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Installed some Dunlop Flats 45-105...

Vinnie Boombatz

Vinnie Boombatz

Inactive
May 26, 2010
2,640
5,402
#1
Put a set of these on my Classic 50's Precision. For whatever reason this bass does not like heavier gauge strings and sets like GHS Precision Flats and La Bella 760FS kept requiring me to keep adjusting the truss rod. Worried I'd max it out and run out of adjustment I decided to compromise and put on a lower tension set.

Initially had TI's on the bass several months ago and just hated their floppiness. Sold those fast. Next I tried some La Bella 760FL's. Loved the glassy feel of these and they sounded nice, but they felt really thin under my fingers, and I prefer the feel of medium gauge strings. This bass sounds incredible with 760FS, but they're tension is too high for the Classic 50's.

So I slapped on a set of the Dunlop Flats 45-105. The feel great, are lower tension than GHS Precision Flats and La Bella 760FS of the same 45-105 gauge, but nowhere near as floppy as the TI Jazz Flats. Shinier than the GHS, glassy and smooth feel, but not as glassy as the La Bellas.

Others have compared these to Chromes, but I'll go on a limb and say they don't really sound like Chromes. Chromes have this weird high/upper mid metallic characteristic to them that deosn't seem to fade even after playing the strings in for a few months. In my experience this is just an inherent characteristic of Chromes, like it or not. The Dunlop are bright out of the pack, don't get me wrong, but they don't have the same metallic thing going on that Chromes do. Even when you roll off the bass with Chromes they still have this characteristic sound to them. When I roll off the tone with the Dunlops they become warmer, rounder, mellower. The Dunlops definitely can get into old-school territory when new with a crank of your tone knob. What I like about this was with some new strings if you turn the tone knob enough to dial out the clank or zing the strings get muddy sounding. With the Dunlop they still retain definition without turning to mud when you turn that tone knob. They have a prominent low end, but may be just a tad scooped sounding compared to say, GHS Precision flats that are just big, fat with that wooly/warm thump/thud in the low end. Dunlops are a little less in your face, but still have a pleasing sound. Dare I say a little more refined that GHS Precision flats if that makes sense. And don't take it as me trashing the GHS Precision Flats because I love their huge, rich, in your face low end that even La Bella don't have.

Hopefully this helps some people. I've just been on a quest for finding flats I like for each bass.

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#5
tallboybass said:
Yes, Dunlops sound nothing like Chromes. I felt like the Dunlops were farther into the vintage category than people had described them to be. Not really a fan.
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Weel, to each his/her own. My first foray into flats were Chromes several years ago. Need had played flats and thought Chromes were the best thing ever. Also, around that time I bought a bass used and it had La Bella flats on it. Liked how they sounded but they just weren't the sound I was looking for/couldn't get a usable sound out of them at the time for the music I was playing and was just inexperienced as a player.

Fast forward a few years and my tastes have changed and really enjoy playing flats for their feel and tone and am leaning more into the "vintage" tone camp and not much of a fan of Chromes anymore. Instead of liking the ring and clang of rounds I'm more into being felt than heard (if that makes sense) and value thump and feel.

I think the Dunlops could be seen as sort of a "gateway string" for some who have always played rounds and just aren't ready or looking for that much of a drastic change in tone. You can still get that ring and clang that you get from rounds with your tone control up without the signature metallic ring of Chromes, but when you dial back the volume with the Dunlops you start getting into the warmer thump territory, but you won't get the full effect that you'd get with La Bella or GHS. Also, the Dunlops are a great for someone who isn't ready for the drastic change in feel going from rounds to much stiffer flats. This could also be said for TI Jazz Flats, too, but they're much more expensive than Dunlops and as mentioned, were too floppy for my taste.
 
#8
I used Dunlop flats on my 1981 Ibanez Blazer P-bass for about a year and then went to Labella 760FS. Initially, I was into the thump I got, but the tension was higher and I was not happy with the low E string. It just sounded dead. Yesterday, I put my old Dunlops back on, and it's like someone took a wet blanket off my bass. It's alive again! Bass strings are weird. I have Labella 760FLs on my G&L SB2 and am happy, but now I'm wondering if I should get the Dunlops for that bass too... I love them! I also agree that they do not sound like Chromes. They really have their own sound and I'm liking it a lot on this bass. Less tension than Labellas but more than DR Legend flatsive also tried. They aren't as polished in feel as the Labellas or the DRs but it doesn't matter to me. I like the feel and tone I'm getting from the Dunlop flats.
 
