One step brighter than Flatwounds for recording

[Sam Miller]

If you want definition when mixing bass you shouldn't boost the highs but the mids. Mids can of course mean anything from 200Hz to 3kHz (or even wider depending on who you ask) but depnding on the song/genre I would try somewhere between 700Hz to 1.5kHz for definition. Remember to eq the bass IN THE CONTEXT OF THE MIX, not soloed. That's the mistake most people make when mixing/eq'ing bass: The settings where the bass sounds best soloed is practically never the settings that actually work in the mix.

If you still want new strings there's always pure nickel roundwounds. They're almost as warm/smooth sounding as flats but generally have a bit more upper mid presence. They don't have the THUMPY character of flats though, they behave very much like roundwounds. My favourites are the Pyramid Pure Nickels closely followed by the GHS Balanced Nickels. Both are great. The Pyramids have a long break in period before they sound great so if you want fast results the GHS Balanced Nickels are the best choice.

If you want flatwounds with more upper mid presence the TI Jazz Flats are great. In fact, they are my favourite strings EVER. They have very loose tension and may seem a bit lacking in the lows until you get used to them and realize that they're actually PERFECTLY balanced. I can't think of any other bass strings that sit better in the mix than the TI Jazz Flats. Still, they are so unique and utterly different from any other strings out there that they're not for everyone. It's very much love or hate with the TI Jazz Flats.

I've never found a "halfway" type of strings I liked. Bright flats, pressurewounds, groundwounds, half-rounds... whatever they are called they all sound horrible to me but lots of people like them so YMMV.

Thanks for the EQ tips and suggestion for TI Jazz Flats. I do mix in context, as well as solo, so I can hear what I am doing to the bass. I assume one advantage with going with a roundwound is that it is easier to dial back the mid/highs then to add them later in the mix. I assume you are not a fan of EB Colbalt strings?

 

[Briton]

I use EB Cobalt Flats on my Ric 4003 and they sound great and are defo the closest Flat to a Roundwound. I have tried TI's on my Ric too which are good but the Cobalts sound better if you are looking for more of a Roundwound tone. So for me it is Cobalt Flats for my Ric 4003 and TI Flats for my P Bass.

 

[Sam Miller]

I use EB Cobalt Flats on my Ric 4003 and they sound great and are defo the closest Flat to a Roundwound. I have tried TI's on my Ric too which are good but the Cobalts sound better if you are looking for more of a Roundwound tone. So for me it is Cobalt Flats for my Ric 4003 and TI Flats for my P Bass.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! The fact that you've tried both TI and Colbalts on your Ric is a plus. I am leaning towards the Cobalt flats. From the youtube demos I've watched, they sound pretty good to my ear, warm with some bright and character. How long do they retain their brightness, though? (e.g., )

 

[mattj1stc]

GHS Brite Flats - basically a round wound string that they grind down to be flat

 

[ShawnG]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! The fact that you've tried both TI and Colbalts on your Ric is a plus. I am leaning towards the Cobalt flats. From the youtube demos I've watched, they sound pretty good to my ear, warm with some bright and character. How long do they retain their brightness, though? (e.g., )

I’ve had them on a bass for 6+ months and they are still going strong, but not lots of playing time, maybe 15-30 mins/day on average?

 

[Dragan]

D'addario half rounds, just extra edge and clarity you want and they feels like flats which is good imo

 

[Killing Floor]

TI flats are brighter than LB.

 

[Briton]

How long do they retain their brightness, though? )

I think that will depend on how much you play, but I have had mine on my Ric for nearly 2 years and they still sound new. But lets not forget that they are a Flatwound string, so they are going to last a lot longer than a Roundwound string would, so it's a no brainer win win situation that your wallet and your wife will thank you for!

 

[Rip Van Dan]

I currently have La Bella LTF-4A Flatwounds on my vintage Rickenbacker. I love soft, warm sound live through a bass amp, but not so much for home recording, where you have to consider how the mix sounds through smaller speakers. I end up trying to get more definition out of the bass post-recording through adding subtle distortion and boosting the highs, but the bass still sounds a little flat, lifeless, undefined, lost in a mix when translated to smaller speakers. In the hands of a skilled engineer, I suspect you can make any type of strings work. However, I am just a humble home recording dude.

I am thinking of switching strings, but I find many roundwounds too bright for my liking. Any suggestions for a type and brand of string that is a little brighter, richer mid/high timbre, than flatwounds but still retains most of their warmth and silky feel---in other words, a string sound somewhere between the usual round and flatwound types? Nickel-plated, tapedwound? What type and brand of strings would you suggest.

Started playing bass in 1965 with flats. However, when I bought my '82 Jazz in 1985 it had round wounds on it and I continued to use round wounds on it for ~32-years.

