Does John Paul Jones use Flatwounds?

big_bertha · #1 03-17-2007, 05:14 PM

Did JPJ use flatwounds on any of the Led Zeppelin albums? Any inputs appreciated. Thanks.

ARCtrooper225 · #2 03-17-2007, 05:34 PM

Not sure, but after listening to Ramble on I would believe so

rsautrey · #3 03-17-2007, 07:57 PM

JPJ uses Rotosound Swing Bass 66 Roundwounds and has for quite awhile. If I recall an interview that I read correctly, even on some of those older tunes he was using rounds.

krazy_olie · #4 03-17-2007, 08:55 PM

Definitely used rounds.

david fitch · #5 03-18-2007, 09:09 AM

I don't know about that, The early Zep. albums sure do sound like they were recorded with flats. Black Dog sounds like rounds to me.

Beefbass · #6 03-18-2007, 10:29 AM

In a previous interview, the man himself said he switched to roundwounds during his session days, because they had more punch than flats.

KeithBMI · #7 03-18-2007, 02:47 PM

This is from a magazine interview.

Quote:

Q: What kind of a pick and strings do you use?

A: A herco gray pick and Rotosound roundwound strings. On the Fender, I used Rotosound flatwounds, but I never liked the string noise. I tried flatwounds on the Alembic, but I sort of lost half the instrument. Plus, the roundwounds seem to fill out better if Jimmy is soloing

big_bertha · #8 03-18-2007, 10:45 PM

Thanks for your inputs! That clered things up for me

Jim Carr · #9 03-19-2007, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ARCtrooper225

Not sure, but after listening to Ramble on I would believe so

+1 I agree. He may have switched to roto-sound roundwounds a bit after that.

The first album certainly sounds like flats. It would not be easy to get that pick tone with fresh roto-sounds, IMHO. Practically everybody used flats at the time. Fender and La Bella were popular. If you bought a Jazz in the mid-sixties, it came strung with Fender ML or M flatwounds.

JoshD · #10 03-19-2007, 04:08 PM

If you ever listen to BBC sessions live he definitely uses rounds.

canopener · #11 03-19-2007, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoshD

If you ever listen to BBC sessions live he definitely uses rounds.

I think for the first cut he was still using flats. The second cut definitely sounds like rounds.

In the Zep DVD, it also looks like he's using flats on the first disc (including the promos) and rounds in the later gigs.