flatwound strings

[Bareass]

well i'll be getting my fretless p bass tomorrow and will be taking a trip to guitar center. need some oppinions as to which strings i should get.
its my first fretless so i don't know anything about the strings. i need brands and sizes!

[refin]

I like flatwounds on any bass........

[Don]

I've had the same set of Thomastic-Infeld flats on my Jazz Bass for 5 or 6 years! They're very warm sounding. I wouldn't have anything but flats on a bass.

[Karma-lite]

I've used tape, (in the 70's came on the guitar) round(70'80's-interesting sound V kruel to neck) and flats (nickels), see what's on when you get you bass and try it for a while to see how it feels to play, the tension under your fingers is an important part as well as the sound.
If it hasn't got strings try any decent (fender, Ernies or Roto) nickel flats med weight and try it for a while, if your getting your guitar from a shop try some others out with different strings.
You know what they say once you've tried fretless you'll never go back.

[FrankJohnson]

I have never heqard anyhting bad about TI's and have heard they last a long time - so the price isn't really the issue - it has been available funds at the time.

I like the D'Addario Chromes, but have only had them on a week or so, and comment past the honeymoon.

The Nylon wrapped Fender 9120's are the Shit though.......smmoth, maybe even more than flats, but under the wrap, they are round wound and have great sound. About $17 at MF.......

I guess it depends on what you are lookign for out of them, sound, feel, playign style, etc.

Someone did a thread about a year, maybe two on different types of bass strings - maybe Spose or someone els, I just can't recall. It was exceptionally informative.

I am too lazy (actually busy) to look right now.......

[Gravity Jim]

Am I totally missing the boat here?

I've always used rounds on a bass, and my current MIA P-Deluxe has D'Adaario roundwounds on it right now. But you guys all like flats....

What am I missing, sonically?

[Don]

I put flats on mine to warm it up. I'm a blues guitarist and don't want the bass to be too busy (the playing or the tone).

To me, they just make the bass sound like a bass is supposed to.

I mentioned in another thread that I usually keep a piece of soft foam between the strings and the body to mute the tone and deaden sustain.

That, and they're easier on my tender little guitarist fingers!

[FrankJohnson]

Rounds are great, and so are grounds,....these just feel/sound different.

No boat to miss, just a different flavor-seasoning in the stew......

[toobalicious]

webstrings has decent flats for little $$$:
webstrings

(edit: theyve gone up in price, and upped their minimum for free shipping... used to be $12 or 13 and freee ship on orders over $12. oh well)

stainless flats are kind of interesting because they are mellow like flats "should" be, but are more punchy, and seem to have more harmonics if you dont roll the tone down.

but me, i like that fat old-school whump most of the time.
a

[FrankJohnson]

A couple of weeks into the Chromes -

They sound really good, feel really good and when you dig in, they respond accordingly.

Frank Like!

[FrankJohnson]

webstrings has decent flats for little $$$:
webstrings

(edit: theyve gone up in price, and upped their minimum for free shipping... used to be $12 or 13 and freee ship on orders over $12. oh well)

stainless flats are kind of interesting because they are mellow like flats "should" be, but are more punchy, and seem to have more harmonics if you dont roll the tone down.

but me, i like that fat old-school whump most of the time.
a

I wish i had listened to this right away - Webstrings Flats - Are the SHIT!

meds on the Acoustic Bass......Hvy on the SX PJ with Lace Sensors!


It is like having two New Really good instruments in the house.

MAssive lows, and no snappy twang Pop-Pop to them!

[rudutch]

I must be the odd ball here.....

several years back I found GHS pressurewound on the clearence shelf
I have been using them ever since. Tried tape wounds and didn't care for them. Round wounds are a bit abrasive on the fingers (and frets, I assume) and the pressurewound seemed like a nice compromise.

Trouble is no one stocks them locally, I ended up ordering them from Elderlys

[FrankJohnson]

I wouldn't say Oddball....just fortunate. I never saw them anywhere. I have tried a lot of different strings, and really like these. I will still try some others, but these are my Meat and Potatoes sound....I like them!

