Flatwounds - wanted!

JonHosker

Advice sought for flats.
 Any recommendations please.
 Heard Fender 45-100’s good and lower £ than 
 Lobellas, but your thoughts please.
 Play a Fender Jazz
 thanks 
 jon

Roland

Moved to Guitar

stickyfiddle

I assume this should be in Bass? 

Anyway, TI Jazz Flats are my favourites. They're not quite as thuddy as Labellas but they sound authentically 60s with your tone rolled off, while also being bright enough that you can play them for other styles and not have your sound be so muddy that it feels wrong. They're also not as high-tension as most flats, which is nice.  

Roland

stickyfiddle said:

I assume this should be in Bass? 

Correct. My excuse is that I tested positive for Covid this morning.

stickyfiddle

Roland said:

stickyfiddle said:

I assume this should be in Bass? 

Correct. My excuse is that I tested positive for Covid this morning.

I've lolled but also send sympathies - hope you're feeling ok! 

wellsyboy

PM'd

fretmeister

My basses with flats..

P - La Bella DTF
P - Dunlop Flats
J - Ernie Ball Group iv flats (not the cobalts)
Ibanez Mezzo 4 string: Dunlops
Ibanez Mezzo 5: Dunlops

The string types all sound different.

The La Bella DTF are proper old school and thumpy when worn in. Quite high tension so it's common to pick a lighter gauge when swapping from rounds. Great sounding string as used by Duck Dunn and J Jamerson. Can be a bit grabby to the fingers if the fingers are hot and sweaty as they are very smooth. I actually rough them up a bit with wet& dry because of that. Works well.

Dunlops. A bit more flexible than the La Bella's. Feel much nicer under the fingers but don't go as thumpy. Michael League from Snarky Puppy loves them and he gets a great tone. Work very well with active pickups too.

EB Group iv: Brighter again. These are my favourite for a jazz bass. They have enough top end for a bit of 1970s slap (but not modern Marcus Miller top sizzle) and they sound really full. Particularly awesome with the tone down and the bridge pickup alone. Favoured by Joe Dart on his stingray. The Vulfpeck "Live at Madison Square Gardens" will give you an idea. One of my favourite bass tones.

Ti Flats. I'm not currently using them as I developed a nasty nickel allergy and now I can't. But I used them a lot in the past. Amazing strings for a P bass and still damn good for a J. Very low tension compared to others and there is only 1 gauge available. Thomastik have no interest in making other gauges. Very nice under the fingers but hard pluckers might struggle with the low tension. Lovely low mid heavy sound with loads of articulation. Designed to emulate (a bit anyway) a proper DB. Pino Palladino swears by them on his Fender signature P.


Bass Direct are usually cheapest for the La Bella's by quite a margin. EB's usually cheapest on Amazon.

Dunlops have recently gone mad on price. I'll be leaving mine on forever as a result. I've had 6 years out of them before, and only needed changing them because I managed to bend a string in the speaking area when the bass was stupidly lent up against some furniture.


Finally - to quote the great Ed Friedland - Change your strings every 10 years whether you need to or not!
As it happens he's got a P with 22 year old La Bella's on and it still sounds amazing.

fretmeister

Also - people sell old strings on Basschat quite often.

That's a cheaper way of finding out what you like.

JezWynd

I have a new sealed set of Fender Stainless Steel Flat wound 50 - 100. Yours for 20 quid delivered if you'd like them. PM if interested and I'll send you a pic. I don't play long scale these days so they're going unused.

JonHosker

Thanks for this info.
jon

JonHosker

I’ll do some measuring on my new Jazz bass when it lands and decide on the various options offered here. Thanks all.

fretmeister

What measuring? 

fretmeister

I’ll have a look in my box of things to see if I have any old ones you can have.

barrettisgold

I have D’Addario Chromes on my G&L 1000. They were already on there when I bought it used. Mellow sound and smooth to touch. I kept them as they were for 10+ years.

I recently had it setup and the strings were boiled. They now sound brighter and rougher to touch. I liked how they were before but also like how they are now, just different. I would happily buy them again…maybe in another 10 years!

Although not a J-bass I thought I’d add my experience of how the tone of a set of strings can change.

Great advice and info from @fretmeister ;

Ossyrocks

After trying a few.

P bass - LaBella Low Tension Flats. The definitive thump. Lovely feel.
J Bass - Thomastiks. They are brighter and have more upper mid which suits the J bass. Even more relaxed feel than the LaBellas.
Rob

p90fool

I've just ordered some Fender 45-100 Stainless flats for my Precision, I'll let you know what they're like when I fit them. 

JonHosker

thanks 

fretmeister

p90fool said:

I've just ordered some Fender 45-100 Stainless flats for my Precision, I'll let you know what they're like when I fit them. 

They are very nice!

impmann

I'm going to be removing the flats from the Jazz Bass I recently bought as I don't like them. No idea on the brand but  the vendor said they were expensive ones. Would happily part with them if you (or anyone else) wants them...

ICBM

Anyone got any recommendations for short scale flats? They really do have to be proper short scale ones, it’s for a 1970 Gibson EB-1 (30.5” scale) with the crap top-loading bridge - only about 1/2” from the ball end to the saddle - and small-diameter machinehead posts so long-scale strings will snap if they even fit in the slots.

fretmeister

ICBM said:

Anyone got any recommendations for short scale flats? They really do have to be proper short scale ones, it’s for a 1970 Gibson EB-1 (30.5” scale) with the crap top-loading bridge - only about 1/2” from the ball end to the saddle - and small-diameter machinehead posts so long-scale strings will snap if they even fit in the slots.

La Bella DTF shortoes for thumpy.

Dunlop Flats Shorts for a more modern tone and lower tension compared to the La Bellas. Eye-wateringly expensive though.