Got a Mitchell (MF/GS House Brand) MB100 short scale. Looking for suggestions for flatwounds. Leaning toward Rotosound RS 77S, or 88S (tapewound); can’t find anything from Fender *Short scale Flatwound). I use Fender Tapewounds on my Jazz Bass, hard to find for short scale. What are you using?
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GHS has short scale flatwounds. The same strings but medium scale, together with rotosound are my favorite strings on a G&L L-2000.
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I use round wounds on my shorties, but I want to welcome you to the B2B family. If you haven’t already, pop on to Introduce Yourself and tell us a bit about yourself. Prepare for a group hug!
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Also check out our short scale thread!
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La Bella makes them for the “Beatle Bass” but will certainly work on some? at least others. They have a section on their site for how to measure.
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I use GHS Precision Flats and I’m very happy with them. Not crazy expensive either.
Here’s a sound sample for you on my short scale.
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La Bella makes several strings for short scale basses. I have these on my Gretsch Junior Jet and like them a lot.
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I don’t have a short scale, but I like the Rotosound 77 Monel Flats. They give good definition for highs while retaining the low end punch
I also like D’addario tape wounds ETB 92 S, which comes in short scale. I have the 77s on my Charvel and the ETB92 on my P bass.
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Checked it out - lots of good info, short scales are a bit different from 34" scale.
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The 77’s are on my watch list, need to be sure they are SHORT scale, I may stay away from the tapewounds until I’m sure the tap is not too long. I am in contact with a Rotosound tech.
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These are a real possibility, looks like MF does not carry them, but SW does.
Will be checking out, I’m new to shortscale - thanks
I’ve tried Ernie Ball cobalts, D’addario nylon tape wounds, and labella deep talking flats. They’re all good strings, the cobalts and nylons are brighter which honestly sounds terrible on my SG bass. I got tired of the plasticy feel of the nylon tapewounds after a few months. You can immediately notice the quality and attention to detail on the labella strings as soon as you open them; they’re what’s on the bass now and I’m very happy with them. I had thomastik infeld jazz flats on my full scale and they were rough in places and sounded pretty dead. Not very good for $100 set of strings. Just my two cents
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A picture of the Labellas on the SG. They aren’t taped at the ball end, and even with my 1/2 inch longer scale length the wrap isn’t close to interfering with the nut or the saddles like some brands
. Excellent strings
Just hit “buy” on some LaBella flats! I’ve got a Gretch Junior Jet (which I’m loving) and wanted to put on a fresh set of strings. I really kind of thought that it might sound better with just a fresh set of rounds, but all of the sound samples I’ve been hearing on YouTube and such made me really want to love some flats. I got to try an old P bass with some flat-wound strings this afternoon and loved the feeling and even just the raw, unplugged tone! Plugged in, it sounded good and had what I consider to be plenty of sustain; although, it certainly is not the level of sustain that I can get from my current strains, which basically ring like fat guitar strings! The treble seemed very present; it wasn’t muddy or anything like that. Blah, blah, blah… i’m telling you what you already know, considering that this is a thread of people way more experienced than me. Anyway, this thread and especially @spidey9 , convinced me to go ahead and make the purchase. I’m looking forward to hearing how they sound. Supposed to be here Friday, so…
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Cool, @thebanjoplayer. Here’s to the flats sounding great.
Now go to Introduce Yourself and tell the fam about you. This a great group and they’re looking forward to welcoming you.
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I ordered a set of Rotosound Flats, 77m we’ll see how it goes - my first foray in short scale since 19i73 when I bought a cheap Tiesco to play 3 dates on bass with a country band. I was stuck playing lead guitar in an outlaw country band at the time, was able to get back on bass, and stayed since 1974. Been using Fender tapewounds on my Jazz)s)
I want that bass ! Could not find any Ibanaz TMB 30 so went with the Mitchell.
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I’m a big fan of these. A cheaper string in round wound is the D’Addario XL220S in 43-90 or the larger 160s. The La Bella’s are flats and very smooth while the 220s are round but easy on your fingers.
Cyrus
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Update: the flats are flat out awesome. Love, love, love the feel, and the sound is great and very versatile still. I’ll probably never go back. The difference in feel alone has me sold. I let a buddy play them, and he went out the very next day and bought a set of flats for his five-string.
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