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Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 6:13 am
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flatwounds with proper care would last a lifetime.. err think james jamerson's labellas.. he never got to change his strings..

as for rounds they'd die around 6-8 months...

currently I'm liking the DR sun beams and hi beams.. but still Chromes on my jazz..


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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 11:03 pm
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Padukah,
can you elaborate on that string angle issue? I don't understand.


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Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 5:09 am
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Location: Alabama, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Tennessee seasonally
Certainly - If the neck to string height is TOO high (as set from your bridge) not only does it take more finger pressure to press the string into the frets, but the angle at which the string hits the fret is a bit too steep. That pressure and stretching over time on the fret can cause wear at the string to fret contact point and start to cause the outer windings to separate - giving the player some nasty metal splinters in the fingertips. Always follow the guitar manufacturer's recommendations for string to neck height settings to reduce this issue and strings will last much longer and will be easier on you in the process.

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Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 8:31 am
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Ah ha! That may explain why I have been getting tiny splinters! I keep my low e and a strings about 2/64 and 1/64, respectively, higher than they recommend. I have also been feeling a pinch in my fingertip when I play sometimes. How did you hear about this? Does this only happen with flats?


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Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 9:17 am
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Actually, it is a good rule of thumb (no pun intended) for all strings. Flatwounds are the least affected by this phenomenon and full Roundwounds are most affected. Think about it this way: Roundwounds have a rough surface with peaks and valleys in the overwind. These valleys are what gets pressed into the frets and causes a further widening of that valley with time... almost like a wedge. As that gap in the overwind gets larger, you can start to see a wear mark at that point and eventually the overwind at that wear point will break leaving micro shards of stainless steel to do a number on your fingers. The FLATWOUNDS have very little overwind peak and valley and are much less prone to this wear.

I'm not only a bassist, but a technical student of general bass guitar maintenance and set up - Others have written about this problem for the past 60 years or so, but most bassists have never taken the time to learn about this from the technical standpoint.

Thanks for the questions.

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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 5:12 pm
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Ive been playing Flat Wound Strings on a P Bass for @40yrs.
If you play blues,Classic Rock They fill the Rythmn Section well.
Probably not so good on Alt,Garage Rock,ect.Not Bright enough.
But if you take a P Bass,with Fender Mid Weight Flats,Any Solid State Bass Amp w/an 18" Speaker(Preferably an Acoustic 360),You can literally turn the air into Cream Cheeze!!
Very Thick!!
Best of luck
"Remember if you can't say something nice,say something surrealistic"


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:21 pm
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LaBella Deep Talkin' Bass flats are the best string for fretless, IMO.


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Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 4:49 am
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I agree,I have small hands and While they sound great(Motown comes to mind.If James liked them they're ok by me)I had to give a little on the sound end to play comfortably.In the day,Fender was about all there was available.These days,You can get just about anything you want.
Enjoy the variety


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Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 9:33 am
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IMO flats rock on the P basses esp TI's <3[/u]


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 10:27 pm
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I'm surprized nobody has mentioned half rounds! These are my all-time favorite bass strings to use and that is all I use now. I went through so many brands of roundwound strings when I first started playing bass over 16 years and I always hated how tinny they sounded and how much they chewed my fingers up. I finally broke down and bought a set of flatwounds. Complete opposite! Muddy as hell and they actually hurt my fingers too but just pressure pain, not skin shredding.

I stumbled upon half round strings and was willing to try anything at this point and I'm sure glad I did! For me (and realize that these are not everybody's cup of tea) these had everything I wanted in a bass string. They were comfortable to play on (you still get blisters no matter what strings you play on,) didn't sound too tinny nor too muddy, didn't make as much unwanted string noise like you get from round wounds, and they haven't let me down yet! I personally like the D'Addario Half Rounds (ENR72 .050 .070 .085 .105) I've been playing them exclusively for over 10 years now and I have no desire to try another brand of bass strings.

