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Rotosound flatwound longevity?

How much of a difference is there between the "fresh out of the package" tone and the broken in tone?

There's a difference. How much is subjective....everyone will hear them a little bit differently. The point in my previous post was they are long lived and dependable (for me at least) and don't seem to lose life as guitar strings do or as I've experienced some bass rounds doing.

Buy a set, see how you like 'em and how long you can make 'em last.

Koog.
 
There's a difference. How much is subjective....everyone will hear them a little bit differently. The point in my previous post was they are long lived and dependable (for me at least) and don't seem to lose life as guitar strings do or as I've experienced some bass rounds doing.

Buy a set, see how you like 'em and how long you can make 'em last.

Koog.

I just opened the set I ordered last week! I'll see if I like them, and if I do I'm selling the set of Sadowsky flats I have on that bass.
 
My first set of new strings was a pack of roto 77 flats, I love those strings.
I kept them on my main bass for 3 years with no problems, only took them off because I needed to use rounds at the time.
They're actually still in service- almost 9 years later. Put them on another bass last year.
Yes, they still rock.
 
Last quick thought on the Roto 77s. Roto says there is a risk of breaking with these strings if the strings are wound past the silks on the post: IE: if you have to wind so far that you have bare metal on the post rather than silk. There is also a chance of breakage and dampening of tone if the silks on the ball end rest on the bridge saddles.

This may be a cause of some of the challenges some posters have experienced with string breakage and a deadening of tone.

On my 34" scale basses the silks end up where they're supposed to. So, if you're playing Ps or Js or Rays or anything evqivalent in design with 34" scale or longer, the silks should be no problem.

I have a 33" and a 32" scale. These are now my most heavily used show and studio basses. I modified both of these basses to string through the body to create more length from post to string ball. The silks when strung on these basses now end up where they're supposed to.

I modified the shorter scale basses to specifically accommodate the Roto 77s. That's how much I think of these strings. They have delivered for me in every way for a long time and I had no wish to play anything else, so I found a way to make them work for me on the shorter scaled basses.

As I said, Roto discloses the circumstance about the silks, so it is a matter of "reading and following label directions".

Hope this helps.

Koog
 
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Last quick thought on the Roto 77s. Roto says there is a risk of breaking with these strings if the strings are wound past the silks on the post: IE: if you have to wind so far that you have bare metal on the post rather than silk. There is also a chance of breakage and dampening of tone if the silks on the ball end rest on the bridge saddles.

This may be a cause of some of the challenges some posters have experienced with string breakage and a deadening of tone.

On my 34" scale basses the silks end up where they're supposed to. So, if you're playing Ps or Js or Rays or anything evqivalent in design with 34" scale or longer, the silks should be no problem.

I have a 33" and a 32" scale. These are now my most heavily used show and studio basses. I modified both of these basses to string through the body to create more length from post to string ball. The silks when strung on these basses now end up where they're supposed to.

I modified the shorter scale basses to specifically accommodate the Roto 77s. That's how much I think of these strings. They have delivered for me in every way for a long time and I had no wish to play anything else, so I found a way to make them work for me on the shorter scaled basses.

As I said, Roto discloses the circumstance about the silks, so it is a matter of "reading and following label directions".

Hope this helps.

Koog

I totally know what you mean about flats breaking if you turn them past the silks on the tuning pegs, and I'll be looking out for this with these when I go to change strings.

Thanks again!
 
There is also a chance of breakage and dampening of tone if the silks on the ball end rest on the bridge saddles.

Koog, I've seen the blurb on the Rotosound website re: increased chance of breakage if the silk isn't wrapped around the post, but I couldn't see any warnings about letting the silk on the ball end rest on the saddles.

I have 77s on a short scale bass and, on the E string, the silk is resting on the saddle. That string does sound a little weird. Has anyone experienced this problem before?
 
Koog, I've seen the blurb on the Rotosound website re: increased chance of breakage if the silk isn't wrapped around the post, but I couldn't see any warnings about letting the silk on the ball end rest on the saddles.

I have 77s on a short scale bass and, on the E string, the silk is resting on the saddle. That string does sound a little weird. Has anyone experienced this problem before?

You can scrape the silks on the ball end very carefully with a razor blade and then burn the frayed silk ends away to shorten the silks and subsequently have no silk on the saddles. Get your measurement while the strings are on the bass and then remove them before scraping and burning. This worked for me until I decided it was just easy to make the conversion to string through. My shorter scale basses are 32" and 33".

Koog.