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Lakland Owners Group #69

#14,901
Has anyone put flatwounds on their Skyline DJ-4? I have played with flats for over a year now. My new DJ-4 came with roundwounds and I wanted to keep them on. I currently play at home and record bass videos and I am not in a band. The string noise is driving me crazy :woot: Plus, I play with a pick some times and I can hear the scratchy pick noise against the strings.

Has anyone here put flats on a DJ-4? If so, what are your thoughts? I ordered a set of D'Addario Chromes 45-100. I have Fender flats on my P bass. The Chromes get good reviews with a modern sound and the gauge is the same as what shipped with the DJ-4. The bass came set up perfectly, and part of me doesn't want to mess with that.

Thanks for any thoughts you can share.

Thom
 
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#14,902
Thom Fioriglio said:
Has anyone put flatwounds on their Skyline DJ-4? I have played with flats for over a year now. My new DJ-4 came with roundwounds and I wanted to keep them on. I currently play at home and record bass videos and I am not in a band. The string noise is driving me crazy :woot: Plus, I play with a pick some times and I can hear the scratchy pick noise against the strings.

Has anyone here put flats on a DJ-4? If so, what are your thoughts? I ordered a set of D'Addario Chromes 45-100. I have Fender flats on my P bass. The Chromes get good reviews with a modern sound and the gauge is the same as what shipped with the DJ-4. The bass came set up perfectly, and part of me doesn't want to mess with that.

Thanks for any thoughts you can share.

Thom
Click to expand...
Broken record here, as I’ve been raving about flats all over Talkbass since I experimented with ‘em and fully converted, during the Covid pandemic we’re still suffering through.

If you want a stiffer feeling higher tension set, go with Chromes. But, you’ll probably need to tighten the truss rod of your DJ. I don’t like Chromes or the added tension on my bass necks.

If you want bright flats that will fool most listeners into thinking you’re playing roundwounds, go with EBMM Cobalts. They’re fantastic! No string noise, normal tension, and so lively!

TI Jazz flats are fantastic as well but very expensive! To me, they’re fairly lively, not thumpy and dead like the Motown LaBella Jamerson sound. Some think they’re too low tension but I love how my fingers can easily fly through the notes.

LaBella low tension flats or LTFs are silky smooth and so comfortable to play. They are old school thumpy flats, more suited for P basses in my opinion.

I can also recommend Dunlop flats.
 
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#14,903
JEDI BASS said:
Broken record here, as I’ve been raving about flats all over Talkbass since I experimented with ‘em and fully converted, during the Covid pandemic we’re still suffering through.

If you want a stiffer feeling higher tension set, go with Chromes. But, you’ll probably need to tighten the truss rod of your DJ. I don’t like Chromes or the added tension on my bass necks.

If you want bright flats that will fool most listeners into thinking you’re playing roundwounds, go with EBMM Cobalts. They’re fantastic! No string noise, normal tension, and so lively!

TI Jazz flats are fantastic as well but very expensive! To me, they’re fairly lively, not thumpy and dead like the Motown LaBella Jamerson sound. Some think they’re too low tension but I love how my fingers can easily fly through the notes.

LaBella low tension flats or LTFs are silky smooth and so comfortable to play. They are old school thumpy flats, more suited for P basses in my opinion.

I can also recommend Dunlop flats.
Click to expand...
Thanks!!! I will try the Cobalts. Is there a particular gauge you recommend?
 
#14,910
JEDI BASS said:
Broken record here, as I’ve been raving about flats all over Talkbass since I experimented with ‘em and fully converted, during the Covid pandemic we’re still suffering through.

If you want a stiffer feeling higher tension set, go with Chromes. But, you’ll probably need to tighten the truss rod of your DJ. I don’t like Chromes or the added tension on my bass necks.

If you want bright flats that will fool most listeners into thinking you’re playing roundwounds, go with EBMM Cobalts. They’re fantastic! No string noise, normal tension, and so lively!

TI Jazz flats are fantastic as well but very expensive! To me, they’re fairly lively, not thumpy and dead like the Motown LaBella Jamerson sound. Some think they’re too low tension but I love how my fingers can easily fly through the notes.

LaBella low tension flats or LTFs are silky smooth and so comfortable to play. They are old school thumpy flats, more suited for P basses in my opinion.

