Question Which BALL should get the Group III Flats?

[jlepre]

I just got my first set of EBMM Flats, and I am not sure which bass to put them on? I thought for sure I was going to put them on my SR5, but I'm not totally crazy with the tones I'm getting from my 25th.

So now I'm thinking about putting them on my 25th to see if it beefs up the tone.

Any ideas?

 

[Movielife]

Man, not enough beef with the 25th?!

I say try them on the 25th first

 

[Manfloozy]

I think the 25th responds well to flats. It's got a lot of crystal clear top end with slinks but also can have a nice phat low-midrange with flats.

The one thing I'll tell you about the 25th regardless, is that the amount of choices can be discouraging at times. You can get a lot of good tones and some great ones, but you will find ones along the way that won't be your cup of tea. When you find something you like don't be afraid to hang out there for awhile... It's cool sometimes to resist the urge to go exploring... but just sometimes

With that said SRs sound great with Group IIIs!

 

[jlepre]

Thanks Matt,

You didn't really give me a clear cut answer...

 

[Manfloozy]

Thanks Matt,

You didn't really give me a clear cut answer...

Throw them on the 25th..... First.

Don't clip the ends though, if you change your mind, the SR headstock I'd longer.

I personally have Slinkys on the 25th now, but I went through the exact same thing that you are going through right now multiple time with my various 25ths.

I've got some sound samples with rounds and flats you can use for comparison... I'll also send you a more detailed reply when I get to a computer (posting from iPhone ATM).

I honestly think you'll need to try flats on the 25th. But I also think you may put rounds back on in the long run. You get to hear more variation in tones with the rounds.... This is why they went back on for me.

 

[projectapollo]

I'm like Matt. Tried flats on the 25th, but came back to slinkys. The 25th has that expressive singing quality that suits the harmonics of rounds. And you have the passive option to reel in the brittleness of rounds a bit. On the other hand, I often feel the SR sound needs to be tamed a bit for my taste and flats match up perfectly for me on the SR.

 

[MrMusashi]

hehe.. i dont understand the question.. you should try it on both basses and see which one you like the best

MrM

 

[drTStingray]

hehe.. i dont understand the question.. you should try it on both basses and see which one you like the best

MrM

+ 1 - and I voted SR5

 

[adouglas]

Mix the sets. Half and half on each bass.

Hey, it's an idea.

Maybe not a good idea, but an idea.

 

[projectapollo]

Matt let me borrow his Roasted Bongo outfitted with these labella black nylon tape wound jobbies. They were really really nice. Being nylon, I expected them to be very muted, but no. Plenty of brightness. And the feel was really good. Looked great on the roasted black sugar package, too. I tried them on the 25th and was really pleased with that matchup, as well. Just some recent user experimenting to consider. In all, I've had three sets of flats on the 25th. TI, group 3, and the nylon tape things. The nylons matched up the best for me. I think I have to buy me a set.

 

[jlepre]

Well so far I'm leaning toward putting the flats on the SR5. I think I will put new rounds on the 25th to see if that gives me a little more ZING. The 25th was purchased new from a local dealer, but it sat for over a year. I'm thinking with the original strings, they may have deadened over the months.

Thanks all for you input.

 

[danny-79]

No 25th to comment against but tried a set of group IIIs on my Stingray a while back, played them in, played a bit more then put them on the other Stingray.
Gotta try them just for trying them but weren't for me so rounds all the way !
Put them on the bass that has the longest headstock first !

 

[MattOfSweden]

I'd definitely put the flats on the 25th HSS, even though flats for sure would work nicely on your SR5 as well. Right or wrong, to me a Stingray sounds the best with rounds (even though I tend to have flat periods also on my SR's) but above all the 25th HSS works wonderfully with flats.