They have a cobalt wrap. Most flats are stainless - your Deep Talkin Flats are stainless. Doesn’t mean bright with flats.
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2801s look to be a more motown/mellow sound
2818 are the cobalts
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Hmmm … I might get the 2818 for Ronin and the GHS for my fretless then … though I would prefer .95 for fretless!
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They are, by far, the worst feeling strings I have ever used. No other string comes close to feeling as bad as the two sets of Warwicks I had. I don’t know how they do it; they actually feel corrugated or something.
Sounded fine but damn.
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I’ve got a set of Ernie ball cobalt flats that came on one of my regular scale basses. I like them, they have a great feel and have been meaning to buy a set to see how they’d work on a shorty.
My go to for shorties has been d’addario ecb81s strings. They are a little lighter gauge (.100 I think), but play and sound great.
The bass (shorty) I just bought has a set of ghs brite half rounds (at least that’s what I was told), they are ok, sound good but I’ll probably change them at some point to either the Ernie ball cobalts or my favorite d’addarios.
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So, I got the 2818.
First impression: they are not as shiny and smooth as La Bella flats.
They are also not as stiff, so that’s good!
Last year I went horse back riding. My first horse was a chilled pony. It trotted down the road, nothing happened. It didn’t care and it was great for sight seeing and chatting with the others.
But then I rode a horse named “Diabolo Thyme”. It was a big, muscular, fierce horse. It had it’s own will. It breathed fire! It was a dragon in horse clothing.
You just knew that it was more powerful than you will ever be and you could never truly control it. It felt like it could explode and destroy you at any moment. Of course, I did not see anything of the magnificent surrounding (the French Provence) - it was just me and Diabolo.
It was a great, archaic horse! I loved it!
The 2818s are like Diabolo Thyme. They push true the mix much more than all my round wounds, which I found strange.
When they sound good, they sound great. But I find them hard to make them sound good, maybe also cause of the 35TWX, which are quite revealing .
I really have to fight those strings. Again, they are smooth, but they are very hard to control, somehow. They do what tehy want, not what I want.
I was totally frustrated when playing the 2818 today, but somehow I have the feeling that these strings really need a lot more discipline and technique to shine.
It’s frustrating! It’s great! I will either never play anything else … or rip them out, crying and damning the world.
Pretty exciting…
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So how do you really feel?
I like the 2818s. I may but them on my next Diablo, placid they are not. You get more rich tones than you would expect out of a flat
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I really felt like that. Ok, maybe I exaggerated a little.
I found them very “metallic”, which I did not like. For the first time I really needed to use the tone pot and dull it down.
For some songs, they were unbelievably great - with neutral tone set. So that’s great.
But all in all it was a hard fight to make them sound good. Again, maybe it’s cause of the 35TWX - they are very sensitive and really have a lot of headroom - so it might amplify the characteristics of the 2818.
I was very very frustrated after playing in the park. I mean like: TOTALLY FRUSTRATED. Sweating, short of breath, higher heart rate.
But there were those truly magic moments too. I’m not gonna give up.
It was like an afternoon in the park with that very sexy borderline girl 
(Also I will play with pickup height to see if that improves the situation).
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i’m not a flats guy but this convo has been interesting to me and i’m tempted to try them myself now.
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Please do! I am really fascinated by the 2818. They are unlike anything I ever heared (or used)!
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i mean i do own 5 basses, i guess ONE of them should have flats at some point.
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If you want peace of mind, get TI or La Bella though
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Absolutely TI Jazz Flats for the win. 
They have the very best feel and are extremely versatile in tone.
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Don’t know them from experience, but everybody seems to be very happy with them.
I would not rule out the 2818 though, as they really cut through any mix I threw at them. Much more than my round wounds, which I found fascinating,
The 2818 are something else, very special indeed - if you are in for an adventure: this is it!
So, @itsratso - you need to decide: are you a man or a mouse?
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I know TI Jazz Flats and Rounds from experience. They are the best strings I’ve ever had on my basses. They’re flexible, silky smooth under the fingers and a joy to play.
hah no the thing is i like in your face agressive bass, not laid back thumpy bass. just not my thing. i mean i just bought a spector for god’s sakes, and throwing flats on it would just be silly. i have a new cheap ibby 5 string, i guess it would be the most likely candidate. but somehow flats on a 5 seems silly too. maybe not.
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GET THE 2818! This is what you want.
And if you want to learn about torture and psychological warfare using music … get the EMG X model as PU too
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How do you like your Spector? (I’ve had two, and sold both of them…)
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That’s a lovely looking bass, @Wombat-metal. I love my EHB!!
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i am now and forever a music man guy. i’ve had other basses, but music man is it. until i decided i want to be ale, and learned about the famous spector growl. now i am a music man guy. and also a spector guy 
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