Flats are off

[walshy]

11 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

My band played in Malta earlier this year and because I hate flying they got our new guitarist to play bass. He has his Aerodyne Jazz strung with Fender flats, and through his Sansamp it sounded great. So flats can work well in garage punk/rock, it just seems that I can never manage it myself. What I liked was the solid low end but without booming and overtones.

I use TI flats in a Foo Fighters tribute, absolutely works wonderfully. Flats can 100% rock hard with nice lows and the mids really cut with the TI's. I use Daddario Half Rounds on my Rippers with a Nirvana Tribute too.

Edited Wednesday at 07:20 by walshy

[Rich]

I love the sound of flats on a P and I wish I could get that tone on mine, the problem is that I absolutely hate the way flats feel. For me they feel almost slimy, they make me want to wash my hands. Hard to describe, but there's no way I could play them for any length of time. Maybe I'm just weird, but eucchhh. No.

[BabyBlueSound]

33 minutes ago, Rich said:

I love the sound of flats on a P and I wish I could get that tone on mine, the problem is that I absolutely hate the way flats feel. For me they feel almost slimy, they make me want to wash my hands. Hard to describe, but there's no way I could play them for any length of time. Maybe I'm just weird, but eucchhh. No.

 

Interesting how different we all are. I played rounds all my life and just constantly hated the squeakig strings, the rubbing against my fingertips, the cheesegrater feel, the accidental sliding metallic overtones (yeah, that's mostly my crap technique's fault but still).

 

I do love the touch of a flat, and these days there are more hybrid-sounding strings which tends to be my choice, like the cobalt flats from EB.

[RichT]

10 hours ago, TheGhostofJaco said:

I have one Pbass currently with rounds, and it's great but sometimes I think about having a P with rounds and one with flats. May be overkill. I think I will just throw flats on and see how I like them again. I used them for so long and they recorded so well for Neo soul tunes, but sometimes would sound too thick and thuddy for other genres like french house style bass, or funk/disco..etc.

 

Have you tried EB Cobalt flats? I spend half my life playing various kinds of dance music and for me they're the best strings by far for those kinds of genres, albeit I'm playing it mostly on Stingray (and other MM pickup basses) rather than a P bass. They have the solid punch and bite of roundwounds but do away with all the metallic clank and fret noise, which I find works well for emulating basslines that are often synth or sequenced to start with. They can also get pretty dark and mellow for the soul stuff with the tone rolled back.

 

[Terry M.]

43 minutes ago, BabyBlueSound said:

 

Interesting how different we all are. I played rounds all my life and just constantly hated the squeakig strings, the rubbing against my fingertips, the cheesegrater feel, the accidental sliding metallic overtones (yeah, that's mostly my crap technique's fault but still).

 

I do love the touch of a flat, and these days there are more hybrid-sounding strings which tends to be my choice, like the cobalt flats from EB.

Have you tried DR rounds at all? 

[BabyBlueSound]

2 hours ago, Terry M. said:

Have you tried DR rounds at all? 

Nope

[Obrienp]

I don’t blame anyone for changing away from LaBella flats. They sound the business on a P bass: pure Motown but they feel horrible to me. Sticky is the best way of describing them. I have heard others say that they can be cleaned up with lighter fluid, rubbing alcohol, meths,, etc. I have tried all of these and it doesn’t work for me, they still feel sticky.

 

The best flats for me are D’Addarios but each to their own and they are quite bright. As to the original question: rounds sound great on a P bass and I would have thought would fit in very well to your band situation. Personally, I don’t get any issues with the strings squeaking but then other people don’t find LaBella flats sticky.

Edited Wednesday at 13:40 by Obrienp

[TheGhostofJaco]

6 hours ago, RichT said:

 

Have you tried EB Cobalt flats? I spend half my life playing various kinds of dance music and for me they're the best strings by far for those kinds of genres, albeit I'm playing it mostly on Stingray (and other MM pickup basses) rather than a P bass. They have the solid punch and bite of roundwounds but do away with all the metallic clank and fret noise, which I find works well for emulating basslines that are often synth or sequenced to start with. They can also get pretty dark and mellow for the soul stuff with the tone rolled back.

 

Not sure if I have. How is the tension on them?

[Marvin]

I've only ever had D'Addario Chromes or Fender flats. Neither, thankfully, have felt sticky, just smooth 😎

Edited Wednesday at 16:59 by Marvin
Grammar

[Terry M.]

4 hours ago, BabyBlueSound said:

Nope

You may be pleasantly surprised. I'm specifically referring to Sunbeams.

[RichT]

8 hours ago, TheGhostofJaco said:

Not sure if I have. How is the tension on them?

From my limited experience of flats (never played a LaBella set) the EB Cobalts are less stiff than D'Addario Chromes, but not as flexible as TI Jazz flats. I switch back and fore between two almost identical basses with EB Cobalt flats and EB Slinky rounds with no problem at all. The Slinkys are certainly more flexible but my arthritic fingers are still capable of bending the flats.