String recommendation?

My go-to strings are D'Addario Chromes. They're readily available, cheap, and sound fantastic after 3 gigs. They also hold their tuning & intonation for a very long time. I have a shoebox full of new & used ones.

I have a nice worn-in set of Chromes in my '67 SFI currently, but I don't like the feel. Not stiff enough, due to the short scale I reckon.

I'm looking for recommendations for a nice taut, fat, thumpy flatwound, especially for the E string. What's the answer here? LaBella? Pyramid?

Thanks!

Pyramids have more tension than TI Jazz Flats. But I'm not sure about the thump.

Sadly, they are expensive to try. I lucked out and bought a lightly used set on TB. They are on my JS-II. I like the feel of them and prefer them to TIs on the D and G strings. But not sold on the E and A. Perhaps not the "thump" you are looking for. But you'd have to try 'em yourself to be sure.

(If I get inspired to try out a hybrid set, I could send you the E string to try. But don't hold your breath. It would not be until January, if at all...)

And can someone confirm if one cannot simply cut long scale strings to use on a medium or shortscale bass?
I have heard you cannot do this or the strings will break at the tuning post.
Maybe that is just for LaBella Flats. That is what I heard about them.

lungimsam said:

And can someone confirm if one cannot simply cut long scale strings to use on a medium or shortscale bass?
I have heard you cannot do this or the strings will break at the tuning post.
Maybe that is just for LaBella Flats. That is what I heard about them.

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Frono pointed out ina similar thread to this that the strings may tapered at the ends to be able to fit into the tuning peg holes, so if simply cut off, may no longer fit..besides the unraveling of winding problem.

lungimsam said:

And can someone confirm if one cannot simply cut long scale strings to use on a medium or shortscale bass?
I have heard you cannot do this or the strings will break at the tuning post.
Maybe that is just for LaBella Flats. That is what I heard about them.

Click to expand...

My patience with this particular question is exhausted because strings of the correct length are readily available. If cutting long strings is even an option then you are a cheapskate or in a part of the world seriously lacking in modern amenities, such as mail order. Snarkiness aside, I did report elsewhere that when I was a cheapskate and cut a set of long strings (cause they were free to me) the flat winding unraveled and I decided the strings were no longer usable. I did it once but would not do it again.

Well this is odd. For whatever reason, I decided to try some rounds on my SFI, the same set of strings that were on it when I checked it out in the shop initially. I am much happier with the feel and tone this far! The Chromes were really thuddy and lifeless , and tended to be a bit "farty" when I dug in too hard - these rounds, whatever they are, add a much livelier low-end response to the bass and respond much nicer to harder playing.

As I mentioned, I only ever use flatwounds and it has been this way for several years. I'll follow up after this weekend's gigs to see if it's a fluke or not.

You CAN cut flats to fit, but you have to be very careful. The key is to put at least a 90º bend in the string before you cut it. The bend helps keep the windings in place. Then you have to carefully put the string into the hole in the machine without unraveling the winding. It's a pain and pretty much not needed if you can buy strings sized correctly for your bass. Also it depends on the size of the tuning machines. Large rollers like Fender, Lakland, Music Man, etc. use on their basses will be OK. Smaller rollers like the Schallers and Gotohs used on Guild Pilot basses would be a bad choice for cut flats.

As to the original question- I've never used Chromes, but the consensus on Talk Bass is that they're brighter flats than most. My favorite flats are GHS Precision Flats in the roughly 45-105 gauge set (I don't know the exact gauges because it's been so long since I put them on the Precisions- at least five years). I like them because they have a definite note in them- I play bass, not a kick drum and to fulfill the bass' role you simply MUST hear a precise and definite note. I've used a couple of set of LaBella flats over the decades I've been a bass player (started in '76) and both the "Deep Talkin' Bass" and "Old Originals (now marketed as the Jamerson set?) have all the thump you'd want out of a bass, but after a short while they didn't have a note in the thump- sounded more like a big dog turd hitting a hot sidewalk.

The other flats I've used include:
Fender 850s (the stock string on Fender basses until 1982- they don't make anything like them now- but the Chromes might come close)- I used these for a long time until I started using modified rounds (D'Addario Half-Rounds and GHS Brite-Flats) had a note and thump, but were really stiff strings.

Dean Markley Flats- great sounding and feeling strings, not made any more, quite probably were really GHS flats but Markley now owns their own string winding machines and I used them in the '80s

Fender 950ML (I think) I had them on for three days- putrid awful strings- twangy and clashy in a bad way and very stiff. Not worth the aggravation of waiting for them to get broken in to see if they'd change.

But don't discount rounds either. I'm a big believer of letting the instrument tell me what works best for it rather than going to it with preconceived ideas of what sounds best on it. New rounds can be very useful, but I really like rounds that are aged a bit to clear some of the "scraping" kind of new string sound but still speak with clarity.

John

I don't like Chromes on my Starfire, but on my Hagström Coronado they are great. Chromes go well with Darkstars, I think. TI flats and bisonics are a match made in heaven, if you can stand the "rubberband" feel. I have read that Sadowsky Black Label Flats have a similar sound to TI flats but with higher tension. I am trying those next.

jte said:

But don't discount rounds either. I'm a big believer of letting the instrument tell me what works best for it rather than going to it with preconceived ideas of what sounds best on it. New rounds can be very useful, but I really like rounds that are aged a bit to clear some of the "scraping" kind of new string sound but still speak with clarity.John

Click to expand...

I usually immediately put TI Jazz Flats on a Starfire the minute I get it. This week I tried TI Jazz Rounds - a revelation. Love 'em. Also have TI Powerbass rounds on one Casady - great. And TI Jazz Flats on the other Casady. I'm actually liking this 3 bass TI mix a lot.

On edit: Back to TI Jazz flats on the 67 Starfire, but the jazz rounds are a great alternative!