Dear CHURCHBASSists:

I was in Seattle on Saturday & was able to get a few minutes at Bass NW. What a store! Marc & Jeff et al., you are really fortunate. I've been wanting to try the Thomastik Jazz Flats for a while & they had them in stock at 1/2 list ($31.95 -- ouch, is it the Austrian import factor?). Anyway, I got a set & used them in the church services yesterday & was impressed. More input from the band members is needed, but to my ears they were lively for flatwounds, with a strong, focused fundamental. They seem to fill the "bass space" better, with less blurring & frequency-clashing with piano & guitars. They also have better sustain than I expected.

Back at home, I did some more experimentation with amp & EQ settings (SWR Workingman's 160 head with custom 1x12+tweeter). Observations:

* a flat EQ on the amp (bass, lower & upper mid, treble) provides a very pleasing & balanced sound. With roundwounds, I prefer to scoop out the mids.
* With the amp settings still flat, I can add high-end clarity by using the "transparency" setting. I have never liked this knob with roundwounds due to finger & fret noise.
* Sadowsky preamp -- keeping the flat setting on the SWR (but turning transparency down again), I boosted the bass & treble all the way up & the sound was huge without losing balance or musicality. I can't use this much bass boost in church (boomy space) but am looking forward to trying it outdoors or in some other settings. Reggae, anyone?

Any other flatwound users out there, or thoughts on flatwounds, Thomastiks in particular? Thanks for any advice/comment,

Andrew

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