I am looking to put flat wounds on my Squire P Bass. I like the guitar but just not the sound I get out of it, I have tried adjusting all the knobs on it and my Rumble 25 amp. Just can’t seem to find what I’m looking for. Any recommendations on which brand to get?
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Answer as usual is…it depends. If you want bright but not zingy like rounds, Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats, old school thump, LaBella DTB or LTF’s. Good all around, Chromes or Rotosound. Best of all… Thomastik Infield Jazz Flats. Pricey but sound and play sublime. Also last 4 ever
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Yeah, it really depends on what sound you’re going for. Different brands of flats have different voices. @EddieJones gave a good summary, I would also add Fender Flats for a more mellow old timey thump. I would think about LaBella Low Tension Flats or Fender for a vintage thump, or D’Addario Chrome Flats ECB81 or Rotosound 77 flats for a brighter but not zingy tone.
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Kind of like the idea of old school thump.
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GHS Precision flats are all about old school thump as well.
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LaBella then
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Hey Gadget: Tried a set of Roto-Wound flats and didn’t like them. Tried the LaBella Deep-Talkin Bass on both my Yamahas and I LOVE those strings. If you go this route make sure you call LaBella (845-562-4400) and talk with one of their techs. Flat wounds have a small learning curve about how to mount them but once you’ve done it you’ll be good to go. Hope that helps!
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@Gadget what do you like? Or better what don’t you like about your current string set. I assume it’s fender round wound, you can easily tell by the color coated ball ends.
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i read this recently about Fender strings:
The color-coded ball ends are for all the retail packages, while the Fender strings with generic brass ball ends (also made by D’Addario) are only for the bulk orders destined to the Fender factory as part of the original equipment on their basses.
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It has Ernie Ball slinky strings. The main issue I have is the metal on metal clacky sound it makes whenever I press any of the strings while playing. The shop did a setup on it the day I bought it June 2 2020. Maybe it needs another one. This is not a new issue though.
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Well going to flats is definitely more forgiving but it sounds like a technique issue more than the string’s problem you may want to put some time on muting techniques. We have all been there and the problems sounds familiar enough that I could recognize it to be similar issues we are experiencing at some point or another.
You may also like the tapewound or nylon wrapped strings. It’s like flats but different.
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This is how rounds sounded for me when I was starting, agree with @Al1885 technique may be a thing here. I gravitated towards flats in the beginning because of this but eventually put rounds on a few basses and the clanking worked itself out with practice and practice.
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I have two other 4 string Basses with the same Ernie Ball Slinkies on them and don’t have this issue. I like the guitar and want to enjoy playing it. I want to put flats on one of them just to try them out. Something different.
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What is your definition of pricey?
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There about $85 a set. But they last a long time
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I got mine for 68 bucks.
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I found them once on Amazon from a place with a name like Accordion and Woodwind for about $50.00. I already had mine but thought that was a good deal
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That’s a great deal. I’d jump on it.
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I already had mine at the time.
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Actually I think you can search them under “Accordion Accessories”. I searched them and they are now $67.xx on Amazon
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