I haven't had any other flats to compare them to, but my new Fender flats felt smooth to me and feel even smoother now 2 months later. Good tension too. Definitely stiffer than the 45-105 rounds I had. Love the punch I get from them too.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Smooth Flatwounds with Punch?
- Thread starter ::::BASSIST::::
- Start date
I love my EB group 3 flats (45-100) on my p-bass. super smooth, higher tension and very balanced string-to-string. Played them on my j-bass, biased to the bridge p'up for that punchy-ness. I just like them on my p-bass better. Hope this helps. -Dann EDIT: sits very well in the mix, too. FWIW 
I have the new Fender 9050MLs on my P, and I think they're a bit rougher than the old 9050s, but with a bit more growl. The old 9050s nailed the vintage P tone.
Maybe you got a bad set of Chromes? I have two sets loaded, 1 of them is very new. Both sets seem smooth to me. Maybe not as smooth as the LaBella tapes on my acoustic or chambered basses, maybe not quite as smooth as the ti's on my Barker but syllable in the same basic arena.
Carvin flats. Best value out there hands down. Flawless fit, finish and feel with a nice midrange punch.
Re-branded or OEM ? I haven't seen a Fender flat that was anything like a Chrome... they actually felt more like the LaBella Deep Talkin' flats to me.
I have had 3 or 4 sets of new Chromes in the last 3 years and they were all of the rougher variety. One set came loaded onto my Stambaugh, one on my Landing and one was just a replacement set. Definitely not as smooth as they used to be.
In fact I just scoured ebay and managed to buy a set of what looks to be the older Chromes. It has the old packaging so I think I'm good.
Here is the old packaging:
Here is the new:
I guess I am getting quite picky about this stuff, but at least I know what I like. I temporarily put some of the newer / rougher Chromes on my bass until the NOS ones arrive and man, they sound so good. Once I eq out the zing, the low-end punch is incredible.
Have you tried ground wounds? I used a set of Ken Smith Slick Rounds a while back, they were smooth and very punchy. Other than that my only flat experience is with a set of Rotosound 88s that I got due to a mix up.
Pyramid Gold did the trick on my Hofner. They may be a bit punchy, if not try some D'Addario chromes.
Sadowsky regular flats - smoother sounding than Chromes, punchier than LaBellas.
They also have very smooth surface.
They also have very smooth surface.
The smoothest strings I have ever had are hands down the Detroit Steel Flats from webstrings.com. they are even smoother than the OP's post and they are cheap.
Second smoothest with qualifications are the roto 77's. I don't know if it's the funky monel or what but they are smooth for the left hand and kinda sticky in a gecko fingerpads kinda way on the plucking side. YMMV.
Third is Sadowsky ss flats.
Second smoothest with qualifications are the roto 77's. I don't know if it's the funky monel or what but they are smooth for the left hand and kinda sticky in a gecko fingerpads kinda way on the plucking side. YMMV.
Third is Sadowsky ss flats.
