Flatwounds and "New Country" - can it work?

jaywa · #1 03-04-2011, 07:57 AM

I'm going to be joining a band that plays a lot of rock and country covers but also features the leader's original tunes which are very much in the "new country" vein (think Dierks Bentley, Bucky Covington, etc.).

I have a 78 P-Bass with EMG P/J pickups that I have been running with flatwounds for about the last year. I truly love this setup but am wondering if that will translate to this new gig. My other option is my Ibanez BTB with roundwounds, but the P-Bass would be a much better fit with the band imagewise so I am torn. I really don't want to go back to rounds on my P, and a third bass is not an option for the foreseeable future.

Would love to hear advice and insights, especially from anyone rolling with flats in a similar band scenario.

prd004 · #2 03-04-2011, 07:59 AM

P-Bass with flats sounds like a winner to me, on all fronts

BassGreaser · #3 03-04-2011, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prd004

P-Bass with flats sounds like a winner to me, on all fronts

+1

TC2112 · #4 03-04-2011, 08:20 AM

I just left a band playing all country, from Hank Sr. to Jason Aldean, and I played a Japanese P bass with TI flats almost the entire time. You will probably want to add a Hipshot extender if you are gonna play a lot of the newer country, if you don't already have one.

Luckydog · #5 03-04-2011, 08:38 AM

Ive played a lot of new country with flats and always got compliments. Yeah the sound you hear on alot of new stuff is rounds, often on 5 stringer jazz basses or other non-pbass stuff. But i prefer to play my sound, and its normally a pbass...often with flats. Ive used labella, ti, chromes, ghs with success. Ive concluded that for my purposes, its all about what I want to hear, rather than what someone else thinks is "appropriate".

WJGreer · #6 03-04-2011, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luckydog

Ive concluded that for my purposes, its all about what I want to hear, rather than what someone else thinks is "appropriate".

Have you noticed that you have lots of spare time?

@Jay: I'm pretty sure a P with EMGs and flats would sound great in that situation.

ransombass · #7 03-04-2011, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WJGreer

@Jay: I'm pretty sure a P with EMGs and flats would sound great in that situation.

+1

Been using a flatwound p-bass for country since 2008. I also now use a roundwound jazz bass 5-string as well, but the p-bass is my go to bass.

jaywa · #8 03-04-2011, 09:02 AM

Good thoughts, everyone, thanks.

The guy I'm replacing played a Jazz Bass with rounds, and when I saw the band with him playing I didn't really like their bass tone at all... but he's also a guitarist that was filling in on bass for them and playing with a really heavy touch. So I'm thinking I could maybe make it work with the P and flats. My only concern is if I'll have enough sustain since his original stuff all runs in the slower ballad to mid-tempo range.

Maybe for the first couple of gigs I'll bring both basses, play one for one set and the other for another set and let the bandleader tell me which one he likes better... and hopefully he and I will reach the same conclusion.

dancedad5678 · #9 03-04-2011, 09:17 AM

I've been playing a very similar gig with old/new country as well as some classic rock covers. I use a P/J with TI flats running through a GK 700 and Ampeg Classic cabs - plenty of sustained tone for the ballads!! I do normally take a second bass, either a jazz or sometimes a T40 but more often than not the P/J with the flats stays in my hands all night.

jaywa · #10 03-04-2011, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dancedad5678

I've been playing a very similar gig with old/new country as well as some classic rock covers. I use a P/J with TI flats running through a GK 700 and Ampeg Classic cabs - plenty of sustained tone for the ballads!! I do normally take a second bass, either a jazz or sometimes a T40 but more often than not the P/J with the flats stays in my hands all night.

Good to hear cause this band I'm joining definitely runs the gamut. The one show of theirs I watched they did everything from "Devil Went Down To Georgia" to "Love Shack" to "Don't Stop Believin" to "Billie Jean".

The other thing I just realized in writing this is, it's been a long time since I changed batteries in my P-Bass... that could be where some of my sustain has gone, too.

Luckydog · #11 03-04-2011, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WJGreer

Have you noticed that you have lots of spare time?.

