweet.

I wouldn't put them on my fretted basses though. You might try the XLP coated round wound if you want a slightly warmer tone then your rounds are giving you without sacraficing the punchy attack. I also have migrated back to nickle strings over Stainless steel for warmth and growl
 
#5
de la mocha said:
whats your opinion on these fender strings?
Click to expand...

I'll be attacked by all the Fender supporters for this, but I'm not a big fan of them. Actually, my favourites are Thomastic and I've made no secret of it. They are, in my opinion, head and shoulders above other strings. I won't use anything else now. Far, far better than the flats that originally came with my first Fender P in 62. The retro guys don't agree with me I'm sure and believe that flats should sound dull and thuddy. I don't believe that. If you listen to the recorded bass sounds from the 60s, which were almost always done with a microphone in front of the speaker in the amp, and played on a Fender with flats, by a studio musician, you'll hear that the bass is not dull and thuddy, but actually quite musical. And that was with the original Fender strings. The Thomastics are far superior to the originals and other brands today in my opinion. I think that the Rotosound flats aren't too bad.
 
#6
62bass said:
I'll be attacked by all the Fender supporters for this, but I'm not a big fan of them. Actually, my favourites are Thomastic and I've made no secret of it. They are, in my opinion, head and shoulders above other strings. I won't use anything else now. Far, far better than the flats that originally came with my first Fender P in 62. The retro guys don't agree with me I'm sure and believe that flats should sound dull and thuddy. I don't believe that. If you listen to the recorded bass sounds from the 60s, which were almost always done with a microphone in front of the speaker in the amp, and played on a Fender with flats, by a studio musician, you'll hear that the bass is not dull and thuddy, but actually quite musical. And that was with the original Fender strings. The Thomastics are far superior to the originals and other brands today in my opinion. I think that the Rotosound flats aren't too bad.
Click to expand...

I'm gonna try to trade them in for some rotosounds then....
 
#13
IME, D'Addario Chromes, because of their unusual brightness, will ring out nicely with chords. Expect smooth, melodic, warm results that still have some clarity. You might want to cut back a bit of bass on your EQ, though, because flatwounds pump out a lot of it!
 

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