Nah, I don't think mandolin strings will help your lows  
 
Peter

Seriously though, Grankin, I use TI jazz flats and find they sound quite bright and articulate on my Epic fretless and my 81 Distillate.
Mike

cozmik cowboy sez:  
>Nah, I don't think mandolin strings will help your >lows  
 
Jeez, Not even if I tie several of 'em together?  Damn!  Another plan, foiled!
 
Thanks to dadabass2001.  Will try a set.

Some video of my SC bass with the Chromes
 
grankin, just be aware that the TI Jazz Flats are very low tension - not necessarily a bad thing, but something to keep in mind.
 
Now that my Chromes experiment has been 95% successful (need a .065 D string instead of the .070), I'm going to try Rotosound Jazz Bass Monel flatwounds.
 
 

I'm a long time D'Addario Chrome user but moved happily to Ernie Ball flats which don't have the windings at the bottom which can give trouble trhreading though the bridge holes.  Great smooth feel and sound

Hey Harry,you won'nt go wrong with the Roto Flats,I've been useing them for years on my S2and Essence

Yeah, I'm getting psyched! You know you're a bass geek when changing strings is exciting! Well, actually it makes sense, it means my bass will be in my hands that much more. I polished it today after the weekend...

Tried Rotosound flats on my defretted Epic - must have been the RS77LD set. For me they were absolutely horrible: very high tension, uncomfortably stiff, no clear fundamental.
 
The TI flats agree a lot better with me (even if they could do with a little more tension, and a bit more mass).
 
As they say, YMMV ...

If you are looking for TI style flats with a bit more tension, try the DR Flats. They bridge the difference between TI and Chromes.

Thanks Edwin - I forgot to mention though, I need flats that can be found with a high-C string, which somewhat limits my options...
 
I should try the DR flats on one of my other basses though!

Do the DR Flats have a round core?  Has anyone tried the recent Pyramid Flats with the round core?  I'm having trouble finding any Pyramids but the old hex core ones.  The newer packages say round core on the label.

DR advertizes them as Hi-Beam Flats, and Hi-Beam roundwounds have a round core. Lo-Riders have the hex core. I much prefer the Hi-Beam roundwounds over the Lo-Riders for feel

Here's a soundclip of the Chromes played with a pick: terminous live (and the Moog Taurus 3 bass pedals)

Harry,
Your clip sounds killer!  You and your drummer friend are a match made in heaven.  I'd love to jam with both of you.  The Taurus pedals integrate seamlessly within your concept.
 
Until this thread, it had never occurred to me to even consider getting flatwounds.  Now I'll have to explore that option.  When I had my 35 scale MKSD tweaked and restrung at SF Guitarworks they remarked how difficult it was to find strings for her; finally settling on d'Addarios.  I hope that won't be a problem with flatwounds....

Hey Sam - thanks! I've still got the long-scale Chromes that I switched out for the Rotos - we should get together, I can pass them on to you so at the very least you can make sure they're long enough. If they aren't (and Alembics sometimes need longer strings because of the distance between the tailpiece and the bridge), then D'Addario makes an extra long 5-string set - assuming you want to go with Chromes, that is.