Luxurious-Feeling Roundwounds?

[J-Mags]

DR Fat Beams, compression wound.

I have a set sitting in a box in my house. They get tried next, although I haven't determined which bass they're gonna go on.

Ken Smith Compressors might be up your alley.

I actually tried those and didn't like them that much. They felt kinda clunky to me, and I couldn't quite jibe with the sound. However that was during my flatwounds-only phase, so I might feel different if I tried them again.

 

[MrAB4003]

I think you're looking for a set of La Bella White Nylon tapes. I have the regular white ones and the gold white ones on my 2 Rics and they have become my favorite strings!

These strings feel very luxurious and smooth and they sound like roundwounds. The regular white ones sound like stainless steel rounds and the gold white ones sound like broken in nickel rounds.

 

[J-Mags]

Have you tried Ernie Ball cobalt flats? The silky feel of flats with the roundwound brightness.

DR Fat Beams, compression wound.

Ok, I tried some things. First, I noticed that the price of the Cobalt Flats was going up, so if I wanted to try them I should do it now. I found them somewhat disappointing on this bass. I was expecting a brighter sound. These were no brighter or less bright than the 6-months old Fender flats that they replaced. They had a little more high end, but a little less upper mids. Last night, when I put the cobalts on my J-Bass, I was able to hear some of the brightness that people talk about. They did pass the luxuriousness test, however.

Next, I tried a set of DR Fat Beams that I'd had sitting in my string basket. The feel was anything but luxurious; they felt like stainless steel bass strings. But there is something luxurious in the sound. With just the tiniest bit of compression, they have a ton of clarity and note-to-note consistency, and nearly every note on the bass sounds like every other note. It really makes bass lines sound good, so I'm gonna stick with the Fat Beams for now.