Flatwounds on a Geddy Lee bass ?

[Iron Priest]

Hi all,

I've been considering trying some flatwounds strings for awhile now. I have a Geddy Lee signature jazz bass. Would those type of strings sounds good on that instrument ?

I play rock/metal, bands like Rush, Iron Maiden, The Police, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, U2, Blue Oyster Cult, The Doors, Queensryche, Rainbow, Def Leppard, Dio, Gn'R, etc...

Should I stay with roundwounds or would flatwounds be a good choice ?

Thx a lot for the help.

[KeithBMI]

I'd go with a half wound, like the ones made by D'addario. I find that flatwounds, while a good sounding string alone, sound boomy and undefined when practicing with a full band. I would use them for a jazz or soft acoustic band. On the other hand, round wounds are too "trebly" for me. Half wounds or "ground wounds" have a nice mix of both. They have the smooth sound of the flat wounds with the "girth*" of the notes that round wounds have (big sound)

Just so you know, I also play the same type of music as you.

*I always liked the flat wound G and D string because of the smooth, non-treble sound but the E and A strings always had a weak, woody sound. On round wounds, it was the opposite. I liked the power of the E and A strings, but the G and D were too trebly. Half wounds seems to be a nice balance.

[Cristo]

Chances are that most of the bass played in the music you cited was played with roundwounds.

In addition to being a lot easier to find, you can always EQ some brightness out of roundwounds.

If you are wanting to play Rush, with a Geddy Lee Jazz, please don't use flatwounds!

Seriously though, turn down the tone and even use a foam mute if you want a flatwound-ish sound. Not a perfect replica, but it will do for most. Of course you don't get that wonderful smooth feel from anything but the real thing.

Forget getting Chris Squire tone out of flats though!

[Spinal Tapper]

Just a thought/warning - Tonight I put some Roto 77 flatwounds on my GL and right after I tuned it up, I noticed the neck was bowing. I later read (here in TB) that those particular strings have a high tension. High tension strings + the signature thin Geddy neck = major neck bowing. In retrospect, I should've gone with a lower tension string and done more research because I feel that now I may have wasted $40 on a set of flats that I can't use with this particular bass. I'm going to a guy for a set-up to see if I can get this adjusted.

[mattygbass]

you probably just need to tighten the truss rod, be sure to loosen the strings before tightening it though.wich youve got to do to adjust the neck anyway on a geddy