Flatwound Curious

Fender flat are my second favorite flat after my TI’s. They mellow so good after a while into really good sounding strings.

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Lol. @JustTim definitely don’t try tapewound your words will come back and bite you lol.

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I’m going to end up with a drawer full of strings.

My newest victims are DR Legends. Stainless flats, round core.

The E goes clank. The G goes twank. E & A are intermediate. Search will continue. They sound weirdly menacing played with a pick.

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You say that like its some sort of revelation. :upside_down_face:
You are not a bass player without a proper drawer full of strings you will NEVER use again.
They are good for putting on basses you are going to sell though.

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I’ve never tried half-rounds before but I love flat wounds on my fretless. They’re nice and smoooooth.

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Call or email Nick Holl over at Sweetwater.com (nick@sweetwater.com). He’s a bass player himself and has helped me immensely with bass strings when I was switching around. He’ll know if this is an anomaly or if a different brand of string might be wound differently and more to your liking.

I just got my Fender Kingman Elec/Acoustic and it came with VERY SQUEEKY roundwounds. I am now in the market to find some flats or wrapped. So needless to say, I’m following closely to this thread.

One concern for me is that this bass is 30". Is that still considered long-scale?

You have a short scale bass there!
It will work with normal flats, but if you can find some short scale flats, it will be better for everyone. Short scale with flats will sound so perfectly 60s. I’m jealous.

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So something like this?
https://www.amazon.ca/DAddario-ECB81-Chromes-Guitar-Strings/dp/B000K669LS

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yessssss.
Should be perfect.
Or at least an ideal place to start. If it’s too light and floppy, you can go for a heavier/thicker gauge. If it’s too tight and stiff, you can go lighter.

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I also have a short scale bass with round wounds that n it. I’m finding I’m getting a lot of finger noise the closer I am to the pick ups. I have done everything in my power to plucking lightly to lower the pick ups but still getting the noise when I pluck. My question is, would I get less finger noise with flats on it?

Yes.
Much less finger noise.
The words of caution would be - if you like music that has a brighter edge to it - rock/punk/pop/metal, the sound of that music is roundwounds.
The flatwounds reduce finger noise, but also the whole upper register of the bass, and create a much more mellow and dark bass sound.
It’s perfect for soul, retro-funk, motown, country or things of that ilk.

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That’s perfect, I’m bit of of a Timmy C, Mark King and Sting guy of guy! Thanks for the input on this never ending bass journey. Really great full for this forum!!! Thanks Gio! You have given me hope!

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Thomastik Infeld Jazz Flats. Your fingers will be ruined and your ears will be in ecstasy.

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Ordered the D’Addario Chromes
Thanks for the input.

(edit to add brand)

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TI Jazz Flats? That’s commitment. You will have to tinker with your set-up and adjust your playing style. But the reward is tonal and fingering bliss.

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Sorry, no, was a response to Gio, I ordered these
https://www.amazon.ca/DAddario-ECB81-Chromes-Guitar-Strings/dp/B000K669LS

I swapped out D’Addario Chromes for TI Jazz flats.

I found the D’As to be bright and very neutral: modern-sounding without much character. YMMV

The TIs deliver the whole package.

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I love both the TI flats and the TI Jazz rounds. Of their respective types, they are the best.

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How much do you have to adjust your playing style? Is it because the change in string tension? Having to adjust the setup makes sense. I was considering picking up a set of TI’s, but I already have a new set of Roto’s sitting in a drawer that I haven’t tried yet.