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MarkBass Vintage Series Flats

#22
Phaidrus said:
I got the monsta set (55-70-90-105). I'm fine with a bit of tension and find the LaBella 760FS (45-64-85-105) just normal, for example. But it could be that these Fenders have way more tension than that...:eek:
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Yes, they'll have way more tension then that. Every string is bigger. We'll, except the E
 
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#25
I didn't find the 9050 50-100 set extremely stiff. They were a little less stiff than the 50-105 Chromes. Both are definitely towards the stiffer end of the scale out of the 15 or so different flatwounds I've tried, but the stiffest were by far Rotosound 77s and second were Labella 760FS. 9050s and Chromes are in the fairly common tension range for most flats IME. Not quite medium tension, but somewhere between medium and high tension. Obviously the bigger the gauge the higher the tension.
 
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#26
Frovan said:
I didn't find the 9050 50-100 set extremely stiff. They were a little less stiff than the 50-105 Chromes. Both are definitely towards the stiffer end of the scale out of the 15 or so different flatwounds I've tried, but the stiffest were by far Rotosound 77s and second were Labella 760FS. 9050s and Chromes are in the fairly common tension range for most flats IME. Not quite medium tension, but somewhere between medium and high tension. Obviously the bigger the gauge the higher the tension.
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Glad to hear you consider the LaBella 760FS to be the second stiffest and much stiffer than the 9050s. I find the 760FS to have just normal, average tension and stiffness, so perhaps - hopefully - the 9050M won't be worlds apart in that respect.

By the way, I removed the 760FS (too Motownish to my ears and D and G too thin sounding) and put back a 50-70-85-105 set of Dunlop flats which I find rather floppy, especially the E and A. But I prefer them as they sound more modern and - importantly - they are even across all four strings in terms of thickness and character of tone.
 
#27
Phaidrus said:
Glad to hear you consider the LaBella 760FS to be the second stiffest and much stiffer than the 9050s. I find the 760FS to have just normal, average tension and stiffness, so perhaps - hopefully - the 9050M won't be worlds apart in that respect.

By the way, I removed the 760FS (too Motownish to my ears and D and G too thin sounding) and put back a 50-70-85-105 set of Dunlop flats which I find rather floppy, especially the E and A. But I prefer them as they sound more modern and - importantly - they are even across all four strings in terms of thickness and character of tone.
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Well, I wouldn't say the 760FS are MUCH stiffer than the 9050s, but there's definitely a noticeable difference. I'd lump the 9050s in with Chromes, Ernie Ball Group II, SIT power flats, etc.

Yeah the first set of 760FS I tried were pretty well balanced tone wise, but the other sets I had after that were all over the place. I never tried Dunlops because I was after a more vintage sounding flat. My favorite for a blend of vintage and modern were DR Legends (they leaned vintage a bit after breaking in), but they are pretty low tension so I ended up with GHS P flats and I've been totally satisfied with them.
 
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#28
Frovan said:
Well, I wouldn't say the 760FS are MUCH stiffer than the 9050s, but there's definitely a noticeable difference. I'd lump the 9050s in with Chromes, Ernie Ball Group II, SIT power flats, etc.

Yeah the first set of 760FS I tried were pretty well balanced tone wise, but the other sets I had after that were all over the place. I never tried Dunlops because I was after a more vintage sounding flat. My favorite for a blend of vintage and modern were DR Legends (they leaned vintage a bit after breaking in), but they are pretty low tension so I ended up with GHS P flats and I've been totally satisfied with them.
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The designer of the current Fender 9050s has explained in an older post that he opted for a flexible string in contrast to the typical stiff flats.

Screen Shot 2022-12-06 at 18.23.49.png
 
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#29
Phaidrus said:
The designer of the current Fender 9050s has explained in an older post that he opted for a flexible string in contrast to the typical stiff flats.

View attachment 4895025
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That's cool. Yeah I regard the 9050s as more modern leaning but not as modern as Chromes. They still have some vintage characteristics. However, the previous two iterations of Fender flats were definitely in the vintage camp (including the tension) and a lot of people miss the old versions.
 
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#30
Frovan said:
Well, I wouldn't say the 760FS are MUCH stiffer than the 9050s, but there's definitely a noticeable difference. I'd lump the 9050s in with Chromes, Ernie Ball Group II, SIT power flats, etc.

Yeah the first set of 760FS I tried were pretty well balanced tone wise, but the other sets I had after that were all over the place. I never tried Dunlops because I was after a more vintage sounding flat. My favorite for a blend of vintage and modern were DR Legends (they leaned vintage a bit after breaking in), but they are pretty low tension so I ended up with GHS P flats and I've been totally satisfied with them.
Click to expand...

Jumping in on this because I get the same results with the DR Legends as you, but reviews are all over the map. A lot of folks saying Legends are among the darkest flats out there.

I don't have experience with Fender flats, but I have used Chomes. How would you compare the DR Legends against the Fender flats (or any others, for that matter)?

EDIT: Primarily asking about tone
 
#31
Nerve said:
Jumping in on this because I get the same results with the DR Legends as you, but reviews are all over the map. A lot of folks saying Legends are among the darkest flats out there.

