RotoSound Monel Flatwound 45-105

Anyone here play them? I ordered some for my 54P as it really deserves flats to get all the goodness out of it.

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I haven’t so far. Looking forward to your review.

In the meanwhile, I’ve got a set of La Bella Low Tension flats incoming. Strictly for science, of course. :laughing:

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I was torn between the Roto’s and the LBLTF’s myself. Price was about the same. I went for the one that I’ve read have higher tension. I have TI Jazz Flats on one (Jazz Bass) and I love them but sometimes they are too low tension when I play aggressively. So I wanted to stay away from another low tension string. The Roto’s are the sound of Pink Floyd from what I understand and I love the bloom of the notes on songs like “Comfortably Numb” among others.

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Yep, I read a lot of reviews from gigging players saying that they got fatigued playing regular La Bella flats over long sets (like 4 hours). They dug the sound but disliked the after-pain.

Anyway, those who switched to LTF said they got the beloved LB sound, but without the stiffness and fatigue associated with it. Love!

Monels were mentioned as a good alternative, so I’m curious what you’ll think of them.

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I’ve got Monels on my Dark Queen; I like them. They are strong with mids and highs, well, as flats go. They pair up well with my Dimarzio pickups. Very comfortable to play, an underrated string in my book.

Steve Harris uses Monel flatwounds, though in a heavier gauge.

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45-105? If so, how is the tension?

I have these on my 2-string slide bass.
They were the only flats we could find that could handle being tuned up to where they needed to be.
The slide bass tunes to C-G or D-A using what are normally the A-D strings.
I would imagine the tension starts fairly low in order to get them cranked up that high and not snap.

As @Wombat-metal mentioned, the Steve Harris ones are 50-110. I have them on my Steve Harris P and previously I ran them on a Donner P-clone.

They’re a beautiful string, but at that gauge, they’re a bridge truss cable and high tension.

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I’m getting the 45-105 and read they were really high tension. I’m wondering how they compare to other flats in that regard.

The other flats I played and liked were GHS precision flats and Thomastik-Infeld jazz flats. Both were much softer and lower tension, but the TIs were also a lighter gauge. The GHS ones would be the same gauge, I guess. Noodlier, nonetheless, and thus warmer, “chocolatier” but less zingy.

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I have TI’s on my jazz and love them. I also have EB Cobalt flats and D’addario chrome flats on one. I like them all. Just wondering how the Roto’s tension compares to the others aside from the TI’s.

I found the Rotos hard to play initially (remember, heavier gauge than yours) but that was a product of the high action on the bass (Donner P clone). However, when I shimmed the neck, and set the action clanky-low, they were a joy to play. Much more versatile than the more traditional flats. Same thing on the Steve Harris P. I find I need high tension strings set up with low action so as not to have to press them way down to fret.

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That’s what I wanted to hear. So no problems playing? No finger fatigue?

Mine is setup with low action and no, not tired after playing

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I resemble that comment.

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