When are flats too old?

[chris_b]

Getting nit-picky. . . . according to Labella,  Jamerson and Duck Dunn used the 0760M Deep Talkin’ Bass, 1954 “Original” Style strings.

[police squad]

The la bellas on my hofner are 12 years old now. But have only done a handful of gigs. They're staying put!!

[Bagman]

I got 18 years out of a set of Chromes on the Precision 

Current set is 16 years 

[meterman]

I've got 11 or 12 year old La Bella flats on my short scale Precision copy, they sound fine and play really nicely.

 

On the first bass I bought in 1989 (a Shaftesbury Tele Bass copy) it had the original flat wounds on it and they must have been 20 years old already. I changed them for some Rotosounds one day at the behest of a band member but even he thought they sounded awful on that bass, so I swapped them back the next day.

 

If your flats sound alright and play okay, leave them on until one breaks then get a new set 👍

[bassbiscuits]

Labella flats = the Volvo 940 of bass strings. 

[StickyDBRmf]

29 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said:

Labella flats = the Volvo 940 of bass strings. 

Great line great line

[ossyrocks]

42 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said:

Labella flats = the Volvo 940 of bass strings. 

 

Ah, good analogy. In addition to using Labella flats on all my P basses, I am also a dedicated Volvo driver. I think I'm on my 7th Volvo. I've had a 940, and two 740's too!.

 

Rob

[bassbiscuits]

52 minutes ago, ossyrocks said:

 

Ah, good analogy. In addition to using Labella flats on all my P basses, I am also a dedicated Volvo driver. I think I'm on my 7th Volvo. I've had a 940, and two 740's too!.

 

Rob

Likewise! An 850, a 940, a V40 and currently borrowing the mother in laws V70. 

[Stub Mandrel]

I struggle with flats. I lije to be able to feel the frets under the strings withou needing a grip like Jeff Capes.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I struggle with flats. I lije to be able to feel the frets under the strings withou needing a grip like Geoff Capes.

 

My dainty fingers could not be less Geoff-like, but a very low action solves the problem set by 45-105 Chromes.

 

I don't quite understand why, but with them I prefer a gloss maple fingerboard over rosewood, it seems to help too 🤷

[msb]

I’d only change them if I broke a string , or lost a winding.  
I have some flats that are ancient. Some rounds that are ancient too.

[Beer of the Bass]

I'm on rounds nowadays and I don't have a big stable of basses to keep a variety of strings on. But I think I've never got past four or five years on a set of flatwounds before something about them doesn’t sound the best to me. I'm the same with Thomastik Spirocores on my double bass, which many bassists insist go for a decade or more.

[TimR]

 

You're 

7 hours ago, ossyrocks said:

 

Ah, good analogy. In addition to using Labella flats on all my P basses, I am also a dedicated Volvo driver. I think I'm on my 7th Volvo. I've had a 940, and two 740's too!.

 

Rob

 

You're definitely changing your Volvos too frequently. 

 

One 740 and one 940 should have been ample.

[Dan Dare]

I change them when they won't intonate accurately. I find they lose it and become indistinct when they get really worn. I find longevity depends on the brand. La Bellas do seem to last well. I prefer Chromes on my J bass. I got 5 years of constant playing - using them virtually every day - out of my last set. I've just changed them and now have to contend with weeks of clank until they bed in.

[LowB_FTW]

39 minutes ago, TimR said:

You're definitely changing your Volvos too frequently. 

 

19 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

I change them when they won't intonate accurately.

 

I was deeply confused for a moment there.

 

Mark

[Reggaebass]

Some of my labella’s are over 20 years old and still intonate ok, perhaps other brands are different 

[Mykesbass]

3 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

Some of my labella’s are over 20 years old and still intonate ok, perhaps other brands are different 

Annoyingly, the B on my laBellas has gone dead, to the extent that it doesn't balance with the other 4. 

[BigRedX]

I've found that intonation goes away with both flats and rounds when the strings have become worn due to their contact with the frets, result in strings that are no longer a uniform mass along their length. Maybe the reason that flats users as less likely to notice this is a combination of the sound they prefer and the fact that they are less likely to venture above the 7th fret?

[Bagman]

There are some NOS Sound City flats available here in Christchurch New Zealand 

 

I assume they were made in the 1970/1980’s. 

[Britsie]

The flats (Thomastik JF 345 5string, nickel flatwounds, 043 - 136" ) on my custom fretless are 8 years old now. They have been sounding 'good' since a year or two. 

[DF Shortscale]

I find that some flats age differently to others. Chromes are interesting, they start off sounding metallic and noisy, but they settle into a really nice tone fairly quickly and seem to stay there for a long time. I'm only about a year into a set but after about a month of playing they started sounding very good and they've stayed consistent since. You have to put some proper playing time in for Chromes to find their true character. I like old rounds too, tired old Rotosounds can be great, as can old HiBeams, and I really liked old NYXL's too on a jazz bass, I kept them on there for years.

 

I have Dunlop flats on another bass which are maybe 3 or 4 years old, they sound completely lifeless now and not in a good way, they feel nice but have no character or personality whatsoever. Will be changing those for something else soon, not quite sure what yet..

[Lozz196]

I’ve just bought a bass that has a nice set of Chromes on it, all the clank has worn off and it sounds really nice.

[StickyDBRmf]

      ...all the clank has worn off...

Try to explain that to a human.

[Lozz196]

Only bassists understand, humans, never……

[Stub Mandrel]

Lol, playing my 'flats' bass yesterday, left me inclined to answer "when the packet is open".