Yes, you're absolutely correct. They're great strings for exactly what they're advertised as. I'm glad I tried them, but I definitely want something a bit more old school sounding on my 2 band ray. Next stop - EB traditional, and perhaps Chromes
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New EB Cobalt Flats?
- Thread starter king_biscuit
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Yes, you're absolutely correct. They're great strings for exactly what they're advertised as. I'm glad I tried them, but I definitely want something a bit more old school sounding on my 2 band ray. Next stop - EB traditional, and perhaps Chromes
So far, TIs sounded the best on my ray, at least for what I wanted which is that old school thumpy tone. Still gonna try a couple of more flats on it, and if all else fails, I'll probably just put TIs back on it. Cobalts are nice, but really not the tone I wanted. Not their fault though, they do everything they set to do.
To all the StingRay and Jazz players, I'm curious to hear how you like flats on those basses, especially StingRays. I always associated those instruments to roundwounds, while I prefer flats on P basses. A StingRay with flats is something I never tried. Jazz basses with flats sound great, but I prefer them with rounds. I prefer flats on a P all day every day.
I like flats on a ray, but when they're old school sounding. Great stuff for that 70s funk vibe. I'm still experimenting with flats on my Stingray, to find the set that will be "it". So far, Cobalts are too modern sounding (sort of like SS rounds), TIs sound great but are perhaps a bit too soft. Chromes are often cited as a good choice for a flatwound on a Stingray. I want that specific flatwound thump and broken in tone. Check out some youtube videos of rays with flats, there are a couple of nice ones. That said, if I didn't have one more Stingray coming, I'd keep rounds on my ray. But having one with flats and one with rounds is cool.
Good choice. I have P with flats, and would love to add PJ with rounds. I'd be pretty much settled then (as if I'm not already). Nice thinking!
Try that.
It's like having a P with flats, a P with rounds, and "almost" a J. I said "almost" because you don't have a J neck pickup, but I tend to solo the bridge pickups on J basses for the most part, so I've chosen a PJ.
It's like having a P with flats, a P with rounds, and "almost" a J. I said "almost" because you don't have a J neck pickup, but I tend to solo the bridge pickups on J basses for the most part, so I've chosen a PJ.
I like jazz basses, but they're not quite my thing, and I definitely prefer PJs.
Well, in my case I'm not really looking for old school Thumpy, I have an old Peavey P bass with Labellas for that. What I was looking for was a way to tame the aggressiveness of the Stingray, but still have grind, clarity, sustain, definition and more booty, and I got all that with Cobalt flats, its a tone I've been trying to find for over a decade. But yes, if old school thump is your thing, these aren't those strings.
I think the Cobalt flats on the Ray are brilliant, I didn't like them very much on my P bass. One can get a magical fingerstyle tone on the Ray with the Cobalts and they have loads of sustain. They are kind of like the tone of old rounds, but with more booty, more solidness, and a little sheen that helps them cut through. I think its a win, but that for my tastes of course.
I'd do the exact same thing, excellent choice for your needs.
For that, I'd prefer a P over a Ray.
The "problem" with H Rays is the positioning of the pickup. Adjusting the EQ can give you a very fat and thumpy sound which I like a lot and works for most of the music I play, but the attack of the notes is definitely dictated by the pickup positioning, no matter what you do. You can definitely get a mellower tone playing near the neck, but you know... that's how the Ray was designed.
With P basses, it's the exact contrary. You'll never get that amount of treble and definition without using an amp/preamp, but old school thump is what they do best imho.
With P basses, it's the exact contrary. You'll never get that amount of treble and definition without using an amp/preamp, but old school thump is what they do best imho.
The attack is what I love about the Ray. And for what I'm looking for, it works with Cobalt flats. I don't think I would like other flats on the Ray though
I’ve got a set of 40-95 Cobalt Flats on my Schecter Raiden Special-4 and I’m loving them. I’ve owned Cobalt Flats previously but I think I’ve finally found the right gauge. These are a contender for the spot of my favorite string of all time.
Which gauge did you use previously, 45-100, 45-105, 50-105, or 55-110? Too high tension?
That's interesting about the guage. I've never used anything besides the 45-100 as the tension is just right for me. I bet I''d enjoy the lighter guage on a fretless.
I’ve had the 50-105 (way too high-tension) and the 5-string set. Both were too uncomfortable to me and had to be tuned down a whole step to be comfortable.
I had used Chromes 45-100 (w/ 132 low-B) for years but I've switched to 40-95 (w/ 132 low-B) since last year (IIRC), which felt quite a relief on both fretting and plucking fingers.
Some folks have written Cobalt Flats to have lower tension (or maybe they said more flexible?) than Chromes on the same gauge, so I'm wondering would Cobalt Flats 45-100 give the same comfort as Chromes 40-95, or should I go straight getting Cobalt Flats 40-95.
Problem is, EB Cobalt Flat 5 string set is available only in 45-65-80-100-130. There's no lower gauge 5 string set.
45-100 are a shade higher tension than TIs but not bad.