I don't have experience with Fender flats, but I have used Chomes. How would you compare the DR Legends against the Fender flats (or any others, for that matter)?

EDIT: Primarily asking about tone
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Here's a DR Legends demo that corresponds to the experience I had with these strings:

 
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#32
Nerve said:
Jumping in on this because I get the same results with the DR Legends as you, but reviews are all over the map. A lot of folks saying Legends are among the darkest flats out there.

I don't have experience with Fender flats, but I have used Chomes. How would you compare the DR Legends against the Fender flats (or any others, for that matter)?

EDIT: Primarily asking about tone
Click to expand...
Yeah the reviews on the Legends are different because they changed them at some point earlier on. Also take the bass their on into account as well.

IME the Legends have the fundamental of a vintage flat (but not quite as punchy due the round core) and the brightness of a more modern flat but not as bright as Chromes. The Fenders have more going on in the mids. Honestly they're not very similar strings. That's why I said the Fenders are like a darker (less bright) version of Chromes because the two have a lot of similarities tone wise, but the Fenders aren't as bright. The Legends, to me, are a like tad brighter vintage flat. So they have a blend of vintage and modern characteristics. Not overly bright, but there's a sparkle there, but turn down your tone knob and they get thumpy, but due to the round core it's a weaker thump than a hex core flat. Hopefully that helps. I feel like some flats have big differences and others are subtle variations. I put Fender 9050s in the group with Chromes, EB Group flats, SITs, etc as all being very similar with some subtle differences. Then you have the group with a Vintage/Modern blend (DR, TIs, and the 9050s have some overlap here) and then the Vintage group (GHS, Labella) and then I put Rotosounds on an island alone because nothing else compares to how they are.
 
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#34
Frovan said:
Yeah the reviews on the Legends are different because they changed them at some point earlier on. Also take the bass their on into account as well.

IME the Legends have the fundamental of a vintage flat (but not quite as punchy due the round core) and the brightness of a more modern flat but not as bright as Chromes. The Fenders have more going on in the mids. Honestly they're not very similar strings. That's why I said the Fenders are like a darker (less bright) version of Chromes because the two have a lot of similarities tone wise, but the Fenders aren't as bright. The Legends, to me, are a like tad brighter vintage flat. So they have a blend of vintage and modern characteristics. Not overly bright, but there's a sparkle there, but turn down your tone knob and they get thumpy, but due to the round core it's a weaker thump than a hex core flat. Hopefully that helps. I feel like some flats have big differences and others are subtle variations. I put Fender 9050s in the group with Chromes, EB Group flats, SITs, etc as all being very similar with some subtle differences. Then you have the group with a Vintage/Modern blend (DR, TIs, and the 9050s have some overlap here) and then the Vintage group (GHS, Labella) and then I put Rotosounds on an island alone because nothing else compares to how they are.
Click to expand...

@Nerve

DR Legends sound smooth and funky on a Pbass.

 
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#35
Frovan said:
Yeah the reviews on the Legends are different because they changed them at some point earlier on. Also take the bass their on into account as well.

IME the Legends have the fundamental of a vintage flat (but not quite as punchy due the round core) and the brightness of a more modern flat but not as bright as Chromes. The Fenders have more going on in the mids. Honestly they're not very similar strings. That's why I said the Fenders are like a darker (less bright) version of Chromes because the two have a lot of similarities tone wise, but the Fenders aren't as bright. The Legends, to me, are a like tad brighter vintage flat. So they have a blend of vintage and modern characteristics. Not overly bright, but there's a sparkle there, but turn down your tone knob and they get thumpy, but due to the round core it's a weaker thump than a hex core flat. Hopefully that helps. I feel like some flats have big differences and others are subtle variations. I put Fender 9050s in the group with Chromes, EB Group flats, SITs, etc as all being very similar with some subtle differences. Then you have the group with a Vintage/Modern blend (DR, TIs, and the 9050s have some overlap here) and then the Vintage group (GHS, Labella) and then I put Rotosounds on an island alone because nothing else compares to how they are.
Click to expand...

This is a fantastic writeup and substantiates what I have found as well. I think people might be surprised to see you put the DR Legends in with other Vintage/Modern strings and not with the other pure vintage old school flats (though I agree). Thanks for sharing your thoughts; much appreciated!
 
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#36
Phaidrus said:
@Nerve

DR Legends sound smooth and funky on a Pbass.
Click to expand...

I think I may just put them on the new LB-100 which is headed my way.

I saw a video made by the guy in the first clip you posted that compares several flats. Really well made video. In the comments section he says DRs are actually his favorite. Take that for what it's worth!

EDIT: Found it:
 
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#37
Nerve said:
This is a fantastic writeup and substantiates what I have found as well. I think people might be surprised to see you put the DR Legends in with other Vintage/Modern strings and not with the other pure vintage old school flats (though I agree). Thanks for sharing your thoughts; much appreciated!
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Yeah I think you're right. I feel that they definitely lean more towards the vintage side than the modern side, but they aren't fully in either camp. Definitely one of my top 3 flatwounds.
 
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