Fretless string review--GHS Brite Flats

[cassius987]

I thought I'd review these strings for curious players. String choices for fretless Ric basses are often a little harder than for other fretlesses because a lot of people worry not just about chewing up the wood, but also the finish. I bought these strings with some trepidation but so far they are working out.

Here are the gauges: .043''-.056''-.077''-.103''

Wrap/feel: These strings live up to the concept of a "intermediate" between flats and rounds. They are very finely dulled down from a roundwound wrap of Alloy 52, presumably over a steel core, to a near-flat like feel. You can see and feel the diminished roundwound texture of the wrap as you play the strings, but unlike my experience with D'Addario Half-Rounds, these are not the least bit "grabby" or "catchy" because of the process of being ground down. Whatever GHS is doing differently, it is really working. My fingers quickly "rethink" these into either flats or rounds depending on how much I dig in with my right hand--which leads me to my second point.

Sound: Impressive to say the least. Played gently, these may as well be a solid set of dedicated flats. I can Jamerson my way through any gig with these Brite Flats and never arouse suspicion. However, they respond to aggression by transforming into true-sounding rounds--you can really ape Jaco's Rotosound tone, or, as I have been doing a lot of with Scott Pope's 4002 bridge pickup in the neck position of my 4003FL, Chris Squire's "Roundabout" Toaster tone. If you have good control of your plucking (or picking) hand, you can "turn the tone around" on a dime. I would have never, ever guessed the range in the tone would be so wide.

Wear: After a brief setup I am still pleased with how the strings are treating the finish of my 4003FL's fingerboard. I was worried that the finish would get chewed up (I'm fairly confident the wood simply won't be), every night before I put the bass away I check for marks and there is nothing out of the ordinary (all strings will leave some compression marks, even TIs or Pyramids). I would say these are road worthy as it were.

Other comments: Price is nice, and the strings seem like they'll last quite a while. They'll probably warm up a tad with time and take on a slightly more flats-like character, but then again, by playing them softly half of the time it probably extends their brightness. I also make sure to give them a quick wipe down after each session.

I now have to choose between these and LaBella Deep Talkin' Flats for my 4003FL. Man, that is a TOUGH call.

[rickenbrother]

I love the way you write up reviews.

I've never used these strings. Is the section of the strings that goes over the pickups dulled down from flatwound as well? The last set of D'Addario Half Rounds that I had used, were ground down over the neck portion of the strings, but left round wound over the body.

[FretlessOnly]

If you're saying that these are in a dead-heat with LaBella DTB Flats, I suppose I'm going to have to check these out.

[antipodean]

Great review Josh! I have these on my fretless Maton and they sound great, feel even better, and are long-lasting (five years old). They also sound great on fretted basses!

[cassius987]

I've never used these strings. Is the section of the strings that goes over the pickups dulled down from flatwound as well? The last set of D'Addario Half Rounds that I had used, were ground down over the neck portion of the strings, but left round wound over the body.

The entire string is consistent. I was unaware of that feature of Half Rounds; I found them too grabby. They probably have a bit more "round character" to them than these strings but for me the feel of the Brite Flats is so very very worth it.

I've got 4 minutes of an 8-10 minute tone/pickup review recorded with my 4003FL using these strings. It's going well and I can't wait to share it.

[rickenbrother]

Looking forward to hearing it!

[paul_yan]

Excellent review, Joshua!

[mattj1stc]

Great review. I've used these strings (the .49-.108 version) on my fretless P bass for the last year, and I agree with everything you've said. They're long lasting, they sound and feel great, and they're easy on the fingerboard as well.

[FretlessOnly]

After a less than satisfactory rehearsal experience Sunday, using my 4003FL with Deep Talkin' Jazz Flats (45-105), I decided to slap on the set of nylon wounds that came with my '76 Precision when I bought it about two months ago. Although I liked them on the Precision, the neck needed more tension to put some relief into it, so I took them off and replaced them with some aforementioned Deep Talkin' Jazz Flats.

Problem is, I don't know what make these strings are. According to the guy I bought my Precision from, they were on the P-bass when he bought it back in '97 and he played it only very rarely and never changed the strings. They seem similar to the Fender nylon flat set (9120M), but according to my calipers, they don't match up. The 9120s don't appear to have black silk wraps either (I haven't opened the plastic pak yet). In any case, these feel and sound great on my 4003FL - although I wish the E had more tension. Look good too:

[cassius987]

After a less than satisfactory rehearsal experience Sunday, using my 4003FL with Deep Talkin' Jazz Flats (45-105)

Was it not projecting enough? The 4003FL's stock "woody" tone is harder to amplify in a rock band IMO, it's so bassy and woofy it belongs in jazz and country more so. The Brite Flats do help give it some projection though.

[rickenbrother]

The black tapewound strings do look cool on your Rick, John!

Does anyone know which brand of string has flatwounds with orange silk wrap on the post end of the strings? I've just seen that for the first time last week.

[FretlessOnly]

Was it not projecting enough? The 4003FL's stock "woody" tone is harder to amplify in a rock band IMO, it's so bassy and woofy it belongs in jazz and country more so. The Brite Flats do help give it some projection though.

I'm not sure if it was just a matter of having been playing my Warwick very hard for an hour an a half and my fingers got sensitive (I play very hard at times), so that when I strapped on my 4003FL for the second half of the three-hour rehearsal, everything just felt tight and dead - so yes, projection probably had something to do with it. That and the SVT rig in the rehearsal space has grown old on me quickly. I much prefer my drop-dead clean GK set-up.

Anyway, I've been chompin' at the bit to put these 13+-year old strings back on a bass after I had to take them off my '76 P, and given my recent makeover on my MID 4003FL, it seemed a good fit. Of course, with my basement getting submerged by an over-zealous water table the past three days, I haven't even had a chance to plug in with the string change yet.