Optima 4099 Flatwound

I got these for a Jazz Bass and I absolutely love them. They are sort of midway between Pyramid Golds and Rotosound 77s.

-Not quite as thumpy as the Pyramids, more sustain (and not the characteristic "dead" E-string of the Pyramids).

-Slightly fatter, warmer sound than Rotosound 77s (and not the clanky, metallic sounding E-string that never seems to mellow out).

And yet they kinda remind me a bit of both. Certainly much closer to Pyramids/Rotos than say LaBellas or GHS flats.

To give an idea how they sound: On my Jazz Bass I would say they are pretty close to but SLIGHTLY fatter/thumpier than early Zeppelin/JPJ.

Tonal balance is more even across the strings than with either the Pyramids or the Rotosounds. These Optima flats are better allrounders then either of those in my opinion (but of course this also means they are lacking some of the quirky charm of the Pyramids/Rotos).

Tension feels high but not extreme. These are not very flexible strings though. If you like your strings light and flexible you probably won't like these.

Highly recommended if you like old school flats with a very "European" vibe. Especially if you wish your Pyramids Gold were slightly less thumpy or that your Roto 77s were just a tad warmer/fatter.

I bought these so I could use a bow on my fretless bass and they work really well, totally performing as I had hoped they would. The tone is deep and bright and the strings have a good feel in general for normal play aswell - I prefer them, certainly for fretless, for all play.

Roundwound strings, which my bass was fitted with prior to stringing with these, are not good for bowing and sound "just wrong" when you try. They also bite through the bow hair a lot quicker. In contrast, these flatwounds really work well with my cello bow. (don't get confused, I'm still talking about my fretless bass but I use a cello bow to play it with, I'm not all of a sudden talking about a cello)

These are good, strong strings that hold their tone for a sensible amount of time. Certainly recommended for fretless bass playing of all kinds in general.