It’s 2022 which flatwound strings are you using on your Starfire Bass?

[chazmo]

Wow. I can't believe it. A bass string thread!

 

[GGJaguar]

Wow. I can't believe it. A bass string thread!

But a very specialized bass string thread.

 

[James Hart]

I don't have a Starfire bass yet, but my fretless 6 string version of a 51 P bass has TI Jazz flats and I'm completely in love with them.

 

[mellowgerman]

My red 1970 still leads the pack with the wonderfully delicious tone the Maxima flats provide there, but I just picked up a set of Labella copper white tapewounds, which I am debating installing on my sunburst 1967. If I go this route (since that one is my heavily modified Starfire) I am debating making a new tailpiece that extends farther behind the bridge, so I can accommodate long-scale options as well. Some long-scale strings work totally fine on the short scale of the Starfire, but in a newby mistake about a decade ago, I did have a Labella Deep Talking flatwound E string explode one the main outer winding started to go around the tuning post. These tapewounds are WAY more supple and would likely be fine, but I am hesitant to risk it, given that one past Labella experience. Unfortunately, I don't think the copper white tapewounds are available in the appropriate medium scale at this time.

 

[GGJaguar]

Maybe these?

 

[mgod]

TI's sounded great at home but with their softer attack could not penetrate enough onstage for me to be able to hear what I was playing (lotsa competition with drum subs and low keys and 5 vocalists, 2 guitars) so back to Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats 2815 40-95 set. These seem to be the best for my ears regarding flats on all my basses (Ric, Gibson, Guild). Feel great, too. Almost as bright and punchy as rounds.

So TURN UP!

 

[lungimsam]

Im already up very loud and turning up just overdrives my ears and the issue gets worse. I can hear myself but competing with the drums and keys in the subs sometimes I cannot discern the note I am playing. It is a strange phenom. I am loud enough to hear myself but sometimes the notes get indiscernible among the subs in that 110dB environment. I have in ears but The stage noise still comes thru to a degree. So I need a very bright string for the pitch to cut thru clearly.
But I moved the TI’s onto my red Starfire and am enjoying them a lot at home. Their softer, smoother tone helps smooth out my sloppy technique noises! Makes me sound better than I am. So I spend less time thinking about technique and more time thinking about making music. So they are still a very enjoyable string. Since the red Starfire has 1M pots I may try them on this bass onstage and see if this harness helps with the clarity better. They sound fantastic played with a pic, too.!!

 

[fronobulax]

I cannot discern the note I am playing.

In my early days when my only bass was the JS II, I was both insecure about the pitches I was playing and hearing those pitches. My solution was to use the neck PU only, set the tone at 0 and engage the deep/hard switch so that there were virtually no high frequency components with the dead flats that were my string of choice at the time. Everything was mud but that was what I wanted because it basically made my bass a rhythm instrument with no real harmonic content.

To continue the veer, over the years I have decided my desire to play "the right note" and my sense of what the right note should be, harmonically, is probably overdeveloped. There are many recorded bass lines that briefly include a wrong note or two and I have to deal with the idea that the wrong note harmonically was the right note for some other reason.

(I do understand passing tones so the wrong note is almost always something that is not in the chord and not a passing tone).

 

[Minnesota Flats]

TI's sounded great at home but with their softer attack could not penetrate enough onstage for me to be able to hear what I was playing (lotsa competition with drum subs and low keys and 5 vocalists, 2 guitars) so back to Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats 2815 40-95 set. These seem to be the best for my ears regarding flats on all my basses (Ric, Gibson, Guild). Feel great, too. Almost as bright and punchy as rounds.

A couple of questions:
1)-"Feel-wise", how would you rate the tension of the EB 2815 set, compared to, say, TIs on the looser end of the spectrum and D'Addario Chromes on the stiffer end?

