Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

bass without overtones sucks ...

haha! I know you have a flatwound bass somewhere hidden in your house Jeff, probably a 5 stringer though. They do have overtones though but not like RW's.
Dean, those Ric strings are the only set I have even seen gauged like that. I recommened the Pyramids although they are a little heavier than stock ric strings and are expensive. They last forever though I have had two sets on two 4003's now for 2 years and they sound as good if not better than new ones, and they are far from dead.

I have a set of Dean Markley flatwound strings ... I am aging them ... they will be ready for installation in 2012 ... then I will start playing in a bee gees tribute band and I will use my mute and my ric-o-sound ... I will quit using my pod and low B and I will get an old vox bass amp ....

sorry I was having a bad dream ....

I heard you were also going to play in a Little Richard tribute band.

I'm going to try a set of flats. Never done that, and I want to see what they sound like under my fingers and thru my equipment. The originals we are writing right now span quite a wide array of genres, from heavy rock to surf to bluegrass. I'm not ruling anything out if I haven't tried it and disliked it yet. That's what backup basses are for, anyhow.

Thanks for the recommendation.

"Slap bass in 500 words or less"

One word..........don't

Dean flats go from very thumpy like Fenders all the way to very bright like rotos and everywhere in between. Pyramids are somewhere in between, have some thump, and not real bright. they have a nice tone, nice midrange, they sound something like Jamerson's sound to me. You might even want tio try a set of Fender light flats, the E is a .095 I'm not sure what the rest of them are, but are probably small enough to put on a Ric without having to file the nut. They will not be sloppy at all if they are anything like the med. lights and meds. They have a nice tone also and last a long time,
I have also heard that Jeff gave them his 'soundsucker' seal of approval.

Thanks, Bob. You and Jeff have a lot of fun with the RW's vs. Flats discussions... perhaps once I've tried the other side I can join in.

Also, sorry if we hijacked the Slap Bass topic....

Bob seems to be on a mission from God to convert every one to flat wound strings ... every other topic fades into non-importance ... no post or topic is safe from this mission ...

as for me ... been there done that and I didn't like it ... thud thud thud sucks sucks sucks ...

Flats sound great on my P bass (Fender 9050s) I don't really like 'em on my 4003 or my Jazz bass. They (flats) do pretty well on my Hofner copy, too. I guess it's pretty much your taste in tone and whether you like sustain, or a duller thump.

I wouldn't dare slap my bass,I would slap the s___ out of my girlfriend though.lol just kidding, really im just kidding.

LOL. Good one Rath.

Hey post 200! Yay!

flats rounds ... it's all subjective ...

actually, after playing with the EQ i was able to get a pretty good Steve Harris like sound with some LaBella flats on my Warwick. and i was also able to get some good death metal tones out of my 4001 that was sporting chromes.

if all you get is "thud thud thud" from flats then you're obviously doing something wrong.

yeah, like not trying them for 43 years, haha! (God told me that)