Old school flats with distinct E string notes?

[Sam Dingle]

dont mix string types mix gauge if you must. try labella DT flats those are the gold standard for flatwound bass strings

 

[overit]

DR Legends on my PBass seem a little more articulate than GHS Precision Flats on my active 5 and the Labella Double ball Flats on my Steinberger XQ, while still having an old school tone.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I love the sound of GHS Precision Flats, but I don't like the "blurriness" of the E string. (And I know that Ed Friedland, for one, has pointed out that that quality is a signature trait of authentic, old school flats.)
I love how distinct those notes are with D'Addario Chromes, but those strings are too modern and twangy for the particular bass I'm focusing on (a Mexican P-Bass).
They are fantastic on another P-Bass of mine, as well as on my Mexican Jazz Bass.
Before I start spending lots of money to experiment, could someone recommend a brand of flats which have the "dark chocolate" tone, but clear E string notes?
Flexibility is NOT a factor with me.
Thanks!

It's like that with pretty much all flats. What I like to do is put on a pressure wound E string.

 

[PennyroyalWe]

Has similar issue on both GHS 3050 and 3025 i been use.

No blurry E on Labella LTF4A on both Split P bass and Single coil pbass.

Squier MF P


Squier CV50P


Hope help

Are those the LTF4A on the CV50s in the recording?

 

[dougjwray]

It's like that with pretty much all flats. What I like to do is put on a pressure wound E string.

Nope. As I said, Chromes have very distinct notes on the E string.

 

[dougjwray]

Thanks to everyone for your responses!
I think Labellas and DRs will be my next ones to try.
(BTW, I once tried the Labella "Jamerson" set, and I thought I'd need to have my arms in traction afterward. It was about 30 years ago, and I don't remember what the E string sounded like.)

 

[Yahboy]

The second clip are ltf4a + cv50P (Lindy split 51 pup

Are those the LTF4A on the CV50s in the recording?

)

 

[Yahboy]

Nope. As I said, Chromes have very distinct notes on the E string.

Once broken in are another story.

My current modern vibe flatwound are EB 2814, still sound healthy after 2 years on my jazz bass. The E string still sound same tonal with the rest.

 

[Yahboy]

DR Legends on my PBass seem a little more articulate than GHS Precision Flats on my active 5 and the Labella Double ball Flats on my Steinberger XQ, while still having an old school tone.

Legend flat sound like thick pure dark chocolate to my ear

 

[dougjwray]

Once broken in are another story.

I've had ten-year-old Chromes that had more distinct E string notes than one-month-old Precision Flats.

 

[GIBrat51]

I love the sound of GHS Precision Flats, but I don't like the "blurriness" of the E string. (And I know that Ed Friedland, for one, has pointed out that that quality is a signature trait of authentic, old school flats.)
I love how distinct those notes are with D'Addario Chromes, but those strings are too modern and twangy for the particular bass I'm focusing on (a Mexican P-Bass).
They are fantastic on another P-Bass of mine, as well as on my Mexican Jazz Bass.
Before I start spending lots of money to experiment, could someone recommend a brand of flats which have the "dark chocolate" tone, but clear E string notes?
Flexibility is NOT a factor with me.
Thanks!

Are your Precision Flats broken in? I ask, 'cause a "Dull/Dead E" string is pretty common with a lot of flats that haven't broken in. And, because the GHs P-Flats on my Fender P-Bass have been broken in for several years now - and the E string isn't "blurry" at all...
In any case; flats that are at least "sorta" Old School, with a clear E string? Optima Chromes, as has been mentioned; Optima RBs (the old Rick Maxima factory flat clones); Dogal R44s; Galli Jazz Flats; all might do the trick for you. Personally, I consider Roto RS77LDs to be pretty "Old School" - although some people will disagree. Same for Sadowsky Blue Labels. One thing I should point out, however; a lot of these strings have a 100 ga. E string, rather than a 105. And, in case you're wondering; yes, I have basses that wear all these strings. As for La Bella DTF's? The only long scale La Bella's I'm currently using are a set of 39-96 760FX's on a Dano DC59, and a set of 760FGS Gold Flats on my Epi Jack Casady Bass. "Old School" is about the last term I'd use to describe the 760FX's; the Gold Flats, OTOH, are pretty "Old School", but not quite as much as the regular 760 DTFs. To my ears, the 105 E string of the Golds isn't at all blurry...

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Nope. As I said, Chromes have very distinct notes on the E string.

