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NBD! and need help picking a set of Flatwounds...

C

ChankSmith

Jul 15, 2016
29
59
#1
just snagged this Sonic Blue 60s classic vibe off reverb for $280!

My Matt Freeman and 1990 57' AVRI both have rotosound
IMG-4453.JPG
swing's on them and now I want to put flats on the 60s.

Looking for a set of flats that's gonna be easy on the neck/truss rod. I keep seeing that TI's seem to have low tension but with all the brands and info on flats its hard to know where to start. I'm over here losing my mind trying to settle on a brand! :nailbiting:

thx for any help in advance...
 
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#7
user362432 said:
I have VM P and by some weird reason I put GHS precision flats on them. DANG! That thing is monster now. Highly recommended.
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I love the GHS Precision Flats, but they no longer offer the Long Scale. They offer the Long Scale Plus, which are fine for string-thru; but don't work real well on a top-loaded bass. You can use them, but aesthetically, you don't see much of the silks at the headstock.

On top-loaded P's and J's, I really like the LaBella Deep Talkin' Flats.
 
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#9
Are you confusing "high tension" with "stiff"? They aren't necessarily the same thing. TI's aren't really particularly "low tension"; they're just very, very flexible, because of how they're made. La Bella makes some flats that actually are low tension - their "Low Tension Flexible Flats". I've never used them, but other people seem to like them. Fender 9050s seem pretty flexible - to me, anyway. I have them on an old Fender P-Bass; they feel and sound really nice.. Most flat wounds - "normal" gauge flat wounds - don't really put much more tension on a bass' neck that a lot of rounds do. Flats are usually just much stiffer feeling than rounds - which makes people think they must have a much higher tension. Which they don't. So... if you haven't had any/much experience with flats, on trick to get used to them is to get a set of whatever you decide on, a step lighter than your usual round wound strings. That usually makes the flats feel more like your rounds, stiffness-wise. I'm thinking you might like the Fender 9050Ls. A nice, middle of the road flat wound; they're smooth, good feeling strings, and not real expensive, either. And, for flats, they break in fairly quickly, too...:cool:
 
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#10
GIBrat51 said:
Are you confusing "high tension" with "stiff"? They aren't necessarily the same thing. TI's aren't really particularly "low tension"; they're just very, very flexible, because of how they're made. La Bella makes some flats that actually are low tension - their "Low Tension Flexible Flats". I've never used them, but other people seem to like them. Fender 9050s seem pretty flexible - to me, anyway. I have them on an old Fender P-Bass; they feel and sound really nice.. Most flat wounds - "normal" gauge flat wounds - don't really put much more tension on a bass' neck that a lot of rounds do. Flats are usually just much stiffer feeling than rounds - which makes people think they must have a much higher tension. Which they don't. So... if you haven't had any/much experience with flats, on trick to get used to them is to get a set of whatever you decide on, a step lighter than your usual round wound strings. That usually makes the flats feel more like your rounds, stiffness-wise. I'm thinking you might like the Fender 9050Ls. A nice, middle of the road flat wound; they're smooth, good feeling strings, and not real expensive, either. And, for flats, they break in fairly quickly, too...:cool:
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awesome thanks for the tip..I wasn't too concerned with "stiffness" of strings as much as I am the actual tension on the neck. Think I'm gonna look into the La Bella's and see how they are. Only rounds I normally run 45-105 so ill see if they have something a step down form that
 
#16
ChankSmith said:
...and now I want to put flats on the 60s.

Looking for a set of flats that's gonna be easy on the neck/truss rod. I keep seeing that TI's seem to have low tension but with all the brands and info on flats its hard to know where to start. I'm over here losing my mind trying to settle on a brand! :nailbiting:

thx for any help in advance...
Click to expand...

On the 34" scale P basses that I've installed TIs on, I've found that I usually have to _loosen_ the truss rod about 1/8 turn to provide enough relief. You may have to do that with any flats that are considered "low tension". TIs have a wonderful "complex" sound and they last for years and years.

I recommend LaBella 760FLs (FL means "Light"). When I replace stock strings with them, they usually don't need any tweaking of the truss rod at all. LaBella 760s have more of a "traditional", strong fundamental sound.

Any new flatwounds need some "break-in" time before the tone settles in. They usually sound a bit too bright when first installed.

Congrats on the new bass!
 
#19
ChankSmith said:
these fender 9050s look good..how are they on a p bass neck?
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I've only used them on jazz bass type necks... G&L and Ibanez mostly. Can't imagine they wouldn't be good with a slightly chunkier profile. I've tried a Lot of flatwound strings (haven't tried the TIs), and I wouldn't hesitate to put either the Fenders, Chromes, or a more recent favorite, Dunlops. I just ordered a set of DR flats in short scale flavor for my Mustang.
You can find the Fenders for $20 - $25 all day long. Hard to beat at that price, especially to experiment.
 
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