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Praise Report: GHS Precision Flats

#481
Maybe another stupid question, but don't those 51 RI basses have the raised pole pieces on the E in comp with the others? I remember that being a time-accurate thing b/c in the 50s they needed to "boost" the E because of shoddy low-end response from the speakers back in those days
 
#482
The 51RI pups have a raised A and D and I believe suited to the vintage neck radius 7.25"...
I actually bought and tried a 51RI pup for my Squier CV 50's P before settling on a Lollar SCPB pup (flat, level pole pieces)... all pups sounded great and balanced with the GHS P flats, but the Lollar had the biggest low end, so it stayed.
Not sure if that helps...
 
#483
The MIJ 51 RI P bass has the Seymor Duncan SCPB-1 pickup, which has raised A and D poles indeed. The A is raised higher than the D, the E and G are completely flat. Link to the pup here: Invalid Link Removed


I think the pup sounds great with my LaBella 760M and 760FS strings, and very much so with the Sadowsky black label flats I have on it at the moment! But the GHS I couldn't be completely happy about on it, although they sound great on my CS 59 P. Goes to show that every bass (and/or every pup?) has strings that match up well, and some that doesn't.
 
#484
Jon, I received the set of GHS Precision Flats (.045-.105) today. Since I had already put Thomastik-Infield Jazz flats on the Jazz bass that had the Brite Flats I put them on a 4 string bass P/J bass that had Fender Flat's (.050-.100) with a broken G string (had put a round wound in it's place). First impression they are nicely balanced (much better than the Fender's I had on it). The tension is a little higher than I am used to however I found it made playing actually easier if that makes any sense. I like these much better than the Fenders. The Fender strings Low E was much deeper sounding than the rest. This set of GHS Precision Flats are very balanced sounding string to string and have sustain out the wazoo. Initially they felt like they had Talcum powder on them which gave me some pause until I remembered a previous post to wipe them with alcohol. They now feel nice and smooth ( I used eye glass cleaner and microfiber cloth). The more I play them the sweeter they seem to get. Initially using a pick caused a lot of clack but that seems to be fading away now. My only real complaint has already been covered here in that the E string is a bit long but it really just is an aesthetics issue more than anything else. I wasn't going to write this until a day or two but they are breaking in quicker than expected. I have a practice session to go to Saturday and will let you know how I feel about them after that. With these strings I think my ideal set would be .050-.105. I am liking the .105 much better than I have on other brands. Finally, one last notable item. Until now only the TI Jazz Flats had a plausible URB tone when plucking the strings on or at the neck. The Precision Flatwounds do quite well themselves. I still love the Thomastik-Infield Jazz flatwounds but what you get for the money spent these are a much better deal at 1/3 the cost. Now if they will last anywhere near the 5-7 years of the Jazz Flats I will be very happy, even at 2-3 years
 
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#485
Glad you got them and are happy! I'll wait to hear how they held up in rehearsals this weekend.

As for the initial feel, that's probably a result of the polishing part of making the strings. We do the best we can to "clean" them afterwards, but there is still a little left that, as you found out, can either be wiped off quickly or just wear off from playing.
 
#486
LoveThatBass said:
Jon, I received the set of GHS Precision Flats (.045-.105) today. Since I had already put Thomastik-Infield Jazz flats on the Jazz bass that had the Brite Flats I put them on a 4 string bass P/J bass that had Fender Flat's (.050-.100) with a broken G string (had put a round wound in it's place). First impression they are nicely balanced (much better than the Fender's I had on it). The tension is a little higher than I am used to however I found it made playing actually easier if that makes any sense. I like these much better than the Fenders. The Fender strings Low E was much deeper sounding than the rest. This set of GHS Precision Flats are very balanced sounding string to string and have sustain out the wazoo. Initially they felt like they had Talcum powder on them which gave me some pause until I remembered a previous post to wipe them with alcohol. They now feel nice and smooth ( I used eye glass cleaner and microfiber cloth). The more I play them the sweeter they seem to get. Initially using a pick caused a lot of clack but that seems to be fading away now. My only real complaint has already been covered here in that the E string is a bit long but it really just is an aesthetics issue more than anything else. I wasn't going to write this until a day or two but they are breaking in quicker than expected. I have a practice session to go to Saturday and will let you know how I feel about them after that. With these strings I think my ideal set would be .050-.105. I am liking the .105 much better than I have on other brands. Finally, one last notable item. Until now only the TI Jazz Flats had a plausible URB tone when plucking the strings on or at the neck. The Precision Flatwounds do quite well themselves. I still love the Thomastik-Infield Jazz flatwounds but what you get for the money spent these are a much better deal at 1/3 the cost. Now if they will last anywhere near the 5-7 years of the Jazz Flats I will be very happy, even at 2-3 years
Click to expand...

Regardless of price, GHS Precision flats are my favourite.
 
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#488
Linnin said:
Indeed! They give me everything I want in a flatwound string. That deep; dark, fundamentally focused purcussive attack with a sliky smooth dark chocolate sustain is unrivaled by any other flat.
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Im not looking to anger anyone, but i hear this description alot of ghs flats.
Both times i have tried these strings the E string is good out of the package but the D and G are incredibly harsh and tingy.
Just how long do you need to get the strings to sound this way?
I given them a month but just tired of waiting.
Have a bass that needs some darkness to it and would love to try these again.
 
#490
jessicabass said:
Im not looking to anger anyone, but i hear this description alot of ghs flats.
Both times i have tried these strings the E string is good out of the package but the D and G are incredibly harsh and tingy.
Just how long do you need to get the strings to sound this way?
I given them a month but just tired of waiting.
Have a bass that needs some darkness to it and would love to try these again.
Click to expand...
OK Jessica. If you re-read my first post and then go to post #51 you'll see that a good 6 months were required for my set to settle in. [URL="http://www.talkbass.com/threads/praise-report-ghs-precision-flats.1009326/page-3#post-15267906"]Praise [/URL]
 
#492
There was the weirdest thing happen. The D and sometimes G strings would be warbly sounding and very very slightly out of tune. When I tuned to my Peterson Strobe tuner a very slight turn of the tuning key and it would cease to do this. I had my pickups on my P/J bass set to Fender spec's which were fine for other strings but these must have some serious steel in them. I lowered both sets of pickups then detuned those strings. No further problem. Thought I would mention this in the event it could save someone some "Grief". No wonder these things are thunderous ;)
 
#494
jessicabass said:
:eek: Long time
Click to expand...
True! And a whole lot of tweaking of pick-up height; saddle height adjustments, and intonation tweaks.
My bass needed it's frets dressed; leveled, and crowned. Plus a slight action adjustment at the nut, and also a serious truss rod adjustment. But after all my bass was 37 years old at the time.

It takes time and effort to get the tone you're after. Once you've finially got it all played in and adjusted, you're good to go for ten+ years.
 
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#497
Can't say they took 6 months to break in for me. They have been on for more than 6 months now, but I thought they sounded great right from day one. Especially the D & G. Then again, I am using the .105 to .055 set, and tuned down a whole tone to D standard (so... C & F strings). And a compressor. Love the flats through a compressor.
 

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