I use flats on 90% of my basses, and wouldn’t have it any other way, SMOOOOOOTH 
Cheers Brian
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It’s just preference. I do a lot of slap, so while you CAN slap on flats, rounds have that bright punchy tone that complements a specific sound. When I tried flats they felt weird to me and I thought the sound was so dull (compared to what I am used to). There is a place for that tone, just not so much in the genres I tend to play.
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So, the Sterling Ray4 has arrived. Foremost, I love this bass. However, the strings that are on it don’t feel any better than the stock round wounds that came on my Donner P-bass. I would have thought that they would be EB Slinky’s (I don’t know the feel of those, I never used them) but if they are, I’m disappointed. They’re not very punchy, not nearly as punchy as I would have expected. I have a set of Rotosound RL-66 stainles steel ones that I’m thinking of putting on. What do you think?
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I would - not a fan of EB strings myself.
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Same weird feeling on my fingers, but I don’t like it at all.
They should be? Maybe the bass has been sitting in a box on a shelf for too long? hard to say.
you can e-mail sterling your S/N and they will get right back to you with the details about your bass, if you are interested.
slinky’s are and acquired taste, you either love them or hate them, I love them but can live without them, although my Ray 4 still has the factory slinky’s on it and they are great for me.
Strings are a personal thing, if you think you will like the bass better with Rososound’s on it, by all means, put them on. it would suck to be disappointed with the bass if the strings are what really disappoint you.
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Do EB strings feel kind of… dusty? chalky? to you? Kind of hard to describe the difference between them and Nickel Round D’Addarios, which are basically rounds with even less friction than flats.
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I have a question about flat wound strings.
Currently all my basses are strung with D’Addario nickel plated round wounds. As some of you already know, I’m trying to revive a 50-year-old lawsuit Jazz Bass and I would like to use it with flat wound strings, for a change and an authentic vintage tone.
I’m looking at the Rotosound RS77 LD strings in 45-65-85-105 gauge.
So, my question : for a same gauge, do flatwound strings feel like roundwounds, tension-wise ? I’m not sure if I should adjust the gauge or not.
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I’ll do the normal answer of “it depends”. Thomastiks in particular are known to be much lower tension than other flatwounds for example.
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To me, flatwounds generally feel stiffer than rounds, even when the setting tension is close to the same. I suspect that has to do with the flat wire wrap not being a flexible as the round.
More specifically, I have read that the Rotosounds you are looking at are very high tension.
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thank you very much, so maybe I should choose a lighter gauge … or maybe buy Thomastiks instead of Rotosound but I absolutly don’t know what I would prefer
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I would think this depends on whether the strings have a round core or a hex core. Thomastiks have a round core, which is part of the reason they have lower tension (apart form the lighter gauge).
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@howard
// Do EB strings feel kind of… dusty? chalky? to you?
Deader than I expected is what I would say, but not highly “frictionful”. I’d say that to me the Rotosounds are rougher, less “slippy” to the touch.
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I like the LaBella Low Tension Flats. I think they are just a bit brighter than Labella’s Deep Talkin Bass. I also have a set of D’addario Chromes on one of my basses.
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here is a very good article : Best flatwound bass strings 2023: how to choose the right flatwounds for you | Guitar World
based on those informations, my 1st choice would be the DR Legend and my 2nd choice would be the Pyramid Gold.
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I just slapped a set of flatwounds on my P bass. I like em. Also, I’m a newb so take the following thoughts with a grain of salt. So, they do sound flatter/deeper/darker than the round wounds as advertised. But I don’t think the tone is so different that you couldn’t use them for rock or metal. They play nice, at least to my fingers they’re pretty comfortable compared to rounds. Tension seems to be tighter than rounds at equivalent tuning maybe? Not sure they’re great for slapping-(also my slapping sucks)? Re-stringing was super easy ( something something about the silk unwinding and causing problems didn’t happen). I’ve been trying to play with super light touch when fretting and plucking lately, and they sound pretty great. Also, do it-you only live once…
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Here’s an old comparison video, but a good a short one.
Here’s a good audio test of some too: Stream DaveEvansMusic | Listen to Flatwound Strings Test playlist online for free on SoundCloud
I’ve narrowed down my choice to DR, Dunlop, or La Bella… still researching, but might just have to try each and see.
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Rotosound round wounds work for me . . . 
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I like super slinky on my primary bass. When new they are very bright and punchy in my experience. I have diaddario nickels on my six, those are nice too, but feel the EBs are brighter
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Well of course they do… You’re a total Entwistle fan, I would expect you to also be a fan of his strings 
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yes, very hit and miss, some are MUCH lower like Thomastik (great strings, but, thinner and had nut issues so went to labellas on my jazz bass), all differnet.
I LOVE Labellas (and they are based in my hometown, so like supporting them).
I am def learning that all roundwounds are not created equally for feel either. I also do not like EBs, trying a few others, need to try out Rotosound too.
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