Looking for a flat wound string suggestion

[Jack Butler]

TI Jazz Flats.

While I agree TI flats are great strings, I personally found I preferred the EB Cobalts for 2 reasons, 1 relative to the OP. FIrst I think they are closer to "flats that sound like rounds" than the TI's. The TI's are fantastic, but if closer to rounds is specifically what a person is after, I think the EB cobalts are better for that. 2nd, some people(including me) think the TI's are a little TOO loose or floppy feeling. This is of course personal preference, and playing style can be adjusted to accommodate, but the 40-95 EB cobalts feel slightly less floppy in my experience.

 

[SloFingers]

I have Cobalt Flats on every bass I have except one. Great tone and feel. A little more tension (B string 5ver). You can slap em or pluck em.

 

[Rod Barchetta]

I have tried them all. The Cobalt Flats are one of a kind. I have tried GHS Brite Flats (groundwound), LaBella Deep Talkin Flats, Fender Flats, D'Addario Chromes. They all require greater string tension and none of them reproduce the treble like the EBCFs. You can slap them and they sound great. None of the others come close. And all the others required a truss rod adjustment to get the action right. Not the EBCFs. I'm sold.

 

[DrBnz]

I did this study a while back myself. I tried a few different flats on an Ultra Jazz bass. While it's all very subjective.... this is what I thought of them at the time.
GHS Pressurewound 40-96 light: I thought I was gonna love these....they worked ... but not exciting at all.
Thomastik-Infeld 44-96: Now Tis are my favorite....ON A P-BASS. But on a J bass it was too mellow. It took all the BITE out of the J-bass.
Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt Flat 50-105...While this are great on my P-bass ... it was muddy on a J-bass
DAddario XL Chromes ECB81 - 45-100: I liked these the best for an Ultra Jazz Bass... they're flat but they're bright and allow the Jazz bass pickup characteristics to come thru. It got the J-bass "growl" back but its still a flat.

 

[Timothy Brosnan]

For my Squier Jaguar H, the D’addario Chromes sound fantastic! I use the ECB81M set, .045-.100

For my Player Jazz bass, the flats I liked best on this bass were;

Fender 9050L
La Bella 760FX

 

[Killing Floor]

While I agree TI flats are great strings, I personally found I preferred the EB Cobalts for 2 reasons, 1 relative to the OP. FIrst I think they are closer to "flats that sound like rounds" than the TI's. The TI's are fantastic, but if closer to rounds is specifically what a person is after, I think the EB cobalts are better for that. 2nd, some people(including me) think the TI's are a little TOO loose or floppy feeling. This is of course personal preference, and playing style can be adjusted to accommodate, but the 40-95 EB cobalts feel slightly less floppy in my experience.

See, people? We don’t all have to like the same things. And I agree. Cobalts are a great choice.

 

[Rod Barchetta]

Just put a set of EBCFs on my Squier Jazz Bass. Really awesome. Bright enough to slap, but roll the tone off and you are in Motown.

 

[Rod Barchetta]

My fretless Squier Jazz Bass.

 

[J-Mags]

I like Fender 9050s and I consider them "bright" by my standards, because they have a fair amount of top end that can make them sound a little more like round wounds in a mix, but they're nowhere near as bright as the Cobalt flats. In fact, they're in the same family as Ernie Ball Group series flats and well as Chromes.

But the Cobalt flats are their own thing.

 

[ImTheOnlyOne]

Ever tried the DR Nickel Low Riders? Rounds I know, but about the least round feeling I've tried. Finger feel more like a ground wound without the zing of many rounds or the relative dullness of say GHS Nickels. Loving them on a Les Paul Standard bass.

Tried the EB Cobalt Flat 95 set on a few basses. Liked the tone best on a PJ, but beware the 95 set is extra light tension, enough so to require set up.
Likely, 105s would have been the better choice.

 

[Rod Barchetta]

My preferred gauges are 45, 65, 85, 105. Ernie Ball refers to this as the Hybrid set. Somewhere between light and medium. I really like it.

 

[Rod Barchetta]

And just to reiterate, my Squier Fretless Jazz has never sounded better. It is hard to put it down. The EBCFs are amazing on this bass. I am blown away at the difference.

 

[Altitude]

Best flats EVER: Sadowsky Blue Label. Lots and lots of lovely harmonics...

I found a set of these in my pile this weekend. I think I bought them at least ten years ago, put them on my Valenti J and took them off after two days because the bass did not sound like Marcus Miller anymore.

Now my head is in a little different place and the strings are essentially new. I put them on last night and they do seem to have some interesting harmonic activity and nice upper midrange. I look forward to breaking them in!

 

[Yahboy]

My EB 2814 aged 19 months on my Bacchus BJB1RSM jazz bass, she still sing very well, growl and meaty tone. . Unlike others modern flat like ECB and 9050, the E string retain great amount of solid bright tone.

 

[retslock]

Best flats EVER: Sadowsky Blue Label. Lots and lots of lovely harmonics...

What sort of tension/stiffness do they have? I live in Australia and you need to mortgage your home to buy bass strings these days. I’m less inclined to buy on spec when they are so expensive. I’ve been using Chromes which I like and I‘ve got La Bella DTF ($140) on one bass and while I really like their tone they don’t seem as stiff as the Chromes (the last set I bought were $120) and I’m getting a bit of clank when I dig in. I’m thinking of something different and trying not to spend so much needlessly.

 

[two fingers]

I am really into Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats because they have the feel of a flatwound string, but you can play rock music with a pick and they don’t sound all clicky, but have a bright sound like a roundwound string. Is there another flatwound that does this? I wanted to try something else out if a such thing is available. Thank you.

So, D'Addario Chromes are generally considered pretty bright flats.

Oddly enough, over the years, when people here ask if there are any flats even brighter than Chromes, EB Cobalts get brought up. If you're looking for bright flats, Chromes will be a lateral move for you (in nrightness anyway), but might have a flavor you prefer. But I think you'll be hard pressed to find anything significantly brighter than Cobalts in flats. That much brightness is what rounds are for.

 

[Rod Barchetta]

It has been my experience that you can easily round of the brightness, but you can't make dull strings bright.
Give me the EB Cobalts or give me rounds!

 

[mikewalker]

What sort of tension/stiffness do they have? I live in Australia and you need to mortgage your home to buy bass strings these days. I’m less inclined to buy on spec when they are so expensive. I’ve been using Chromes which I like and I‘ve got La Bella DTF ($140) on one bass and while I really like their tone they don’t seem as stiff as the Chromes (the last set I bought were $120) and I’m getting a bit of clank when I dig in. I’m thinking of something different and trying not to spend so much needlessly.

Blue Label flats have pretty high tension, about the same as Chromes, possibly a little more...

 

[iiipopes]

I am really into Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats because they have the feel of a flatwound string, but you can play rock music with a pick and they don’t sound all clicky, but have a bright sound like a roundwound string. Is there another flatwound that does this? I wanted to try something else out if a such thing is available. Thank you.

Yes. Fender 9050L. They have good growl, presence, and longetivity.

 

[2thAche]

I've been liking D'Addario XL half-rounds if you want something that can get the sound of flats but still growl if you want to up the treble/tone. Note that they are higher tension than rounds.