The only downfalls to these strings are if you like that really bright, tinny tone, these are not for you. However, if you play Classic Rock, Oldies, Classic Country, or Polka and you like that old Motown bass sound, these are where it's at! Depending on where you live, these strings can be tough to find, but somebody always has these for sale on eBay or other music websites. You can usually find them for $25-$30 for a 4 string set. They are well worth the investment as I usually can make a set last between 1-2 years on average. I will clean them maybe twice a year in some denatured alcohol and they are like brand new! Denatured alcohol is a whole nother topic. Great stuff for cleaning your strings! Big time money saver too!

If you have never tried half round strings, I would encourage you to try them at least once. I personally don't like the sound of a brand new set of strings. I have to break them in for like 1-2 months before I get rid of that "edge" that just cuts through. Good luck string hunting and hope you find the sound you are looking for!


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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 10:31 pm
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One other note about my equipment: I play a Fender 1960's Relic Jazz Bass ('97 Cunetto) through my Eden WT-400 amp and Eden D410XLT cabinet. Like butta!


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 11:04 pm
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polkaman81 wrote:
I'm surprized nobody has mentioned half rounds! These are my all-time favorite bass strings to use and that is all I use now. I went through so many brands of roundwound strings when I first started playing bass over 16 years and I always hated how tinny they sounded and how much they chewed my fingers up. I finally broke down and bought a set of flatwounds. Complete opposite! Muddy as hell and they actually hurt my fingers too but just pressure pain, not skin shredding.

I stumbled upon half round strings and was willing to try anything at this point and I'm sure glad I did! For me (and realize that these are not everybody's cup of tea) these had everything I wanted in a bass string. They were comfortable to play on (you still get blisters no matter what strings you play on,) didn't sound too tinny nor too muddy, didn't make as much unwanted string noise like you get from round wounds, and they haven't let me down yet! I personally like the D'Addario Half Rounds (ENR72 .050 .070 .085 .105) I've been playing them exclusively for over 10 years now and I have no desire to try another brand of bass strings.

The only downfalls to these strings are if you like that really bright, tinny tone, these are not for you. However, if you play Classic Rock, Oldies, Classic Country, or Polka and you like that old Motown bass sound, these are where it's at! Depending on where you live, these strings can be tough to find, but somebody always has these for sale on eBay or other music websites. You can usually find them for $25-$30 for a 4 string set. They are well worth the investment as I usually can make a set last between 1-2 years on average. I will clean them maybe twice a year in some denatured alcohol and they are like brand new! Denatured alcohol is a whole nother topic. Great stuff for cleaning your strings! Big time money saver too!

If you have never tried half round strings, I would encourage you to try them at least once. I personally don't like the sound of a brand new set of strings. I have to break them in for like 1-2 months before I get rid of that "edge" that just cuts through. Good luck string hunting and hope you find the sound you are looking for!


I agree, I started using them recently and for me they're a great improvement over roundwounds. I have a new Am. Std. P-Bass on order(Oly wht. w/ maple fingerboard neck) and it won't leave the shop until it's re-strung!


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Post subject:
Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:56 am
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hi all.
first time on here. ive been using flats since 1970. in 1979, la bella discontinued the real flat wounds they made. the flats jamerson and all used were not the same as deep talking or boomers. they came in a big white rapper and when you pulled them out of the package, they would spring straight out. these were very huge high tension strings. i believe the e was size 120 and the g 60. this may seem tedious info but, i believe that they were made of a diferent steel/nickle mix as well.
the basses at the time were made with wimpy necks and couldnt withstand the tension well. i think that is why they were changed.
i had a 64 jazz bass at the time and i loved those strings! when new, they actualy sounded as bright as rounds but had tons more low end. you had to realy play hard for week to tame the high end. when deep talking came out, the first thing i noticed was that they sounded very dead, no tension so my had too much relief, and they broke easily. boomers are the worst flats ever made. they take a round and file em down i think. as for not slapping on flats, tell that to larry graham, who invented slapping on bass.


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