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Rehash flats question.

T

Tim Schnautz

Jan 30, 2000
1,677
2,066
#1
Seeing I’m not playing at the moment (a stroke messed up my left hand)
There’s a young kid who is playing bass in a school band who is wanting to try some flats.
Seeing she doesn’t have the callouses and plays only limited to school time I thought I’d get her a set of flats, after all she’s borrowing my cheap but good lotus P bass. I have a couple new sets of TI’s but that’s not going to happen on this rig.
The strings don’t have to be really good but what do you have lined up to get the kid going?
Heck, I don’t know how long she’s even going to pursue this. So, imo The cheaper the better.
I welcome your suggestions
Thanks!
Tim
 
#5
If it was a J style bass, I'd concur on the Fender 9050s. They usually sound great on a J but sometimes the mids from those can sound somewhat honky on a P.

For a P, I'd go with a set of GHS Precision Flats. I'd go with the CM3050 45-105 set as they are very well balanced but if you want a lighter set for the kid than go with the 3025 set which are 45-95. Very traditional sounding flat and they also sound good on a J. I have a set that are now 7 years old and still going strong. I think of them as LaBella DTFs for folks on a budget (like me lol).
 
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#8
Get the lightest set of flats you can find within your budget. The most important thing is that the bass is set up properly for whatever type of flats you end up with. The harder tension of heavier gauge strings can to a large extent be compensated for by the lower action they can handle, compared to lighter tension, floppier strings. The bass will need a full setup either way.

Still, ideally I would probably not go any heavier than 40-100 with flats for a young kid. Maybe even lighter, depending on her playing style.
 
#11
For a good middle-of-the-road all-purpose flats for a first-timer, I would recommend either the Fender 9050L (45-100) or the Ernie Ball Group 4 (40-95) stainless steel flats.

For a more roundwound tone but with a smoother feel, I would suggest the GHS Pressurewound L7200 (40-96). That's what I have on one of my Jazz basses as well as my one and only P bass.
 
#13
Tim Schnautz said:
Seeing I’m not playing at the moment (a stroke messed up my left hand)
There’s a young kid who is playing bass in a school band who is wanting to try some flats.
Seeing she doesn’t have the callouses and plays only limited to school time I thought I’d get her a set of flats, after all she’s borrowing my cheap but good lotus P bass. I have a couple new sets of TI’s but that’s not going to happen on this rig.
The strings don’t have to be really good but what do you have lined up to get the kid going?
Heck, I don’t know how long she’s even going to pursue this. So, imo The cheaper the better.
I welcome your suggestions
Thanks!
Tim
Click to expand...
Sending you good thoughts for a fast recovery from the stroke.
 
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#15
Something else to consider for a young new player, they probably don’t know what they want in a string, or even what type of bass they like. I’d just get a new set of strings and have the bass set up properly. If you want to get flats, then a set of Fender flats are a good set to start with since they’re reasonably priced and sound good.
 
#18
The thanks for all the inputs and outputs, guys. A friend and guitar tech guy came to the rescue. He set up a fender-ish bass and the customer wanted a set of Earnie Ball slinky rounds installed. It had some gairly good “nobody knows“ flats and so he was just going to toss em so we put them on the Lotus and so back to school it went. We’ll see what happens.

Thanks again…
 
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#19
Low Commotion said:
Something else to consider for a young new player, they probably don’t know what they want in a string, or even what type of bass they like. I’d just get a new set of strings and have the bass set up properly. If you want to get flats, then a set of Fender flats are a good set to start with since they’re reasonably priced and sound good.
Click to expand...
Rounds would have been fine but they hurt her fingers. That’s why the quest for flats for her.
 
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