"Slick" low-tension flatwounds for fretless

[Yahboy]

$66 for a set of TI flats? I’ll do that every time.

They last forever, and there’s nothing else quite like them. I’ve had a set move from one bass to another for years. The basses come and go, but I don’t let go of the TI’s.

Find a used set in the classifieds. You’ll save some dough and, better still, they’ll be at least partially broke in.

Don’t be put off by the initial painfully bright sound, just keep on playing em. A few months in and they’ll be settled in for the next decade.

That’s a thrifty move in my book.

I love low tension bass string and I been thinking all my bass i own have to loaded with Ti flat to end my bass string journey.

But after experience Ti flat on P, 51P, J, PJ , ibanez SR. I found my self only licking the Ti tone on 50/60P with Split pickups.

On PJ bass, when both pickups run, Ti flat sound a bit dry and some unwanted MID rangy which i dislike, she not sound harsh or overly bright , just there are some overly MID rangy voice on certain freq range which need multi range EQ pedal to dial out. Sound ok when neck or bridge pup only. Cobalt flat just make PJ bass sing !

On J and Ibanez SR, Ti sound has similar dry sound like PJ bass, but the MID rangy neutral the J scoop tone when both pickup run. Meaty bridge voice but hollow-ist sound when only neck pup run. I prefer 9050L than Ti flat on J or SR , but my current Cheapo Bacchus J bass just sound meaty juicy with EB Cobalt flat.

On my current indonesia made Squier CV50P , i been experience with Cobalt flat, La bella LTF4a and Ti flat. The cobalt flat make the bass sound modern , nice attack and angry. Ti flat sound too much MID rangy and dry again. Even dial back the tone knob along with mute foam add, overall tone sound more to plastic-ish rather than organic woody tone to my ears. The LTF4A bring back the sweet classic tone nicely.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

Dunlop flats felt nice on my fretless Mikro. Still be using them if they made a 130+ gauge string for low D. Mind you, everything is low tension on a Mikro.

 

[Jeff Scott]

TI Jazz Flats do the trick for me.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

There is more going on with TI's than tension alone. Core, silk layer. For argument sake, if you had a custom set of Chromes on a long scale for lower tension and swapped them with a set of 43-100 TI's you would find tension differences are not much .
Custom Chromes Set 40-100

Pitch Gauge Tension
E1 .100 38.40 lbs
A1. .070 33.77 lbs
D2 .055 36.66 lbs
G2 .040 37.60 lbs
Total Tension = 146.32lbs

TI Jazz Flats SET JF344 43-100
Pitch Gauge Tension
E1 .100 34.39 lbs
A1. .070 31.30 lbs
D2 .056 37.47 lbs
G2 .043 37.00 lbs
Total Tension = 140.46lbs
The most significant tension variation is for E1. So it really comes down to the construction of the TI's and not tension per se that users of them are 'feeling' I guess .Never used them myself. But I would like to down the track

 

[woodyng2]

Right after I posted my last comment, I remembered about the purple silk on the Pyramid.

How about Optima RB?

Optima rb silks are also purple. Great strings, I like the gauge better than the heavier Pyramids.

 

[woodyng2]

La Bella Low Tension Flats are excellent if you like vintage tones. They have the vintage round core. I'm not aware of any other low tension strings which do so.

Optima RB are round core.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

This is my stock answer when people ask me about low-tension flats. Very smooth and very flexible and their tone is thumpy but not completely without detail. …and they’re inexpensive.

TI flats are wonderful but they are a very different animal; very flexible and very smooth, strong mid tones (they sound more like rounds than any other flatwounds) and very expensive.

Both the Ernie Ball Series and the TIs last nearly forever but their tone is very different. I like the TIs for melodic fretless lines but the EBs can work well for that, too, just with a much warmer tone.

Ernie Ball Slinky ( Cobalt) Flats sound more like rounds than any other flat I’ve experienced.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Dogal Jonas Hellborg flats are super smooth and very flexible but would probably double your investment in that bass. TI flats would be a more sensible choice.