Half rounds... Do they do what they're supposed to do?

quadrogong · #1 10-29-2009, 11:13 AM

I want to try flats, I'm scared to play with them live, I'm so used to rounds, I'm always taming the high

end on them, and love the flat tone, I'm wondering if half rounds actually sound like a hybrid of the 2,
anyone here like 'em?

Phalex · #2 10-29-2009, 11:39 AM

I love em! They have a good un-bright type of tone until you spank them.

lowregister · #3 10-29-2009, 11:54 AM

I agree, they fit right in between. I have some GHS groundwounds, I would define their tone though as mediocre, no frills, but solid

lug · #4 10-29-2009, 12:17 PM

An optimist would say they are brighter and more open than flats and less abrasive than rounds.

A pessimist would say the are duller and lack the attack of rounds and can't get the old school feel/sound of flats.

Which are you?

LaklandBass · #5 10-29-2009, 12:22 PM

Yups. i have D'addario halfs on one of my fretted basses. theyre nice and calm till you open them up.

JTE · #6 10-29-2009, 01:23 PM

I used D'Addario HR-72 (the original nickle Half-Rounds) back when I started playing bass in 1976 for a few years. I also used GHS Brite-Flats later for a few years, a few sets of Dean Markely Ground Round Wounds, and one set of D'Addario's stainless Half-Round strings.. All are variations on the moddified round wound string idea.

I abondoned all of them because for me they didn't work. I decided I really liked the sound of a good roundwound or a good flatwound best. So, some of my basses have flats and the others have rounds. They don't really sound like a roundwound string, nor do they have the essential characteristics I want out of a flat. It's a compromise that sacrafices the parts I want in the sound.

John

**WoodyG3** · #7 10-29-2009, 01:32 PM

I'm with JTE on this. When I tried half-round I felt that they were just as rough or rougher then rounds, so just as much or more string noise. I really had a hard time doing glissandos. They sounded like fairly dead rounds to me. That's not the same as the full but thumpy sound you get from a flatwound, and while others here seem to be able to get the brightness they want from half-wounds, I can't.

Ultimately, I think you have to buy a pack and give 'em a go before you know whether they will work for you. Heck, it's only money!

Hoover · #8 10-29-2009, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lug

An optimist would say they are brighter and more open than flats and less abrasive than rounds.

A pessimist would say the are duller and lack the attack of rounds and can't get the old school feel/sound of flats.

Over in bicycle world we often belittle the concept of the "hybrid" bike, which ostensibly combines elements of a road bike and a mountain bike, but rarely comes close to even marginally meeting the minimal needs of either. iow, it's a compromise.

And, while I've only used two different types of half-rounds -- the original D'Addario half rounds, and Ken Smith Compressors (which I guess are really more like "quarter rounds" or maybe "quarter flats") -- my impression is the same: they always struck me as a compromise, with none of the strengths of either a flatwound or a roundwound string.

Yeah, my glass is half-empty.

eyecandy · #9 10-29-2009, 04:58 PM

Half rounds are what my tech recommended me to use.. but hey they're something in between so like very versatile... but still I'd like flats better..

Green Mind · #10 10-29-2009, 11:30 PM

I'm trying to decide between halfs and tapes. I'm leaning towards tapes now.

62Start · #11 10-30-2009, 03:32 PM

I absolutely love ground rounds. All I have seen lately are D'As. However, every bass seems to work best with something different and I have rounds and flats on some too.

I guess my preference is due to the fact that I started in 1962 (thus my forum name) and then the first thing you did with a new bass then was toss the rounds and put on flats. Play flats for 500 gigs and then try to switch to rounds, you'll fight string noise for years after (still do).

I play rounds now mostly when I want a baritone guitar sound or a country "picked" sound. I can slap and pop the ground rounds with no problemo.

Bassorama57 · #12 10-30-2009, 03:36 PM

Agree with the consensus...have a set of pressurewounds on an EBMM 5 and really don't care for them - they're "rough" like roundwounds, but don't give you the benefits of rounds. It really is an either/or proposition.

Hoover · #13 10-30-2009, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 62Start

I started in 1962 (thus my forum name) and then the first thing you did with a new bass then was toss the rounds and put on flats.

What a difference a decade makes: I started in 1974 and the first thing you did with a new bass then was toss the flats and put on rounds!

p-bass · #14 10-30-2009, 09:06 PM

62Start, What Basses other than Danos came with Roundwounds in the 1960's ?

etherealme · #15 10-30-2009, 09:10 PM

Go with flats! You may never go back! Especially on a P bass.

MysticMichael · #16 10-30-2009, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTE

I used D'Addario HR-72 (the original nickle Half-Rounds) back when I started playing bass in 1976 for a few years. I also used GHS Brite-Flats later for a few years, a few sets of Dean Markely Ground Round Wounds, and one set of D'Addario's stainless Half-Round strings.. All are variations on the moddified round wound string idea.

I abondoned all of them because for me they didn't work. I decided I really liked the sound of a good roundwound or a good flatwound best. So, some of my basses have flats and the others have rounds. They don't really sound like a roundwound string, nor do they have the essential characteristics I want out of a flat. It's a compromise that sacrafices the parts I want in the sound.

John

My experience was very, very close to John's...except that my evaluation of that experience is quite the opposite...

I also began playing bass in 1976. Like John, I played mostly nickel D'Addario Half-Rounds and GHS Brite Flats (nickel as well). My instrument at the time was a '66 Precision bass, on which I played numerous styles.

For good ol' straightforward classic rock (actually there was only "rock" at that point), nickel roundwounds were it. But whenever I played blues, reggae, jazz, or any other forms of roots music, I used the Half-Rounds, and liked 'em just fine.

I never have liked flatwounds - just too dead, blunt and thumpy for my taste. But the Half-Rounds captured the more subdued, traditional vibe I needed for that material - while still retaining much of the liveliness and resonance of roundwounds: an ideal middle ground, at least for me.

I've not bothered with Half-Rounds or Brite Flats now for more than 30 years - mostly because I no longer play the kind of stuff that calls for 'em. But IMO, they're great if you want to go for a more traditional type of tone, without sacrificing the zing and zip of rounds...

Count me as "glass half full" on this one...

MM