Harley Benton HQS Bass-5 45-128 Flatwound

Never had flatwounds, and this seemed like an inexpensive way to try them. And it is. First couple of hours is getting used to the texture, different feel of glide and pressure, fingers "stick" to them fair bit more than on rounds, but seems like it gets less with use.

Completely different feeling and sound, I think these improved sound of the HB JP-550OP which has that motown-ish (Aria Detroit?) vibe anyway, but only now it is complete. Very positive experience, these will stay on it for a long time (they say flats last for years) and I will buy a jazz for other types of sound.

Packaging is nice with strings individually packed, and as a bonus, red silk ends on both sides give fancy looks :)

They sound great, feel great, I love 'em, but the low-B was the wrong scale length, so the set was not usable as sold. I have e-mailed Thomann, so I await to see whether their customer service will rescue the situation.

UPDATE: Thomann customer service was great. I messaged late at night and got a response first thing next day. Replacement set shipped the day after. Took about a week to get here, but most of that was spent at UK customs.

Second set has correct length B-string, but the end result is perhaps even more disappointing. The quality is awful. They come coiled in the packet like all strings, but I could hear it sort of crackle as I straightened it, the outer winding is not tight enough and you can feel it moving on the core. Unsurprisingly the string sounds pretty dead. After I wrote the first review I read some of the others and it seems this is not an isolated case (maybe I should have read them first!)

I don't have a 5-string, I bought these to try BEAD tuning on a 4-string. I used the good four strings from the first set in standard EADG and it sounded great, but the B just spoils the whole thing. If you have a 5-string or want to play BEAD the other strings are no good without a B. If you want to play standard 4-string though the 4-string set gets my recommendation!

I have never played a low B before, so I cannot compare it to other strings. I expect a bit less response at that low frequency, but I believe that other strings must be much better than this or 5-strings wouldn't exist.

I bought 2 sets of these flat wound strings for use with 2 different axes. I used the first one on a Harley Benton fretless bass. It was clear from the first pluck that there was a problem with the bass ( bought in the same order as the strings), or the B string. At the time I thought it had to do with the quality of the cheap bass. A couple of days ago I put the second set on a newly purchased mid to high quality Yamaha bass. The B string is dead, as with the other set. So, it is obvious that these strings are faulty. No more Harley Benton strings anymore, as quality is questionable , to say the least!!