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Flatwounds and sealed cabs
- Thread starter OOD
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- cabs flatwounds sealed
They only sound dull and lifeless is all! 
Flats and sealed cabs have been my setup for 30 years. If they didn't work well together I'd of changed 30 years ago.
I happen to love flats as much as I do rounds. It's the sealed cab I'm considering getting. The way you described it makes me want a sealed cab more.They’re even worse with a ported cab!
OP in actuality if you like what Flats bring to the table then use them. They won’t harm your cabinets any more than WW would.
In January 1968 I bought my Precision. It arrived sans strings which was fine by me as I immediately installed Rotosounds. The bass is long retired but reading about flats and the B15 I dragged it out and installed a set of flats. A couple of notes and I remembered why I had left flats behind all those years ago. Wires did mess up the frets as, in 1963, Fender were using a thin, soft fret wire. I had the neck dressed and switched to GHS Brite Flats which had the sound, almost, of wires but without the wear on the frets.
In January 1968 I bought my Precision. It arrived sans strings which was fine by me as I immediately installed Rotosounds. The bass is long retired but reading about flats and the B15 I dragged it out and installed a set of flats. A couple of notes and I remembered why I had left flats behind all those years ago. Wires did mess up the frets as, in 1963, Fender were using a thin, soft fret wire. I had the neck dressed and switched to GHS Brite Flats which had the sound, almost, of wires but without the wear on the frets.
Sealed cabs in my mind make flatwounds better because they have more clarity.
I enjoy sealed cabs and flatwounds. have both in my rig currently (and have had them in previous rigs for a while). I think they pair well together, tube head makes it the holy trinity
)Not speaking to the OP) - If they sound dull and lifeless then why does every round wound player say my sound is so good? Why did Steve Harris use them? Cliff Williams? Yeah if you only have one bass then stick with whichever strings you like. If you have two and one is a P, flats give a great option punch the fundamental right through the mix minus all the overtone muckety muck.
OP: Rock them through any cab you have friend.
OP: Rock them through any cab you have friend.
Hofner with flats, tube head (or good substitute, i.e. RH750) and a 215 sealed cab is my favorite setup!! I have several basses strung with flats, and all sound good with sealed cabs.
They only sound dull and lifeless is all!
Maybe in your hands, they do. Not in mine. Tone, as they say, is in the fingers.
Flatwound strings will not harm any kind of cabinet, sealed or otherwise. The only thing flatwounds can possibly harm is the neck of your bass, since they require higher tension, and if your bass isn't constructed robustly enough, you may have problems with the neck. As Fender basses were originally designed to use flatwound strings, if you play a 4-string Precision or Jazz Bass, you are unlikely to experience any issues with flatwound strings.
I highly recommend Rotosound Jazz Bass 77 flatwound Monel strings. They are all I use on my StingRay. On my Corvette Proline, I use nickel wound, steel core cello strings, which are also flatwound, D'Addario Prelude.
I highly recommend Rotosound Jazz Bass 77 flatwound Monel strings. They are all I use on my StingRay. On my Corvette Proline, I use nickel wound, steel core cello strings, which are also flatwound, D'Addario Prelude.
Flats last 10 times as long as round wounds! That is partly why they are more expensive.
I've a set of Optima Chrome flats on my P-bass that is 12 years old and still feel/sound great (Pyramids also last forever and sound great).
There are medium tension flats that won't disturb the neck.
ALL 50s basses, and most 60s basses came with flatwound strings! It wasn't until John ("The Ox") Entwistle began stealing piano strings for his bass did we had round wound strings in the mid-to-late 60s! Haha! Roto-Sound worked with him to create the modern round wound bass string (as we know them).
I don't know. I haven't changed them in years. Because they are Monel strings, they are highly corrosion resistant. But, over the years, with all the diffferent basses I've had, I've tried TI Jazz Flats, D'Addario Chromes, Ernie Ball flats, and maybe others. I've liked them all, but I like the Rotos best.
One really nice thing about the Rotos is they come is six-string sets, as well as different tensions, so if you want to play around with fifths tunings or anything out of the ordinary, you can probably put together a set with balanced tension.
Roto 77s are great strings no doubt, but their high tension was not comfortable for me. To solve that, I tuned to DGCF.
I've not tried the rotosounds, but I like the brightness of the diaddario chromes.
I'm not a huge fan of flats, and I honestly only like them on one bass, a '55 p bass replica with a Prima guitars custom wound hot single coil pickup. That bass is the punchiness sounding bass I have. It sounds great through both a sealed or ported Ampeg and GK cabs.
I'm not a huge fan of flats, and I honestly only like them on one bass, a '55 p bass replica with a Prima guitars custom wound hot single coil pickup. That bass is the punchiness sounding bass I have. It sounds great through both a sealed or ported Ampeg and GK cabs.
"Flats" and "sealed" are not enough data points. There are so many variables in the string brands and models, and cab brands and models, that generalizing is only generalizing. Through in technique, style, amp, pickups, and pedals, and it all changes.
