TI Flats low B string - less sustain/harmonics?

gillento

gillento

Oct 15, 2005
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Luxembourg, Europe
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Nordstrand pickups
#1
Hi,
I have a set of TI Flats on my 35" Reverend R5L.
The low B string has less harmonics and its sustain is shorter.

Yes, I checked the distance to the pickups and I don't have this issue with other strings (rounds or flats).

Have others experienced as well? Any workarounds?
 
#3
IME, some string sets have B strings that don't work well on particular basses- put that same set on a different bass, and it works out fine. It might have to do with overall tension of the string set, and a particular basses build. For instance, a La Bella Deep Talkin' B string didn't work with bass x, I put the same set on bass y- it sounded fine. I also tried that same B string on bass x again, but this time, kept the E through G strings a DR set of rounds that had higher overall tension on the neck, and the B string that was weak with the rest of the La Bella set worked fine with those strings higher tension. You might have to go with higher tension flats, such as DAddario Chromes, to find a flat wound B that works with your Reverend- or try another TI B string, but you may well find that the bass itself doesn't like the low string tension of the TI set, and won't be able to support the B- that's my experience through experimentation at least.
 
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#4
Flatwound B-strings can definitely be touchy, and a mix and match approach can be worth considering. Right now I have a set of Sadowsky flatwounds for the top four strings but a Fender 0.125 tapered B, as it's the most playable flatwound B I've found so far on my particular bass.
 
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#7
IMO and experience.............I've not yet heard a decent open B sound. The low D sounds good but anything lower than D just doesn't sound good to my ears. Now maybe the problem I've had with not hearing a decent open B has something to do with the cabs. Pretty much most bass cabs can only produce the harmonics of the low B and fail at hitting 31 hz.

36 inch scale? There's a lot to be said for the design of the Dingwall fanned frets.

dingwall_superJ5.jpg
 
#8
bassdude51 said:
Now maybe the problem I've had with not hearing a decent open B has something to do with the cabs. Pretty much most bass cabs can only produce the harmonics of the low B and fail at hitting 31 hz.
Click to expand...
Reproducing the fundamental is unimportant for such low notes, very little energy is in the fundamental anyway compared to the harmonics, 31Hz is so low it doesn't contribute much to 'good tone'. A Dingwall or Kalium Quake 40" scale B will sound amazing through an average cabinet.
The B issue is due to stiffness, because the width of the string is becoming significant relative to the length, the only solutions are more flexible strings or longer scales.
 
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#9
Martin Beer said:
Flatwound B-strings can definitely be touchy, and a mix and match approach can be worth considering. Right now I have a set of Sadowsky flatwounds for the top four strings but a Fender 0.125 tapered B, as it's the most playable flatwound B I've found so far on my particular bass.
Click to expand...

The Fender low B is the one I tried with that TI set. But is sounds darker than the other 4 ...

Looking to get a set of the new Blue Label Sadowsky flats..... impossible to find in Europe, though.
 
#10
gillento said:
Hi,
I have a set of TI Flats on my 35" Reverend R5L.
The low B string has less harmonics and its sustain is shorter.

Yes, I checked the distance to the pickups and I don't have this issue with other strings (rounds or flats).

Have others experienced as well? Any workarounds?
Click to expand...
Hi, how long have those strings been mounted on that bass?
 
#14
It won't, but the other 4 strings will go deader and any difference will be less obvious by then.
That said, my only experience with 5 string flats was with Sadowsky Black Labels. The B string had the same attack of the other strings, just a bit of a quicker decay, especially when playing near the bridge. Overall, the consistency was very good though.
 
#16
gillento said:
Hi,
I have a set of TI Flats on my 35" Reverend R5L.
The low B string has less harmonics and its sustain is shorter.

Yes, I checked the distance to the pickups and I don't have this issue with other strings (rounds or flats).

Have others experienced as well? Any workarounds?
Click to expand...
I would just try a single B string from a different set to find what works.
 
#17
gillento said:
Hi,
I have a set of TI Flats on my 35" Reverend R5L.
The low B string has less harmonics and its sustain is shorter.

Yes, I checked the distance to the pickups and I don't have this issue with other strings (rounds or flats).

Have others experienced as well? Any workarounds?
Click to expand...
TI's tend to have that problem with the E string sometimes as well. Play it for 2 months and the problem will be gone
 
#18
ale29 said:
It won't, but the other 4 strings will go deader and any difference will be less obvious by then.
That said, my only experience with 5 string flats was with Sadowsky Black Labels. The B string had the same attack of the other strings, just a bit of a quicker decay, especially when playing near the bridge. Overall, the consistency was very good though.
Click to expand...

My experience is the same. I have a set of Black Label flats on my L2500 and I'm not sure how it could be better for consistency. The low B is great. But it is a G&L after all.
 
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#20
ixlramp said:
Reproducing the fundamental is unimportant for such low notes, very little energy is in the fundamental anyway compared to the harmonics, 31Hz is so low it doesn't contribute much to 'good tone'. A Dingwall or Kalium Quake 40" scale B will sound amazing through an average cabinet.
The B issue is due to stiffness, because the width of the string is becoming significant relative to the length, the only solutions are more flexible strings or longer scales.
Click to expand...
40" scale?, holy shnikees! :bag:. Do they come with go go gadget finger extensions?.
 
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