I’m looking to try a new set of flat (or half-flat) strings on my Precision Bass (alder body, rosewood fingerboard, EMG Geezer Butler pickup).
I’ve been using Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats for years, are fantastic strings (I use them on my musicman now) but now I’d like something different to have a sound further away from the rounds.
The problem is that I haven’t found that sound in any of the flats or half-rounds I’ve tried so far on this bass.
Here’s what I’ve tested on this P-Bass and don’t want to go back to:
- Fender 9050: too much low-mid content and too little sustain; I actually like them much better on my Jazz Bass.
- Thomastik-Infeld: too low tension and too mid-focused for this Precision.
- GHS Pressurewounds: didn’t love them on this bass, they work better on my Jazz Bass.
What would you recommend?
P.S. I don't like too much tension (like chromes)
Okay... I have a bunch of basses, and almost all of them wear flats. All kinds of flats. So, excluding the ones that you say you don't like; and, excluding the ones that almost certainly exceed your "tension" limits (by which I assume you mean "Are too
stiff" - which isn't always the same thing)? Here are the flats I use, in increasing order of "stiff to play", that you might like...
- Dogal JC106 "Jaco" Carbonsteel Flats. The packaging says 20 kg. total tension for a 4-string set (44 lbs., for us Yanks). Yet, they definitely
feel stiffer than TIJFs. Tone? Low side of modern, mid-range-y... I have them on a '73 Rick 4001 - which needs the low tension...
- Optima 4440 RB Flats. Optima's re-creation of the old Maxima 4440 Flats that came stock on Rick basses until sometime in the 1980s. Light gauge; nicely flexible; fairly low tension. Tone? Very, very similar to the old Maximas; much like the Dogal Carbonsteel Flats, actually... I have them on my Rick 4003 (naturally...
).
- GHS #3025 Light Precision Flats. They are virtual clones of the Squier Light Flats that came stock on Fender P-Basses until sometime in 1982. I want my '78 P-bass to sound like it did when it was new, so these are what it wears under the mute in the bridge cover. Again, light gauge; nicely flexible; low-ish tension. And, again; low side of modern, mid-range-y flats. Not at all the thumpy flats that people think of, from way back when...
- EB Group IV Flats. Lightest gauge of the Group Flats; still pretty flexible, but... tone-wise? Sneaking up on "Old School Thump" territory. They came stock on my Schecter Stiletto Studio 4-FL fretless bass. Very good flats on a fretless, IMO - in every way...
- Dogal R44 "Traditional Flats". On my '13 Gibson Thunderbird, they are definitely into OST territory, and... well, they might be as stiff as you'd want to go. I don't think they're all that stiff, but I've played really stiff flats for several decades, so my perception of "stiff" is probably a little different from yours...
- Optima 4099 RL "Chrome" Flats. On my Tokai TB48 T-Bird, and on my '06 Carvin LB-20? Their tone is pretty mid-range-y/leaning to the dark side. Stiffness is... maybe a little more than the Dogal R44s. But, that might just be the basses...
- Dunlop DBFS Flats. mine are the short scale set, on a 30" scale Serek Sacramento bass, with a half-chambered body and twin Guild Bi-Sonic pickups. On that bass? Probably the least stiff of any short scale flats I use. The tone? Very similar to the Optima 4099s, TBH...
- Galli JF4505 Jazz Flats. They are almost certainly stiffer than you would like, but... they have such a great tone on my EBMM 4HH Stingray Special; and they are unbelievably smooth. Like a solid, Teflon-coated wire... Like I said; I've played much stiffer flats - and liked them. Still do, actually. But, you did set limits, and the Galli's might be outside them...
- DR SFL Legends. Short scale set, on a 31" scale, aluminum-necked headless Kramer Duke. The short scale Legends are probably much stiffer than you'd like, and the tone - on this bass - is almost exactly the same as the old 50-108 GHS Bass Boomers it wore when I bought it. Which is why it wears them... Long scale Legends? I couldn't say what they'd be like...
