Muzz Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Now this may have been done to death, but not for a while, at least, so here we (possibly) go again... Just restrung my Michael Kelley Dragonfly, now the good weather's here and I can get out into the garden and play a bit for fun, and, tightarse that I am, couldn't face paying out for another set of strings, so I had a delve around and tried a few options - Warwick stainless rounds (ok, but a bit too zingy), some oldish nickels of dubious vintage (bit too dead, tbh), and then I found a set of flats I had lying around which I'd taken off a trade bass. I'm on record on here as disliking flats completely, but on the acoustic - wow. They suddenly make sense, tension and everything. Very nice indeed. I'd recommend trying flats on an acoustic to anyone, no matter how flatphobic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 I've no problem with an acoustic and flats: am concerned when it's a rocket launcher and flats however..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 I'm intrigued, as my acoustic has phosphor bronze rounds on. I love the sound, both when amplified and not, but I do prefer flats wherever possible. Can you stick on the acoustic any type of flats you use on electric basses? Or are high-tension ones not to be recommended? I have a spare set of Fender flats which I took off my Corvette 4 because they were far too high tension for my taste (I put a set of Thomastik-Infeldt in their place). Worth experimenting with, do you reckon, or would I end up loathing them the same way I did on the Corvette? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 I'd say there's a couple of issues: first, a change in tension will very probably need a tweak of the truss rod on the acoustic, so it depends whether you're happy with this sort of thing, and secondly, if you didn't like the tension on your electric, you won't like it on your acoustic. I just didn't like the response and sound of flats on my electrics, but I do on the acoustic. I'd recommend the flats to you, but I've no idea what they are as they came to me second-hand. One thing which put me off about the phosphor bronzes is the smell when they get older. Ew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 I have no problem tweaking anything stringed - truss rod, intonation with saddles, string height at bridge and nut, turning right-handed uprights into left-handed ones, done it all, so no issue with the truss rod I do see your point about those flats still being - well - the same flats I hated before. I'll keep the rounds then. They are new and don't smell at the moment - I've been using Fast Fret on them hoping to keep them as clean as possible. We'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 [quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1338380765' post='1673542'] am concerned when it's a rocket launcher and flats however..... [/quote] *applause* Nice one sir... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodge Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I have TI JF344s on the El Capitan; they sound and feel lovely..but then again, I have flats on almost everything. I started putting some La Bella 760FMs (49-104) on once, but by the time the A string was on I started getting nervous and bottled out. It's probably totally illogical, but I started having nightmares about pulling the bridge off. The FMs ended up on a G&L SB-2 that has a neck that looks (and feels) like it could take the cables from the Humber Bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I have TI JF344s on my Michael Kelly acoustic and La Bella 760Ns on my Takamine - I wouldn't dream of not using flats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooz Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I agree. Flats on a acoustic will sound fantastic. Even if they are quieter. It´s a perfect match for a sqeaky piezo transducer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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