If you are hesitant to going flatwounds, ernie ball makes a set of half rounds which is in between flat and round wound on my ibanez sr2600 and couldn’t be happier. To me they sound exactly as the are named. You get some.of the moody flat sound but still have that bright punchy sound too. I like flats on a fretless, but not on fretted and we’ll round wounds will destroy your fingerboard on fretless.
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A few weeks ago, I switched the tape wounds on my Yamaha BB235 for a set of half rounds. I’ve been playing them and trying to get to like them. No doubt, they’re better than those dreaded round wounds, but not as good as flats.
I’m going to be going back to flats on my Yammy, or maybe even put the tape wounds back on it.
Needless to say, I have flats on my Ibanez fretless.
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Great. Thanks for the info. I appreciate it
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Isn’t there that thing with uprights that you want you’re strings to be a hundred years old and never change them?
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Some reviews of flatwound bass strings here. Some are noted as brighter sounding generally than others, if that’s what you want as well as the flat feel:
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Also this review below mentions the EB Slinky Flats, and gives them a big thumbs up if you want to retain the roundwound tone with flats feel, skip to about 5:19 on the video:
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If you don’t like the LaBella’s. TRy the Fender USA 9050 L Stainless steel Flatwound.
.045 to .100…It’s all personal preference.
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Great article @Mark_UK. I especially enjoyed reading the history of strings.
I’m still sticking with these. A bit pricey, but they sound great and last long.
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That’s what I tried when I changed the strings on my Ibanez for the first time from the stock strings.
Made such a good difference.
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It appears they don’t make these for 5 string… not that I’ve been able to find anyway.
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I am ordering some of the slinky flats for my first set of flats.
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Let me know how you like them. It would take a lot to pull me away from my LaBella Deep Talking Bass, but I’m always open for new ideas.
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Yeah, that video above showed them sounding very close to the regular slinky’s, so it would be cool if they do.
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Looks like the 9050L 's FlatWounds are unavailable. I’ll have to do some searching…!
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Fender 9050L flatwounds. Have some great punch and good mids. Not muddy. I tried the LaBellas 760FL and found the E string to be dull and lifeless. Fender’s come at a good price. Ugh, just checked and looks like out of stock everywhere. Keep looking. I just put a new set on 2 weeks ago. They also sound great with a pick.
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Really, I’m surprised to see you say that! I use the very similar Labella 760FS-B and love the tone on ALL the strings, including the B and E string. I wonder if there is that much difference between the 760FS and 760FL 
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Possibly just the one string was a dud???
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Ok, it took me a long time to change the strings, but finally got it done today. Verdict: totally awesomely deep deep bass sound, absolutely the sound of Chocolate - a dark dark dark very smooth and rich chocolate. Flats are so smooth and nice, no strings sliding sound. I’m already going to order a spare set of these 
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Did you end up ordering them? How did they end up sounding? Those slinkys were the least dull sounding flats I have ever heard. I generally agree with Gregor’s reviews, too.
Not a huge fan of EB Slinky rounds (prefer D’Addario), but if the slinky flats sound that bright I am pretty impressed.
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