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Warm And Smooth Sounding Flats
- Thread starter Quazlpa
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- flatwoudns
My faves also. Ready to go right out of the package, no sticky feeling, or clank.
People say Optima RBs are low tension but that is not my experience. I have never played TIs or La Bella LTFs so I can't compare the RBs to them but I would call them medium tension and absolutely not floppy at all.
D'Addario ETB92 Tapewound
I have these on my fretless (well, I did...I just sold it). Loved them!
I have these on my fretless (well, I did...I just sold it). Loved them!
Turn down the tone knob on bass. I have EB Cobalts (brightest flats) on my P and when I turn down the tone knob, I get a super warm and smooth tone.
I think ill try the GHS Precisions and see how I get along with those. If I don't like them then I definitely have a lot of other options. I usually try to reply to everyone on threads I start but I think there a a few to many people on this one so thanks to everyone who replied. And if anyone wants to give more suggestions and insight then please do. I can never have to many options.
Have you considered putting a block of foam underneath the strings at the bridge? Great for thump.
I like Fender 9050L flats on my Jazz bass and I'm pretty sure I like 45-105 Dunlop stainless flats on my '58 type P.
On the other hand, I'm thinking of trying LaBella DT 760FS or 760FM flats and or GHS Precision flats (gauge TBD) because there's only one way to truly know, from immediate experience, focused punch vs thump, defined fundamentals, etc. I believe my Nash PB with rosewood board would be my best test subject for these strings.
On the other hand, I'm thinking of trying LaBella DT 760FS or 760FM flats and or GHS Precision flats (gauge TBD) because there's only one way to truly know, from immediate experience, focused punch vs thump, defined fundamentals, etc. I believe my Nash PB with rosewood board would be my best test subject for these strings.
They used to be purple, but the silk on the new ones I just got is more blue-ish purple now.
The OP is kind of confusing, because it says that the Chromes are too low tension and the DR Legends are too bright. It's possible this refers to a very light set of Chromes but most people say that if anything, they're too stiff. And the Legends are about the least bright flats in captivity, especially after having been broken in for 3-4 months. So ... something stiffer than Chromes and not as bright as Legends is a tough order. The LaBella FM or FS is possible, as I expect the E isn't as problematic as the OP fears (though the higher gauge may be worse in that regard). But heavy gauge GHS P-flats may also work, although IME they're brighter than Legends, especially in the higher strings. I hope the P-flats work out, though, and I hope the OP reports back with his/her findings.
Purples are generally not among my favorites but I must say that's an exceptionally nice color, IMO. Coming from an art and design background with a lot of thought and study of color or color theory, I've always been drawn to what I call the tweet colors. e.g. is red it or is it orange? is it blue or green?
Adding to this to form a relevant question, from strings of this sort I believe I want a deeper, darker, thicker, meatier sound, particularly concerning the high side D and G strings. In other words, less twang, more warm sing from the high strings.
This is part of what lead me toward the path to flats to begin with; going from stainless rounds to nickel rounds to trying a hybrid mix of 65 and 45 stainless flats with 105 and 85 nickel rounds, then just stainless flats.
In general, I've always desired less twang and more stiffness from D and G strings of any kind. I feel I want more resistance or push back from the strings than 65 and 45 gauge stings bring.
Additional, for my preference, I feel I overpower these strings too much with my left and right hands (fingers or pick) especially when I cross over from the low side of the neck. I'd like to have the efficiency of staying more in the money zone down the neck but with more of the tone I get from playing the same notes up the neck on the E and A strings.
I also find I lowering the high string side of my pickups considerable more than the typical/factory stand starting point to tame the output. (if the singers voice isn't so great, lower their mic and volume in the mix)
THE QUESTION: Beyond standard 45-105 strings, does it make much sense for me to try heavier gauge, stiffer Labella DT and GHS P flats for these reasons?
D
Yeah, the part about Legends being too bright is a bit confusing. I think we'll have to assume we're talking about a rather new set of Legends that isn't broken in yet. This will of course be an issue with many other flats as well. The classic "old school" flats like LaBella and GHS will need a lot of time to mellow out and they can often have a rather unbalanced tone across the strings from E to G during this process. I wouldn't even consider using LaBella/GHS for recording until they had gotten AT LEAST 20-30 hours of effective playing.
As for D'Addario Chromes being stiff even though they're "too low tension", I can perfectly understand that one. Tension and stiffness are different things. D'Addario Chromes feel stiff and unresponsive to me regardless of gauges and tension figures. They are completely lacking the "bouncy" feel I want from flats. But then again, I guess it's possible that the OP used a VERY light set of Chromes...?
Another type of flatwounds that feels stiff compared to other flats (of simular gauges) are the Roto 77s. I like these FAR better than D'Addario Chromes but they're definitely not a good choice for a classic flatwound "thump". Actually, the tone and "feel" of Roto 77s is actually closer to GHS Pressurewounds than GHS Precision Flats IMO.
Based on this I recommended the Optima Chromes. They are not particularly stiff (for flats) and not particularly low tension. They're what I would call "medium" as far as tension+stiffness goes for flats. They ARE a bit bright out of the box but they mellow out faster than LaBella/GHS and, most importantly, they break in a lot more evenly across the strings (in my experience, based on MY style of playing). This means you won't be stuck with a mellow E-string and a bright G-string for weeks, or even months. When they're broken in they're not quite as dark and thumpy as LaBella/GHS and the E-string is more defined, which seemed to be important to the OP. I would say the Optima Chromes are definitely in the "old school" category but a tiny step towards brighter, "modern" flats.
Having said that, the range of tone/feel between different types of flats is MUCH wider than with roundwounds. With flats you really need to try lots of different types before you find your favourite for YOUR bass and YOUR style of playing. Getting advice online can help narrowing down the search a bit... of make everthing even more confusing.
My personal favourites are TI Jazz Flats, Optima Chromes and LaBella DTFs for long scale. Pyramid Golds for short scale. I also like Roto 77s and GHS Precision Flats for some stuff. I've also found the excellent selection of gauges and scale lenghts of Dunlop flats to be extremely useful, even though they're not quite up there with my favourite flats. Basically, it depends on the song/genre and what kind of tone/vibe I'm aiming for. Besides, having different basses equipped with different types of flats is an excellent excuse to own more basses!
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