#9
Dunlop flats 45-125 on a Fender AP jazz V here. It's still early, esp for flats (less than a week) but so far, they're a winner. They come the closest to what was my favorite, the famously discontinued Sadowsky black label flats — a nice balance between warm thump & modern articulation. Or to put it another way: warm & clear. I like dark and these are dark but with clarity. And they are very comfortable to play — responsive AND lowish tension.

Ironically, Fender's V mod pickups in this bass, a combo of alnico 5 and alnico 2, deliver the same: vintage + modern. (Took me awhile to figure out what VMOD referred to.) So maybe these strings and pickups are meant for each other.
 
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#15
I've had Dunlops on a p for a while now. They're not like chromes (which I have on other basses). The Dunlops seem to have more range (highs and lows) than the chromes... . I don't have a preference between the two... each has their own character and specialty. I really like Dunlops, but find it more difficult to find the sweet spot. All open, it tends to be too bright, but lower the tone all the way, and it is very deep, but not articulate/thumpy. Too much smokey/airy low and I find it hard to control. To get the sweet spot, I have to roll back the volume a bit, and roll the tone anywhere from 25%-75%. Perhaps its just the pickups though and not the strings. All that said, I found that the Dunlops fit in the mix much better when I had a fretless neck on my p than a fretted. Maybe the metal on metal is too much for my pickup when it comes to traditional p tones! As for tension, I find them quite balanced and a breeze to play. I also have them on a short scale gibson... tension is a little higher on this set, but it brings some range to the gibby... actually sounds quite p bass in a recorded setting!
 
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#16
GrooveTheory said:
I've had Dunlops on a p for a while now. They're not like chromes (which I have on other basses). The Dunlops seem to have more range (highs and lows) than the chromes... . I don't have a preference between the two... each has their own character and specialty. I really like Dunlops, but find it more difficult to find the sweet spot. All open, it tends to be too bright, but lower the tone all the way, and it is very deep, but not articulate/thumpy. Too much smokey/airy low and I find it hard to control. To get the sweet spot, I have to roll back the volume a bit, and roll the tone anywhere from 25%-75%. Perhaps its just the pickups though and not the strings. All that said, I found that the Dunlops fit in the mix much better when I had a fretless neck on my p than a fretted. Maybe the metal on metal is too much for my pickup when it comes to traditional p tones! As for tension, I find them quite balanced and a breeze to play. I also have them on a short scale gibson... tension is a little higher on this set, but it brings some range to the gibby... actually sounds quite p bass in a recorded setting!
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Are they dead? Dunlops start out that way, but when they go dead they become very trad and thumpy sounding.
 
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#17
... I don't think their dead, they're not that old and don't get so much play that they'd have major wear and tear on them. I have a '63 Pure Vintage pickup in it, strung through the body (picture attached). I may have described it wrong above... this bass is actually a tone monster!... fully open and fully closed, this combination has clear open highs to it and goes very deep when rolled off all the way, rather that that in your face low/mid thump, but a little tweaking in the middles gets me right there. Overall, the strings have great tone though, sounds amazing (rich, deep, and detailed) for solo tunes... now that I think about it further, adding a palm mute and/or foam actually really brings out the perfect thump in them. I think the combination of the strings/pickup just makes this a much more dynamic p-bass than typical... and I'm not complaining about that! Perhaps some LaBella's would work really well on this bass as well. Anyhow, it's an amazing piece and the Dunlops are staying on them for the foreseeable future. Its actually even more dynamic than some of my active basses... the little tweaks are "worth the effort" for great tone (just like with Mesa's!) lol.

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#18
I've had Dunlop flats on my SX P for almost a year, and they have been great. They don't get as thumpy as Labella 760FL's, which I use, and love, on my Squier CV 60's P. But the Dunlops can do dark or bright with a turn of the tone knob. I can cover practically anything I need to with those strings on those specific basses. I also have the Dunlop medium scale flats on my 2 Hofner basses, and they are excellent.
 
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