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most balanced SOUNDING flatwound/ TI question

jamersonburton

jamersonburton

Jul 22, 2011
1,090
476
#1
I am wondering for your OPINIONS :p about what YOU believe the most balanced sounding flatwound string there is (be specific as to brand/guage etc...). Also, state what bass you prefer.


And to all users who are using/have tried Thomastik Infeld flatwounds. What is your opinion about that jump between the 70 A string and the 100 E string both sound and tension wise? How would a set of TI flats compare to a set of d'addario nickel roundwounds 45-100? Would the difference in tension really be that drastic?

Thanks!
:bassist:
 
#3
I love TI's on my fretless, they just feel right on there. Not too great on fretted though. Too low tension, they didn't bow the neck enough to lift the strings off the fret board and I wasn't prepared to do drastic changes to the truss and bridge for the sake of a set of strings. I stick to D'Addario Chrome's on fretted.
 
#4
I use DR flats 45 - 105 and like them - very nice and balanced, and the tension is nice. Not stiff, and not flabby. They don't have much "zing" to them.

Just threw a set of Labella Flats on a new P bass, and they feel nice, but I was suprized how much brighter they were than the DRs (possibly because they are new, and possibly because it's a P Bass).

I tried a set of Chromes once, and remember them being kind of sticky.
 
#5
I've been using the La Bella 760FL (043-060-082-104) on my 69 P-bass for years now, and beside the sound, I've always been also very satisfied with the stiffness of the strings. It feels quite even to me. I've tried TI once, the JF324 (043-056-070-106), but did not like them and went back to the La Bella.
IIRC, the lack of stiffness was for a big part in my negative feeling about them.
I have D'Addario flatwounds on my Bruce Johnson AEB-2, and they feel really great and even, but they are special custom made extra long scale for a very special bass, so it might not be a good comparison.
Chromes are usually sticky at first, but that disappears after a few days, and then they feel great.
La Bellas are a little bright when new, but IMHE that disappears too within a few weeks. The set of La Bellas I have now on my P-bass are a few years old, and while keeping a great tone, they are certainly not bright any more.
 
#6
I just started using TI flats on my Sting Ray 5, Jazz and Precision precisely because of the lower tension. They just feel right to me. I use D'Addario half rounds on my Gibson SG Bass because of the lower tension. The down side of TI flats at a little over $70 a set is you can't afford to change them often. I was using Fender flats and Chromes but both seemed to be to stiff feeling. When I can afford them, I'll try a set of TI's on my Carvin AC40F fretless.
 
#10
Smit_Dogg said:
Yeah, they take a good few months to break in (3 -6 months depending on regularity of play). I hated them at first but persevered and reaped the rewards. They lose the tackiness, loosen up and eventually start sounding sweeter as the more they're played.
Click to expand...

Good to know. To be honest, I did not give them that much of a chance. More like a couple days instead of a couple months.

I guess when you think of having a set of flats on your bass for five years (or longer), a few months is nothing really.
 
#11
Never used GHS flats, but have used their tape wound strings on and off over the years, and really like them.

I notice that with my DR flats I can't see any lines from the string winding at all, but with my labellas, at least on the high strings, I can see the winding.
 
#12
I have never played a set of strings in more than 38 years of playing bass that is more consistent in both tone and feel, both string-to-string and up the neck, as the Fender 9050CL 45-60-80-105 set. Longetivity is also superior. I finally had to change out the E string for an Ernie Ball 105 flat after almost 3 years of gigging, as it finally went a little thumpy on me.

Out of the box, they have a uniform mid brightness, and the G string is not twangy, and the E string actually has tone. Over time, they settle in and mellow, but still retain the mid presence character that seems to last forever. They also have good sustain, almost too good, which is even from string-to-string - the G doesn't die first as it is prone to do with many other strings. Finally, when you turn down the tone knob, it seems to also affect all strings equally; with some strings, you lose volume on the G string. That may be because I use a .033 tone cap instead of a .047, so a little more top and mids are retained, but whatever. Finally, they are relatively inexpensive. The only drawback is you can't get them in singles if one breaks or is defective, but I have never had to deal with either.
 
#16
jamersonburton said:
And to all users who are using/have tried Thomastik Infeld flatwounds. What is your opinion about that jump between the 70 A string and the 100 E string both sound and tension wise? How would a set of TI flats compare to a set of d'addario nickel roundwounds 45-100? Would the difference in tension really be that drastic?

Thanks!
:bassist:
Click to expand...

The gauge difference between A and E strings doesn't matter to me as the TI's have a very balanced feel, I never really noticed any difference. Comparing TI flats to D'Addario nickels is fairly easy as both brands show tension charts on their web sites. Long-scale TI flats (the JF344 set) are 140 lbs, D'Addario's 045-100 set (EXL170) is 165 lbs, so the TI flats have 25 lbs less tension. I used lighter-gauge D'Addario nickels (the EXL220 set, gauges 040-095) before switching to TI's and those had the exact same tension as the TI's, 140 lbs.
 

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