Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Good morning. I wonder if anyone can help me on this one. My darling husband has just spend all our money on a rather gorgeous 4001 bass guitar from '75. He says he needs flat wound strings for it, but as he has never use them before, we don't know were to begin. The question is, Could you recommend us a good brand and suppliers?
Thank you very much.

Good morning! Welcome to the forum!
I use and recommend D'Addario chromes. Your husband must be one lucky guy!

He certainly is, and he better appreciate it!!!
Thank you for your answer. Do you know any mail order service we could get them from, by any chance?

I like Fender 9050 ML's, but they are rather high tension. My 75 4001 sounds fantastic with them, but the neck is bowed a bit much, and frankly I'd rather not mess with the truss rods. I have variously contemplated using 1) lower tension round wounds (and using flats on my 4004-my main bass now), 2) going to the 9050 L's (a lesser guage of the same string I use) or 3) use Tomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats (a VERY low tension string)...

Chromes are good, but I can't say anything about their tension (the main issue with a 70's 4001)...I've only noodled once on them, and they felt great, sounded great, but seemed to me not too much less tension than the ML's...but I could be very wrong on that.

Others use LaBella...they are pricey (like the TI's), but pricey flats tend to be very durable, so in the end you might pay less using those.

Oni, tell your hubby to sign up here...we want to see pics of his 4001!

Pyramid Flats are also good flatwound strings. They deliver a very nice deep sound but cost in the $50 range. I have a set on my 4001v63 and they give a McCartney-esque sound to it.

I like the Chromes also as the set I use is low tension and will not potentially damage the neck, an issue on 4001s because of their design. Get the Super Soft set and your husband will be quite happy.

BTW, that investment will be very much worth it in a few years!

I love the sound and feel of TI flats but have to special order them each time because the local stores don't stock them. They are a lovely low tension flat.

You can order strings from www.juststrings.com. The big online music retailers have them too, but they don't carry every brand.

As far as actual flatwounds go, in my opinion, the Chromes sound great but they're quite high tension, so they're a little difficult to play for someone such as me who likes low tension strings. Rotosound RS77 Flats sound and feel REALLY good, but you run the risk of ending up with dead strings right out of the package (apparently Rotosound has quality control problems). I haven't played any other flats on my Ric.

I say try some LaBella Deep Talking Bass stainless steel flats. They sound just like Pyramids or Rotos or the original Rick flatwound strings. Deep and clear, with a nice crisp top end. And they last forever. Cheaper than Pyramids too!

Another vote for the Pyramids. The GHS Precision flats are also very good. Strings are a personal call, the Chromes, Labella's, and the TI's are all great flats, but IMHO the edge goes to Pyramids or GHS.

Jeffery...D'Addario Chromes are low tension?

Man, playing bridge cables warps your perspective!

I use a set that is the Super Soft set and I replace the .060 D string with a .055 and the set feels almost as low in tension as the TIs I had on my AV '62 Jazz Bass. What guage Chromes are you using?

I have the super soft on my FL Ed.

Pyramids have a fantastic sound. I like TIs on my P-bass, but they didn't sound nearly as good as the Pyramids on my v63.

-a

Oni, you don't know what you have started here!