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Just got some flatwounds on my Jazz Bass...


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Pretty nice. I picked up a set of Rotosounds earlier and just had a chance to get them on my bass. SUPER smooth feeling. They're a little tacky feeling though - will that go away after I've played them a while?

 

I'm not noticing a huge difference in sound. They're a little thumpier and deeper sounding than the roundwounds I had on. Then again, the Roundwounds were almost four months old. Will the flatwounds just continue to get deeper and thumpier as they break in?

 

One thing I noticed while restringing is that my Jazz Bass has a noticeable amount of fretwear. Now, I'm not hard on it at all, and the bass is only four months old. Is it normal to see small grooves in the frets under the strings? They aren't extremely deep, but, like I said, they're definitely noticeable. If this isn't normal, does it require immediate attention? Will the small grooves affect anything?

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I can't say anything about flats since I've never really used them. But, as far as fretwear goes, I have decent amount on my 3 month old bass. Quite discouraging, but I guess I bought the bass to play. So, I'm ok with that.
:)

 

Can small amounts of fretwear like this cause any harm, or will it pretty much not affect anything until it gets worse?

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Bump. Can anyone answer my other questions?

 

the strings will get less grabby over the next few days (with about an hour of play each day at least). if you are that annoyed by it get some mineral oil on your palm and run it up and down the legnth of the strings.

 

i have not played rotos but have played Dadd chromes and fender flats, they are a little bright at first but as they break in they will get thumpier. try backing off your tone knob if that is a huge issue as well.

 

welcome to the flatside :love:

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Oh, yeah. Do you have stainless steel strings or nickel plated? I hear stainless steel strings are harder on your frets. Something to note.

 

 

I had nickels. I'm not sure what the flats are - They're the Rotosound Jazz Bass Flats. I think they're nickel as well.

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the strings will get less grabby over the next few days (with about an hour of play each day at least). if you are that annoyed by it get some mineral oil on your palm and run it up and down the legnth of the strings.


i have not played rotos but have played Dadd chromes and fender flats, they are a little bright at first but as they break in they will get thumpier. try backing off your tone knob if that is a huge issue as well.


welcome to the flatside
:love:

 

Thanks for the info. I'm not annoyed enough to put mineral oil on them, so I'll just wait out the next couple days.

 

Good to know that they'll get thumpier once they break in as well. :thu:

 

So far, I'm loving the flats and looking forward to not needing to change them for a long time. :wave:

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the fenders are stainless but i think the round outter wrapping is what chews up the frets on round wounds, daddario chromes are stainless as well.

 

I've always figured rounds would chew through frets a lot faster than flats because of the outer wrap. It chews through fretboards on fretless necks, so why not frets as well?

 

I still can't figure out what the Rotosounds are. :freak: It doesn't say if they're nickel or steel on MF, but there is a specific set of strings that are labeled as nickel. :idk:

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Roto flats are perhaps the brightest (and highest tension) flats I have tried. Not sure how thumpy they are going to become. Very close to roundwounds in sound. They will become less tacky.

 

If you're looking for a real difference in sound from rounds to flats, I suggest La Bella or Fender for really thumpy flat sound. I suggest a lighter gauge; easier on the hands and not much difference in sound.

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Roto flats are perhaps the brightest (and highest tension) flats I have tried. Not sure how thumpy they are going to become. Very close to roundwounds in sound. They will become less tacky.


If you're looking for a real difference in sound from rounds to flats, I suggest La Bella or Fender for really thumpy flat sound. I suggest a lighter gauge; easier on the hands and not much difference in sound.

 

 

I did notice that they are REALLY high tension, which I actually like.

 

I lowered the action WAY down as well. The bass plays like butter now.

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I didn't think that flats would ever be my thing, but now I have them on all 3 of my basses. I think I like chromes best, the EB SS flats are good too(I think they may be the same string as the Chromes) I also have Fender flats on my fretless. I may have to try the Roto's next.

 

I found I like the smooth feel, after a few (4) hours of play all 3 pairs were a lot less grabby. The chomes and EBs were a lot brighter than I thought they would be, but they are settling in nicely.:thu:

 

The reason I tried flats was that I don't like the zing of new rounds. After a few weeks when they were mostly dead I started to enjoy them.

 

:wave:

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Pretty nice. I picked up a set of Rotosounds earlier and just had a chance to get them on my bass. SUPER smooth feeling. They're a little tacky feeling though - will that go away after I've played them a while?


I'm not noticing a huge difference in sound. They're a little thumpier and deeper sounding than the roundwounds I had on. Then again, the Roundwounds were almost four months old. Will the flatwounds just continue to get deeper and thumpier as they break in?


One thing I noticed while restringing is that my Jazz Bass has a noticeable amount of fretwear. Now, I'm not hard on it at all, and the bass is only four months old. Is it normal to see small grooves in the frets under the strings? They aren't extremely deep, but, like I said, they're definitely noticeable. If this isn't normal, does it require immediate attention? Will the small grooves affect anything?

 

 

 

A couple drops of 3-in1 oil on your palm will fix dat. Or you can wipe the oil on them with a cloth. Fast Fret has white mineral oil in it if you prefer a ready to use product. I've used Rotosound Jazz stings forever and I think they sound fantastic.

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