Which flats are on your Stingray?

[Chiliwailer]

...and why? I'd appreciate your thoughts please.

I have Chromes on mine. I like Chromes on my Fenders, but on the Ray I think the high mids may too strong for me (would be interesting to see how they break in over time though). 

LaBella's rarely seem to suit me, so maybe TI's, GHS, EB Group...? But at £40-ish a set I'm stuck to decide what to try next.

Cheers! 

[fretmeister]

Rotos. Very bright, but react superbly to the tone control 

[TheInfectedDonut]

I use to have chromes on mine but the tension was too stiff even after I went down to custom light gauge. I currently have La Bella low tension flats and I love them! They're a lot deeper and creamy sounding but I can get a good bark out of them when I open the tone. I'm probably never going to change them!

[Guest Briton]

?

Edited June 23, 2018 by Briton

[drTStingray]

I have TI flats on a 2 band Classic Stingray and EB Cobalt on my 3 band fretless.

Number one reason is the tension - similar to the roundwounds I use, and with the same gauge (usually with a 100 on the E).

Secondly the tone of each type is excellent and you can get quite a bright sound with either type if you want. 

Thirdly neither set have been changed for over 2 years so they last well.

I can't be doing with high tension 60s style flatwounds, in fact anything which makes a bass less playable to me is an impediment rather than a facilitator of music In fact just such a set caused me to all but stop playing one of my basses, until I put a set of round wounds on and rediscovered it. 

These Stingrays do sound good with flatwounds but I'm still not totally convinced as roundwounds have their advantages and with muting can sound just as thumpy - however as a Bernard Edwards fan since 1977, and with the knowledge his Stingray was in the period (to early 78) when they shipped with flats (GHS to be precise) - I sort of like them and flats have proved to be the only way on a Stingray to get his recorded pop sound as per We Are Family I have ever been able to achieve (having played the song since 79, playing it with flats a couple of years ago was a revelation). I still think of flats as a bit of 60s throw back..... although Pino's sound with them also makes me persevere!! 

I have also used Ernie Ball Group 3 which are also similar tension and are good. I might try some GHS at some point out of curiosity if nothing else.  

Edited March 29, 2018 by drTStingray

[Guest Briton]

?

 

Edited June 23, 2018 by Briton

[bumnote]

29 minutes ago, Briton said:

I would put the TI's on your P Bass if you have one as they are a perfect match. I tried the TI's on my Jazz and didn't really like the result.

 

I felt exactly the same, love em on a p but not on a Jazz

I didnt get on with them on a stingray either.

Edited March 29, 2018 by bumnote

[mcnach]

The flats on my Stingray are rounds.

Ok, no, I don't have flats on my Stingray... but let me elaborate

I tried EB Cobalt Flats. They were very very nice. Brighter than most flats, but easy to tame and become more traditional flat-sounding. However, next time I try I'll be using Labella Tapewounds, the white nylon copper ones. They don't exactly feel like flats, but they are smooth, and can sound much like flats but they have a very present low midrange that I love. Deep thick sound. They can be very bright if you want them to and sound fantastic slapped too. They cover a wide range of sounds, especially on a Stingray. So that would be my choice: Labella white nylon tapewounds copper, which are actually rounds inside, so my initial comment may make more sense now  

Edited March 30, 2018 by mcnach

[Guest Briton]

?

Edited June 23, 2018 by Briton

[Chiliwailer]

Thanks for all the responses, good stuff.

EB Group - definitely a front runner, but I’m concerned that if my memory is correct, they are familiar to Chromes? Is the tension similar to Chromes? Any thoughts?

TI’s - I’ve had them before on my P and J’s, great strings but I just prefer Chromes these days. I’d love to try them on the Ray, but it’s a gamble. 

LaBella tapewounds - never tried them but would love to. Urgh, risky again though!

EB Cobalts - awesome strings, I’m a big fan and have a set under the bed. For the Ray I’d like something less bright but might give them a try again this weekend after reading the thread. 

Roto’s - used them years back on a P, but not what I after for the Ray, 

Looks like I’ll be taking a risk soon with Group or TI’s, LaBella too if I really go for it. I’ll give the Chromes a week or two to settle in first and keep my eye on the BC classifieds. 

[drTStingray]

The various EB groups refer I think to the tension. Group 3 is on a par probably with TIs and Cobalts and certainly roundwounds. 

Ive never used chromes so am not familiar with how close they are to the EB group strings but I think I recall some reference to them being very similar. 

Best of luck with this - flats can be a bit of a lottery as they're all so different and none of them are particularly cheap. 

Edited March 30, 2018 by drTStingray

[mcnach]

2 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

+1. As much as I like them, they’re not particularly suited to me playing a whole set with them on. If I do take the Sledge out to a gig, I’ll generally take a back up with Dunlop Super Brights on as well. Ashes to Ashes just doesn’t sound right with flats.

 

That's why I like the Labella white nylons. They can give you the vibe of flats by taming the top end a bit, but they don't sound out of place for other stuff I'd play with rounds. They do not have the metallic zing, it's a bit more top midrangey, but it's a good string to cover a variety of styles with. Especially the copper white nylons. If you want something brighter, the gold ones get you there.

