love Flats but need more agressiveness- brighter flat, or compression/half-wound?

[Nedmundo]

I would have to suggest GHS Brite flats. They are ground down roudwounds. They have the feel of flats but with a bit more edge to them. You can get them from Link Removed for a pretty good price. Other than those, I'd also recommend D'Addario Chromes in a light gauge.

I have the Brite Flats on my Precision, and the D and G strings are definitely brighter than regular flats, but the A and E sound pretty close to flats IMO. At first, they almost sounded like two different string types, but the gap has narrowed as they've broken in. I do like them, but prefer Chromes, which are definitely brighter but still sound like flats, and GHS Precision flats, which provide delicious old-school phatness.

FWIW, I tried D'Addario half rounds, and did not like them at all. My set was a fairly heavy gauge (I think the 55-110), and they were brutally tense and stiff. They might be worth a try in a lighter gauge, but from my brief stint they didn't seem much brighter than Chromes.

 

[LoveThatBass]

I tried and hated Half Rounds. They lasted only one evening or even less. I just switched from Chromes back to TI Jazz Flats. These are much better sounding. While I liked the extra tension of the Chromes the sound was lacking something for me.
I have rounds on one bass and TI flats on the other. I am happy!

 

[geezerjpj]

+1 for Brite Flats. I have TI flats on my Rick 4001 and with that bass they work great. But on my 78 Ibanez Blazer(P bass-ish)they were too tame/muted. I put on the Brite Flats and it's awesome w a more full spectrum/betterd defined sound and still w/o the fret noise and clack that I don't like from roundwounds. They feel good too...smooth but not slippery. I use the 52-103 set and the tension while more than the TIs is fine. I'm guessing the next heavier set would have too much tension for me.