2)-The specs on the Sweetwater page for the 2815 set states that they are "long scale". Elsewhere, I found info that says that EB "long-scale" strings measure 37.25" from ball end to taper. This would seem to indicate that using them on a Starfire would be problematic (since the ball end-to-taper measurement on medium scale Chromes, which fit a Starfire perfectly, is only a bit over 34"). You say the Cobalts work on your Guilds, but maybe you were referring to a 34"-scale Pilot or B-300 series? On a Starfire, M85 or JS (other than the long-scale ones) I would think that the flat windings of these strings would reach up into at least the E and G tuning pegs, making them more prone to breakage. Straighten me out if I'm missing something.

Thanks.

 

[lungimsam]

1) On the Starfire bass, Tension wise the EB 2815 long scale cobalt flats 40-95 (148lbs. Tension) feel in the middle of short scale JF324 TI (128lbs.) flats and 40-95 ECB80 long scale Chromes flats. (163lbs) None of them are floppy at all. They feel pretty close. None feel drastically looser than the other. Medium scale chromes ecb81m (176.94lbs) are a step up in stiffness. So, my hands say those tension numbers are good representations.
2. EB 2815 on the A and d tuners wrap fine. E and B have the speaking part wrapped about a turn on the keys. But nothing ever broke and hopefully never will.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Thanks for your response.

 

[lungimsam]

One thing mellow noted were the thicker tuner shafts of the NS series basses which allows for a larger curve as the strings wind on the tuners and this gentler curve may allow for the long scale strings to work without breaking vs the skinny tuner shafts of the vintage tuners.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Good point.

 

[lungimsam]

But I think the vintage skinny tuning pegs look cooler!!

 

[Happy Face]

But I think the vintage skinny tuning pegs look cooler!!

As you may know, appearance and stage presence is all that matters.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

As you may know, appearance and stage presence is all that matters.

Which is why my Starfire tuning pegs are each illuminated by blindingly bright LEDs...

 

[lungimsam]

Update:
Oh No!! I don’t believe I am writing this! And after years of using long scale flats on my Starfires with no problems!!
As I was removing the low E string from my green Starfire for a string change… it felt brittle and snapped as I was lifting the winds off the tuning post. Like it was ready and about to break anytime. The string broke just at the beginning of the silks. About 1/8” into the silks.You can see the break occurred before the taper. Nooooooooo!!!!!! My Ernie’s !!!!! What will I use now?! EB doesnt make medium scale cobalt flats!!
So I put some Medium scale Ernie roundwounds Slinky’s on for now. They fit great. My TI Jazz flats short scale are on the red Starfire bass and fit, and I am enjoying them on there. So I think the red Starfire will be for those flats and the green Starfire for medium scale rounds. I guess that’s a good solution. One rounds, one flats. The TI’s sound great played with a pic, too.

 

[mellowgerman]

Well, it's not 2022 anymore, but I wanted to point our string-seekers toward this set of Custom-ordered GHS Precision flats, for 32" Medium Scale... I'm not affiliated with the seller and I have no need for them, since I'm pretty settled on what I have. That said, these are flatwounds that have lots of fans, but are normally not available in "medium scale". Price seems like it's probably a lot less than what he paid too. GHS Precision flats are typically considered to have an old-school flatwound tone, so they may not be for folks who want bright flats like the EB Cobalts. Still, plenty of folks swear by them and I don't think I've ever heard about them having any design or quality issues.
I know this is technically something for sale online, but I figured that one of these pre-existing string seeker threads would probably be the best spot to post them. Mods, please don't hesitate to move this if you think it's more appropriate elsewhere!

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ghs-precision-flats.1603049/

 

[lungimsam]

I tried them. Not bright enough for me. Not a bad thing, just not bright flats like the Ernie Cobalts. Darker than LaBellas.

 

[mellowgerman]

I tried them. Not bright enough for me. Not a bad thing, just not bright flats like the Ernie Cobalts. Darker than LaBellas.

Last set I had were long scales on an Epiphone Casady bass and I rather liked them... but I've also learned that strings gelling with one bass doesn't necessarily mean they'll sound equally good on another