[Misdee]

 I know it's not a Stingray, but I tried a set of Thomastiks on a 25th Anniversary with a humbucker in the Stingray position and they were mainly a bit of a disaster. The sound was so thick, for want of a better term, that I felt that I couldn't hear myself properly. I love those strings on a Fender, so it was quite a surprise and disappointment when they bombed on the Musicman. I suppose it just shows you  how you can never really tell until you try it.

[Chiliwailer]

Yeah,  like others I’ve found TI’s are great on one bass but bomb on others. I’m pretty sure I once tried TI’s on a previous Ray and didn’t like them, not sure. Same with Cobalts, which I loved on Fenders but didn’t like on my old MM Sabre.

Im learning towards trying low tension LaBella or TI again,  but have discovered that the Chromes I have when used with the mutes sound great, so I’ll let the Chromes bed in for now. 

Edited March 30, 2018 by Chiliwailer

[Chiliwailer]

What the heck, just bought these...

 

[TheInfectedDonut]

4 hours ago, Chiliwailer said:

What the heck, just bought these...

 

These are fantastic strings you won't regret them. I've had them on my Sterling Ray 34CA for a month and the results have been wonderful. 

[Chiliwailer]

49 minutes ago, TheInfectedDonut said:

These are fantastic strings you won't regret them. I've had them on my Sterling Ray 34CA for a month and the results have been wonderful. 

Excellent

I’m hopeful, though I never gelled with LaBella on my Fenders I do like them on my Steinberger Spirt and reckon they are just what my 2 band Stingray needs. It’s weird because the Chromes sounded great on my 3 band...different animals and all that. 

 

[lojo]

EB Cobalt flats on mine 45-100 

[drTStingray]

20 hours ago, Misdee said:

 I know it's not a Stingray, but I tried a set of Thomastiks on a 25th Anniversary with a humbucker in the Stingray position and they were mainly a bit of a disaster. The sound was so thick, for want of a better term, that I felt that I couldn't hear myself properly. I love those strings on a Fender, so it was quite a surprise and disappointment when they bombed on the Musicman. I suppose it just shows you  how you can never really tell until you try it.

Interesting - I would agree they sound fat on a Stingray (as do flats generally) - I tend to compensate with the EQ setting.

To be fair the Reflex and 25th Anniversary are very different basses from the Stingray, with their Bongo inspired 4 band EQ and multi mode (active/passive/series/parallel).  Did you try it in passive with the TIs? 

Ive heard people rave about using flats on both MM Bongos and especially the passive Cutlass/Caprice basses.

I guess as with everything, our ears are differently tuned and one person's utopia can be another's anathema. 

[drTStingray]

19 hours ago, Chiliwailer said:

What the heck, just bought these...

 

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with these on the Ray. 

Edited March 31, 2018 by drTStingray

[Chiliwailer]

2 hours ago, drTStingray said:

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with these on the Ray. 

I’ll post how I get on. 

I should have mentioned earlier that the Chromes sounded good on my 3 band Ray, I use that bass with the mids down a bit and they were well matched so there wasn’t an issue. But Old Smoothie is a very different Ray in sound and feel so I’m looking forward to trying the LaBella low tension. 

Edited March 31, 2018 by Chiliwailer

[Misdee]

3 hours ago, drTStingray said:

Interesting - I would agree they sound fat on a Stingray (as do flats generally) - I tend to compensate with the EQ setting.

To be fair the Reflex and 25th Anniversary are very different basses from the Stingray, with their Bongo inspired 4 band EQ and multi mode (active/passive/series/parallel).  Did you try it in passive with the TIs? 

Ive heard people rave about using flats on both MM Bongos and especially the passive Cutlass/Caprice basses.

I guess as with everything, our ears are differently tuned and one person's utopia can be another's anathema. 

Flats on a Stingray, you can't really go wrong. It's such a classic sound. It was a revelation to me when I realised that Bernard Edwards was using flats back in the early days. I had just presumed he had a really good muting technique! So I was expecting great things from the bridge humbucker on the 25th Anniversary. Unfortunately, the bottom end on that bass is so massive that it is a bit too much for my taste with flats, even ones as articulate as the Thomastiks.

I've no doubt that the Thomastiks  on a Stingray Classic are indeed a match made in heaven. Flats on a Bongo is an interesting proposition. That might work!

Edited March 31, 2018 by Misdee

[Guest Jecklin]

I'm using some very old status half rounds, 40-100, on my fretless ray.

Should I decide they are finished I'll look to try the Ti flats

[chickenjames]

I have a StingRay 4H 2010, moved it over to rounds a couple of years ago, and it’s the business. I’ve only tried Chromes - love them

[Chiliwailer]

On 31/03/2018 at 11:21, drTStingray said:

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with these on the Ray. 

I've now got the low tension LaBellas on the Ray, I'm liking them a lot. 

The Chromes were great too, but I had an old school vibe in mind and the LaBella nail that. I suppose the Chromes are more hifi, they have more volume, punch and top end. My other Ray has roundwounds so the LaBella are a better opposite for me.

The Chromes tension doesn't bother me on my other basses but just didn't feel right on the Ray, too stiff for that particular bass. The LaBella are just like Thomastiks, and suit the bass. 

Its an Old Smoothie Stingray, and the LaBella definitely make it a smoother bass to my ear, and exactly what I had in mind when I heard it with rounds and bought it.