I can also recommend Dunlop flats.
Click to expand...
I have been able to play JJ’s basses with different flats on them back to back. In not a flats fan, but the Cobalt Flats, I like and will put a set of those on one of my basses. Which one, that’s a hard choice for me.
 
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#14,913
Thom Fioriglio said:
Do you string those through the body or through the back of the bridge?
Click to expand...
If the flat set doesn’t have a warning against through-body stringing, then I choose based on winding length. I don’t want the full diameter wrapping around the tuner posts.

On my Lākland, the E and A are through the body, while I chose to top load the D and G.
81C984A2-DC9D-4A21-AB28-49DFD9A8EBDD.jpeg
466C55FC-C332-44CA-9A32-6B5B3DCB5C80.jpeg
 
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#14,916
JEDI BASS said:
If the flat set doesn’t have a warning against through-body stringing, then I choose based on winding length. I don’t want the full diameter wrapping around the tuner posts.

On my Lākland, the E and A are through the body, while I chose to top load the D and G.View attachment 4353672View attachment 4353671
Click to expand...

Please educate me on this... what's the reasoning behind the E and A strung through, and D and G through the bridge??
Any negative effects on tone or evenness
 
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#14,917
MTN.bass72 said:
Please educate me on this... what's the reasoning behind the E and A strung through, and D and G through the bridge??
Any negative effects on tone or evenness
Click to expand...
If I don’t eat up some string length (usually just on the E and sometimes the A) by going through-body, then the fat part of the string will be wound around the tuner post. That’s a big no no for flatwounds and can cause them to break. For the D and G, there often isn’t enough length to go through-body without having the silk wrapped part of the D in the nut slot. With the Cobalt flats, the G wasn’t long enough to wrap around the tuner adequately, if I went through-body. Take a peak at the pics again and you’ll see what I’m talking about. :-)

There’s zero noticeable affect to tone or evenness stringing any strings through-body versus top load. I’ve tried and seriously can not hear any differences. I use the through body option only to help eat up string length when needed... that’s all it’s good for IMO.
 
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#14,918
JEDI BASS said:
If I don’t eat up some string length (usually just on the E and sometimes the A) by going through-body, then the fat part of the string will be wound around the tuner post. That’s a big no no for flatwounds and can cause them to break. For the D and G, there often isn’t enough length to go through-body without having the silk wrapped part of the D in the nut slot. With the Cobalt flats, the G wasn’t long enough to wrap around the tuner adequately, if I went through-body. Take a peak at the pics again and you’ll see what I’m talking about. :)

There’s zero noticeable affect to tone or evenness stringing any strings through-body versus top load. I’ve tried and seriously can not hear any differences. I use the through body option only to help eat up string length when needed... that’s all it’s good for IMO.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. Thanks!
 
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#14,919
I tried a set of Chomes on my DJ-4. I had already ordered them. Ugh, took them right off. Compared to the D’Addario EXL170s they seemed so stiff. I have Fender flats on my P bass and love them, so it’s not like I hate flats. But man, the DJ-4 sounds so alive with the rounds. And still have my Classic 50s P with flats, so I think that’s a good combo right there. Though I keep reading up about the EB Cobalts. Hmmm. . .
 
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#14,920
Thom Fioriglio said:
I tried a set of Chomes on my DJ-4. I had already ordered them. Ugh, took them right off. Compared to the D’Addario EXL170s they seemed so stiff. I have Fender flats on my P bass and love them, so it’s not like I hate flats. But man, the DJ-4 sounds so alive with the rounds. And still have my Classic 50s P with flats, so I think that’s a good combo right there. Though I keep reading up about the EB Cobalts. Hmmm. . .
Click to expand...
That made me remember something that’s not necessarily related to your comment. But, it is helpful.

A good rule that others have figured out, and I realized it’s true through experimentation: don’t put thumpy flats (not bright, muted sustain) on a lively bright bass. And, don’t put lively bright flats on a warm woody bass. Examples from my own experience: thumpy DR Legends don’t pair well with my Classic Stingray, but sound perfect on a vintage voiced P bass. Bright EBMM Cobalts aren’t a good match for the same P but sound fantastic on my active Jazz bass slap machine. So, put like with like.
 
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