Then in 2017, I bought a set of LaBella White Tape Wound strings. They feel a little more slippery than my previous flat wounds (60's and 70's) but I got used to that pretty quick. They are better balanced in sound from string to string, which I really like. But I bought them because I had seen a string comparison on SBL when he had some black ones and they were quite a bit brighter than whatever flats he had on.

I bought the white ones (semi-transparent white) because I have a white bass and I thought it would look better. I LOVE these strings. LaBella makes them in Black, white over copper core, white over gold core, and white (white over silver core). The white ones are the brightest and they record just great. The black ones are the darkest, while still being brighter than "normal" flats, and the other two are in between those two choices. If you like the feel of flatwounds but want a brighter sound, I think you'll be pleased with the LaBella Deep Talking Bass Tape Wound Strings.

 

[Anemic_SluG]

My 2 pennies is give GHS pressurewounds a try. I haven’t tried any Ernie Ball strings because I personally am not a fan, but for my liking I think the pressure wounds are a great compromise between rounds and flats. I had Fender 9050’s on a pbass and didn’t bond with the sound as I have played steel rounds my whole life, but the pressure rounds give the definition of a round wound and the punch of a flat wound. It would be something I would at least give a look at.

 

[Jack Butler]

This.

I would suggest giving EB Cobalt Flats a try.
IMO, they are there own beast, somewhere between “normal” flats and rounds.

 

[bbh]

Chromes.

 

[BOOG]

Started playing bass in 1965 with flats. However, when I bought my '82 Jazz in 1985 it had round wounds on it and I continued to use round wounds on it for ~32-years.

Then in 2017, I bought a set of LaBella White Tape Wound strings. They feel a little more slippery than my previous flat wounds (60's and 70's) but I got used to that pretty quick. They are better balanced in sound from string to string, which I really like. But I bought them because I had seen a string comparison on SBL when he had some black ones and they were quite a bit brighter than whatever flats he had on.

I bought the white ones (semi-transparent white) because I have a white bass and I thought it would look better. I LOVE these strings. LaBella makes them in Black, white over copper core, white over gold core, and white (white over silver core). The white ones are the brightest and they record just great. The black ones are the darkest, while still being brighter than "normal" flats, and the other two are in between those two choices. If you like the feel of flatwounds but want a brighter sound, I think you'll be pleased with the LaBella Deep Talking Bass Tape Wound Strings.

Yes, what ^ he said.
Plus, you mentioned that you prefer lower tension. The tapewounds definitely are lower tension and higher flexibility. I put la Bella black tapes on the aerodyne partly because it has a rather dainty neck. The tapes are between flats and rounds with tone and plucking dynamics. Truthfully, I rarely play that bass because it spoils my fingers with how easy it is to play. A big part is from using those strings.

@Sam Miller

 

[SunByrne]

Yet another vote here for GHS Pressurewounds. Flats sound too dull to me, but on a P the rounds are a little too bright. Pressurewounds are the in-betweens, though I'd say they're closer to rounds than flats.

 

[gln1955]

Another vote for GHS Pressurewounds.

I miss the silky feel of true flats, but they sound great.

 

[gmarcus]

Cobalt and chromes are what you need. Also try adding some distortion to your dry signal. You need to high and low pass the distortion. I find if I high pass above around 600hz and lowpass under 2 to 3k it works out pretty good. You won't hear it much on big speakers but when you listen on your phone all of a sudden you can hear the bass. Mess around with the mix level and filters until is sits right. Studio one has a plug-in called redlight distortion that does exactly this.

 

[keith1r]

Rotosound flats are the brightest flats.
They are high tension
I’d suggest GHS Pressurewound or the Rotosound if you don’t mind the tension

 

[keith1r]

 

[AboutSweetSue]

I’m not saying Cobalts are a bad suggestion because they aren’t, and they may be right on for your purposes given that these guys may know more about recording than me (most do), but, coming from an avid user of La Bella flats who also loves the silky smooth feel and tone with high end cut, I hated Cobalts. They are very, very different; Good for rounds users going flat; not so much for flats users going rounds (they give up TOO much).

You are recording and then play backing with little speakers...but I have large speakers. I don’t understand the end game.

 

[Sam Miller]

I’m not saying Cobalts are a bad suggestion because they aren’t, and they may be right on for your purposes given that these guys may know more about recording than me (most do), but, coming from an avid user of La Bella flats who also loves the silky smooth feel and tone with high end cut, I hated Cobalts. They are very, very different; Good for rounds users going flat; not so much for flats users going rounds (they give up TOO much).

You are recording and then play backing with little speakers...but I have large speakers. I don’t understand the end game.

Mixing down is tricky these days as many people listen to music through small speakers (e.g., laptops). When I mix, I test it out through my laptop speakers as well as my better stereo system. The clarity of higher timbre strings (non-flats) cut through the mix in less than ideal speaker set-ups. But, I am going to play around more with the eq and subtle distortion in my daw as suggested in this forum before trading in my LB flats.