Ben Jamin

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1483352179' post='3206356'] The very same. Quite expensive but worth every penny IMO. There is a whole thread on them somewhere. [/quote] [quote name='Pinball' timestamp='1483353045' post='3206368'] I've used roundwounds, flats and harf-rounds on my G&L's and Stingrays and have now abandoned the rounds completley. I mention both basses because both are really good at cutting though in the mix and therefore retain some of that "zing" quality. Having said that you will need to be willing adjust your EQ settings to dial it back in. Also I can get half rounds to sound like roundwounds but flats will always sound like flats IMHO It is also worth noting that flats can vary a great deal. Fenders start fairly bight but then darken a bit with time, the Ernie Balls that I have on my L1505 are quite dark sounding and give a great dubby sound. If you want to retain the ultimate zing go for half-rounds. Chromes or Rotosounds flats that are at the brighter end of the scale and very consistent over time. Have fun! [/quote] [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1483354871' post='3206398'] When I had a G&L 2500, I used Thomastik Jazz Flats and found them to be excellent. [/quote] Thanks for the knowledge guys! The Thomastiks sound great but I think I'm leaning towards the Slinky Flatwounds on the G&L for the extra top-end for those gospel-groove times. Thomastiks on the P-bass though, mmm... This guy's got me pretty convinced. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI2CgGaKKqI"]https://www.youtube....h?v=HI2CgGaKKqI[/url] Warm and solid but with a good bit of zing. The compression helps but I have that too!

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1483289689' post='3205959'] Go a for a set of EB Cobalts, best of both worlds. [/quote] These ones? https://www.ernieball.com/guitar-strings/bass-strings/slinky-flatwound-electric-bass-strings#P02812 They look pretty good!

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1483288551' post='3205945'] Is this active? IMO flats are good on passive basses but waste the range and breadth of tones you can get out of a pre amp. [/quote] [quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1483349913' post='3206326'] This. [/quote] The G&L's a weird one because it's an active bass with a switch for passive/active/active with high-boost - but the pre-amp is all passive (treble cut and bass cut, series and parallel) so everything works the same in passive mode. So no active pre-amp.

I've been playing with flats on my Sue Ryder P-bass for a good while now and we all know that combination works! However, my main gigging bass is my G&L 2500, for flexibility, extra notes and those awesome MFD pick-ups. I've always put roundwounds (just standard D'addario nickels) on out of habit and it sounds great. But after rehearsing with the P recently with Chromes on I really noticed how well flats sit in a mix with the more solid fundamental and what feels like less inharmonic overtones, and of course the lack of finger-noise and the buttery feel makes playing feel effortless - coming back to the G&L the strings felt pretty sharp! Essentially I'm just worried if I make the switch I'll miss the zingy edge and harmonic character of roundwounds that sounds great when I'm just playing the bass by itself and weighing that up with what I think will be a more consistent, better 'in-the-mix' sound with the flats. I'd really appreciate any thoughts from those who've used both types? Thanks! Ben

Thanks for the replies guys, a couple of friends have suggested there might be an issue with the switch too, one of them is going to have a go at fixing it so fingers crossed!

Have mercy on a poor bassist with little-to-no electrical skills! This is actually regarding my Dad's amp - he's recently invested in learning bass and bought a second hand 'White Horse' (old Gear4Music own-brand I think) combo amp which actually sounds quite nice for just a practice amp. However, something's gone wrong and now upon hitting the 'on' switch, the red 'on' LED lights up for a second then fades, and nothing. Oddly when hitting the switch back to the 'off' position, the LED lights up again and stays lit for a few seconds longer before fading. I've checked the fuses in the IEC cable and all is well there. Tried a couple of other suitable cables and the same thing happens, so it's an amp problem. We've opened up the amp and everything looks okay? At least, nothing that screams 'BIG EXPLOSION' or any obvious loose connections. Is it worth looking into fixing this for maybe just replacing it? It's a shame as it's a decent amp, plenty loud and sounds quite good and my Dad's quite fond of it! Thanks in advance! Ben