Chromes do have a decent E, but it still sounds much different than the rest of the pack. And, the rest of the pack are not "old school" flats. They're bright and lively.

 

[Yahboy]

I've had ten-year-old Chromes that had more distinct E string notes than one-month-old Precision Flats.

The E just sound dull/muddy on my broken set ECB81 and the G string still metallic sing....

Roll back tone knob do help, but not the tone i looking for ~~ Doom vibe !

 

[dougjwray]

Chromes do have a decent E, but it still sounds much different than the rest of the pack. And, the rest of the pack are not "old school" flats. They're bright and lively.

Jeezy-- to clarify...
Chromes are indeed "modern" flats.
What I'd like is an "old school" E string with more distinct notes than what you get with Precision Flats. But not modern sounding, like Chromes.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Jeezy-- to clarify...
Chromes are indeed "modern" flats.
What I'd like is an "old school" E string with more distinct notes than what you get with Precision Flats. But not modern sounding, like Chromes.

You know, if you just put a chrome E string on, you'd have a present tone on the E, the rest what you got, and they'd all sill be flats

 

[Nerve]

Thanks to everyone for your responses!
I think Labellas and DRs will be my next ones to try.
(BTW, I once tried the Labella "Jamerson" set, and I thought I'd need to have my arms in traction afterward. It was about 30 years ago, and I don't remember what the E string sounded like.)

I second the DR Legend recommendation. Old school, but with a hint of new school clarity and bite in my opinion.

 

[dougjwray]

You know, if you just put a chrome E string on, you'd have a present tone on the E, the rest what you got, and they'd all sill be flats

But I *don't want* a Chrome-sounding E string. I want a warmer one, BUT one that has clearer notes than a Precision Flats E string.

 

[MattiZ]

I love the sound of GHS Precision Flats, but I don't like the "blurriness" of the E string. (And I know that Ed Friedland, for one, has pointed out that that quality is a signature trait of authentic, old school flats.)
I love how distinct those notes are with D'Addario Chromes, but those strings are too modern and twangy for the particular bass I'm focusing on (a Mexican P-Bass).
They are fantastic on another P-Bass of mine, as well as on my Mexican Jazz Bass.
Before I start spending lots of money to experiment, could someone recommend a brand of flats which have the "dark chocolate" tone, but clear E string notes?
Flexibility is NOT a factor with me.
Thanks!

Unfortunately, spending seems to be the best option. That’s what I did - bought ten or more different flats sets in a few years time, rotated each set on every bass I own, letting each bass decide what it wants to wear. Repeat until happy.

If you like Chromes on your other basses, you might like to try Rotosound Monels or Galli Jazz Flats. Both have clarity and thump, Rotos are brighter when new, they get mellower but don’t lose all their clarity in three years and counting.

I don’t have any real long-time experience with Galli yet, just a few months, but I switched them with GHS Precisions between two basses and they seem quite similar. New Gallis are probably a bit brighter and very well balanced - but not nearly as bright and modern as Chromes or EB Cobalts.

The most interesting discovery I made testing GHS vs. Galli was that one bass clearly preferred GHS while the other liked Galli more. You will know when you’ve found the right string for your bass, I don’t think there is a shortcut.

 

[dougjwray]

Are your Precision Flats broken in? I ask, 'cause a "Dull/Dead E" string is pretty common with a lot of flats that haven't broken in. And, because the GHs P-Flats on my Fender P-Bass have been broken in for several years now - and the E string isn't "blurry" at all...
In any case; flats that are at least "sorta" Old School, with a clear E string? Optima Chromes, as has been mentioned; Optima RBs (the old Rick Maxima factory flat clones); Dogal R44s; Galli Jazz Flats; all might do the trick for you. Personally, I consider Roto RS77LDs to be pretty "Old School" - although some people will disagree. Same for Sadowsky Blue Labels. One thing I should point out, however; a lot of these strings have a 100 ga. E string, rather than a 105. And, in case you're wondering; yes, I have basses that wear all these strings. As for La Bella DTF's? The only long scale La Bella's I'm currently using are a set of 39-96 760FX's on a Dano DC59, and a set of 760FGS Gold Flats on my Epi Jack Casady Bass. "Old School" is about the last term I'd use to describe the 760FX's; the Gold Flats, OTOH, are pretty "Old School", but not quite as much as the regular 760 DTFs. To my ears, the 105 E string of the Golds isn't at all blurry...

Thanks for all of that information!

 

[J-Mags]

Fender 9050 MLs or Ls sound like less clangy mellower Chromes and you can literally make machine gun noises on the E string.