Moving into the flats...

To NewBasser,
I've had Flats on my Aria for the last 18 years. Yes, the same set!!!!! I think they fab. I've just bought a 5 string Bass and it's got the usual Rounds on and it's hard to play without noise. I'm going to fit Flats as soon as I can. They're really great for smooth jazzy stuff, swing and all that.

 

Hey fleetwood,
Welcome to TB. Eighteen years!! That's got to be some kind of record.
NWB, Don't fret (pun) over the flats. Just throw 'em on there and have fun with them. You'll get the feel of them in short order. Only you can decide if you like the sound for your styles of music.
Doc

 

NWB- you can get a lot of different sounds from flats. If you're playing fingerstyle and pickstyle, you will find that they are pretty versatile. If you boost the mids, especially around 800 Hz., you can cut through all you want. By fiddling with your EQ, you can go from thumpy to bright, although they definitely have a different character than roundwounds, and they won't ring like roundwounds no matter what you do. That's an advantage, in my book. I find Fender 9050's to be inexpensive, long lasting, and thumpy, but with good upper mids and plenty of "cut" if you want it. They also have a really smooth, slick feel.

If you do a lot of slapping, chances are you won't like them, although Larry Graham used flats some in his early days.

 

I've never had any problem with sustain from flats. I've got them on a couple of basses (TI Jazz flats), and I have always been pleased with the amount of sustain.

I've had similar results with Lakland Joe Osbornes, and Fender flats, as well.

 

NWB --- No problem AT ALL with sustain on Flats.
They do everything that Rounds do and if you have the mid or treble up, you dont get that ghastly finger noise. Try them, you'll never go back to Rounds. In my area it's very hard to get a 5 string set in Flats.
Coming back to sustain, just how many bars do you need to sustain on normally. Take the descending bass line to the song 'If ' played slowly (If you know it), they sustain those notes with no problems.

 

I agree; I've never had any problems with sustain from flats. Geex, if you need that much sustain, go buy a bow and an upright! They do have more fundamental, as opposed to harmonics, in the tone, and sound more "thumpy", but they sustain fine for me. I love flats, but use tapes on most of my basses, which seem a little brighter than flats.