Actually no I havent. I'm not a studio hand, and I'm not signed, but my datebook is quite full and we are making quite a bit more than the average pay for similar bands in our area. Most of our jobs are fairly large festivals and the like that draw hundreds if not a few thousand. I appreciate your attempt at criticism, but my purpose was to describe to jaywa my successful experience with flats on a pbass. If I misinterpreted your comment, I apologize. If I interpreted it correctly, I wont dignify you with any more replies.

gary m · #12 03-04-2011, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

I'm going to be joining a band that plays a lot of rock and country covers but also features the leader's original tunes which are very much in the "new country" vein (think Dierks Bentley, Bucky Covington, etc.).

I have a 78 P-Bass with EMG P/J pickups that I have been running with flatwounds for about the last year. I truly love this setup but am wondering if that will translate to this new gig. My other option is my Ibanez BTB with roundwounds, but the P-Bass would be a much better fit with the band imagewise so I am torn. I really don't want to go back to rounds on my P, and a third bass is not an option for the foreseeable future.

Would love to hear advice and insights, especially from anyone rolling with flats in a similar band scenario.

I use flats on my P bass with a PJ pickup combo and there's no going back for me.

thesandman · #13 03-04-2011, 01:33 PM

I've played in Nashville up and down Broadway with a P bass and TI flats. No problem, but for new country, it's all about a 5 string. Not to say you can't cover it with a four, but it's much more important than the strings.

jaywa · #14 03-04-2011, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesandman

I've played in Nashville up and down Broadway with a P bass and TI flats. No problem, but for new country, it's all about a 5 string. Not to say you can't cover it with a four, but it's much more important than the strings.

Hmmm... well I'm a 4-string guy all the way. But I've played a lot in drop-D tuning and honestly am just as comfortable with that as E-A-D-G. Also this guy has never had a 5-string bassist in his band and as far as I can tell his entire CD was cut with a 4-string. So unless we start covering a lot of tunes that need a 5 I think I'll be OK for awhile, anyway.

FromTheBassMent · #15 03-04-2011, 02:07 PM

I play Americana/New Country/Folkadelic, originals and covers of everything from Elvis Costello to Wilco to Jerry Jeff Walker to Lucinda Williams. My main bass is an EBMM Sterling 5 HH strung with nickel rounds. I run a EBS MultiComp and a Tech21 VT Bass set VERY clean 24/7, into a Markbass CMD 121P combo plus NY 151 extension cab (giving me 500w into 4 ohms).

I love my sound for what we're doing. Shoot fire, everybody loves my sound. I tried changing to halfrounds on the bass, and my bandmates pitched a fit... said it was to dull and thuddy and just not lively enough.

Best sounding bass I've ever heard for this kind of music is a "Big T," as played by Brad Paisley's bass player. Built by a guy named Crook, it's a Tele (guitar) body, five-string maple neck w/ rosewood board, Seymour Duncan MM pickup, strung with rounds (not sure what kind of preamp he's got in there, or what amps he runs on stage). When I win the Powerball, I'm having Mr. Crook build me one of these Big T's with an additional single coil pup at the neck:

http://www.crookcustomguitars.com/basses.php

WJGreer · #16 03-04-2011, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luckydog

my datebook is quite full and we are making quite a bit more than the average pay for similar bands in our area. Most of our jobs are fairly large festivals and the like that draw hundreds if not a few thousand.

Based on these comments, it sounds like most of your musical activity is as a member of a certain band. In that case, I actually agree with your comment about tone; you would want to establish a sound that works for you and serves your band's music, and whether any one person finds that sound "appropriate" is irrelevant.

If you were a freelance player or session player, which you clarified that you aren't, or even a guy like the OP who is auditioning for a new band spot - asserting that your tone is what you want it to be and that you disregard anyone else's opinion would simply be misguided.

But I get your perspective now.

Luckydog · #17 03-05-2011, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WJGreer

Based on these comments, it sounds like most of your musical activity is as a member of a certain band. In that case, I actually agree with your comment about tone; you would want to establish a sound that works for you and serves your band's music, and whether any one person finds that sound "appropriate" is irrelevant.

If you were a freelance player or session player, which you clarified that you aren't, or even a guy like the OP who is auditioning for a new band spot - asserting that your tone is what you want it to be and that you disregard anyone else's opinion would simply be misguided.

But I get your perspective now.

Yes i agree, if it were a different situation i'd use whatever equipment I thought was in line with others expectations. I'd still want to use my own choice

but that possibly would lose the gig. FWIW I do like rounds a lot and often use rotos, DR, Labella, Sadowsky, Fender (older type) or others.