Upright-Like Flatwounds

[Astre]

I am in search of the lovely double bass thump sound and am going to buy a hollowbody... but I'm pretty sure that the cheap Chinese Harley Benton stock strings that will be on the bass will be terrible. I'm looking for some nice medium scale or longer strings to put on that will have a great, deep low-end with that nice thump, and I'm pretty sure that flatwounds have this type of sound. I would also like them to be pretty "loose" strings that don't feel super tensioned when plucking for a better feel. Any suggestions on specific sets? Thanks - I know nothing about strings.

 

[Gorn]

Any light gauge flats will get you a thumpy sound with low tension. It’ll sound like an electric hollow body bass with flats. It’ll never sound like an upright.

 

[Lo-E]

Ernie Ball Group IV flats will do fine. As Gorn says, it’ll never sound like an upright but these strings are inexpensive, long lasting, flexible and they’ll give you a very nice thump once they break in.

 

[bigthemat]

tapewounds will have more thump and emulate that sound better. Pyramid gold flats also can also fit the bill.

 

[michael_t]

Here's one of recent threads where the same question was being asked and answered...

String recommendation needed

 

[Yahboy]

Don't waste your time and money on string spend to get upright vibe from your solid body bass. You need start with ibby SRH at least.

 

[iiipopes]

Don't forget the foam under the strings at the bridge.

 

[Phaidrus]

According to my experience,

the closest to an upright bass is, by far, a fretless acoustic bass, with tapes or flats.

The second closest is a solid body, fretless or fretted, with tapes.

 

[Fernando Costa]

La Bellas LTF - 4A, low tension.