[Wilko]

I've been using the same set of DAddario chromes on my P-Bass for about 8 years now. still sound great. very thick sound like a bass.

way back in the late 70s I liked ground wound strings. They give you the brightness of round with the feel of flat.

[Gravity Jim]

Well, I'm going to pick up a set of flats this weekend. Is it true that T-I's sound better? D'Adarrio's okay?

[FrankJohnson]

I like my Chromes.....they are on the Jazz.....

Next replcements though are these Webstrings.....

[doc540]

I played nothing but Roto rounds for over 30 years until I got mixed up with a bunch'a dumbasses in the Dude Pit who were creaming themselves over TI flats.

So, I tried a set.

Now I have them on both my old Jazz basses and couldn't be happier.
They don't need to be replaced like Roto's that lose their ring, they're the perfect tension and feel I like, and, although they're flats, they still have a clearness and edge that delivers the classic Jbass tone I'm enamored with.

TI's get my vote.

[FrankJohnson]

TI's have a great sound. I haven't owned htem, but had tried them on two different basses. These are .....well...........Different. TI's are great, and Very "Damn near Perfect" in sound. These are very deep, and do not develop that High tone , but have a nice old school clarity, and thunk you hear in so many of the old favorites, like in the background of Albert Kings bands, and so many of the era. At least that is what I have been pulling out of them.

I will try them whenever something else needs strings.....but everything is good for now. The D'Addarrio 170s are new on teh other SX, but I may put these on it, and with those old Kalamazoos in it, I think it will really sound good.
BTW Doc - Email me, I got a good pic for you.......(I don't have your current email......)

[doc540]

Here ya go:

doc540@swbell.net

or

myspace.com/69jazzer

Send it on

[Gravity Jim]

Well, I love D'Addarios, but if you, Doc, can hear the difference in the TI's (and it seems so can 100,000 other bass players who can't be wrong), then I'll pop for the extra 10 bucks and go Thomastik.

Can't wait to try 'em out.....

[FrankJohnson]

Well, I love D'Addarios, but if you, Doc, can hear the difference in the TI's (and it seems so can 100,000 other bass players who can't be wrong), then I'll pop for the extra 10 bucks and go Thomastik.

Can't wait to try 'em out.....

Jim -


The difference between you and me is.....

your worth it!

[Plugger]

I use Ernie Ball rounds on two P-Bass copies. Sound fine to me, seem to last well. I've never noticed the "roughness" is a problem for my fingers or my necks, but maybe I have a less robust playing style.

Recently I bought a second-hand Lakland 5-string that came with some D'Addario set on it. It had a fairly poor sound compared to what I'd heard from these instruments, and was also extremely rough on the fingers. I was actually getting a raw patch from playing them on the my fretting hand, and had to put band-aids on.

I went for a replacement set of genuine Lakland roundwound strings (primarily to establish a benchmark), and difference was night and day. Tone and string-to-string balance improved out of sight, and much more comfortable to play.

Convinced me that string choice are probably even more important on a bass than on a guitar. Also, even though I've long used D'Addarios on my electric guitars, that I probably won't be buying D'Addarios for any bass in the foreseeable future.

-Mark

[FrankJohnson]

Weird.....

I installed these on my SX jazz copy......I have an old set of Kalamazoo pups in it, and it sounded good long ago......the D'Addarrios (170) were really bright......


These are really muddy. I will toy with the heights some more.....but I'm not happy with them on this bass right now. The set up is good, and they feel good, but it sounds really too deep and boomy, with no definition.

errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.!


EDIT -

Found that REALLY dropping the pups helped a great deal.......
These are the HVY flats, and I guess it adds that much mass to the magnetic field....etc.......

[FrankJohnson]

Ok -

Dropped the Pups A LOT.....

They sound great (again). These are pretty massive strings I guess!

Sounds friggin Old School! With lots of deep bass ansd a slisght click at the top!

[Tyrone]

Thomastic Jazz Flats...The ONE and only..