I Want to Switch to Flats But...

[Jewbass]

I'm wondering. I have flats on my acoustic/electric bass, and holy mother mary do I love em'. Slight problem though, I want to change to flats on my electric (double hum-bucker pickups, active) but I need to know if I can still get that great bassy growl I get with my rounds. I'm wondering if flats could make that growl, along with their really nice warm tone, which they are known for. So, what shall I do?

[lmfreeman9]

To get growl, you will need a brighter flat. May be stainless-I like DR Hi Beams or Chromes which are very popular here. A nickel flatwound will usually tame the growl on most basses. I like less growl and use TI Jazz flats for that purpose.

[lmfreeman9]

Originally Posted by lmfreeman9

To get growl, you will need a brighter flat. May be stainless-I like DR Hi Beams or Chromes which are very popular here. A nickel flatwound will usually tame the growl on most basses. I like less growl and use TI Jazz flats for that purpose.

You can also use half rounds, groundrounds, pressurerounds etc. Which are a compromise between flats and rounds.

[aMUSEd]

Flats (at least the ones I know) produce a warm, punchy sound which is the natural enemy of the Growl.
That's the reason why I keep rounds on one of my basses

[One Drop]

I can get a lot of growl on my Jazz with Sadowsky flats, boosting my mids around 1200khz and making sure the the bass frequencies aren't obscuring the mids. Picked or played hard at the bridge, all controls on the bass wide open or favoring the bridge PUP a bit.

Otherwise, flats are great at getting some leading edge growl, but it's tougher to get growling sustained notes than with rounds.

[Jewbass]

Yeah I mean, I see what you guys mean by having one of each, and I do have two basses. But I don't really consider my acoustic/electric one I would play around with through an amp, and it doesn't give the same sound off as an electric with flats would. So, I'm thinking about getting a fretless bass, and in that case I would just keep rounds on my bass now and obviously put flats on the fretless...

[squashedOpossum]

Being stainless, my Chromes had a roundwound growl to them when I first put them on my Jazz, but they've settled in now for a much more mellow tone. Even though they ate my frets, I miss the growl of my RotoSound 66s. I have two Jazzes - a fretless 5 and a fretted 4 -- both have Chromes. I'm eventually going to get a P or a PJ and I look forward to putting the Rotos on that one.

[bassist4dalord]

Yes they can, depending on what bass, which string you choose, EQ... I've been able to get the perfect amount of growl from my Squier Affinity Jazz V with D'Addario Chromes by playing closer to the bridge, boosting mids more than anything else (bass or treble) and such. But not as much growl as rounds, obviously.

[Jewbass]

ok, so what flatwound string would be the most versatile string (aka, I could get a nice warm tone + that growly feel)

[JayB]

You want groundwounds. A nice compromise.

[HogieWan]

Do you have a recording of that A/E with flats?

[Jewbass]

naw, but i can make one though, want it plugged in or not?

[HogieWan]

Originally Posted by Jewbass

naw, but i can make one though, want it plugged in or not?

If you can do a mic and a direct that would be awesome. I've always wondered how flats sound on an ABG.

[DogBone]

I just put D'addario Chrome flatwounds on my ABG and so far I'm loving it.

I have a soundclip on my myspace link that has some simple string runs if you're interested.

The first 30 seconds or so I recorded direct into my laptop. The second 30 seconds or so I recorded acoustically with a condensor mic.

Peace.

[unclekebm]

Originally Posted by lmfreeman9

To get growl, you will need a brighter flat. May be stainless-I like DR Hi Beams or Chromes which are very popular here. A nickel flatwound will usually tame the growl on most basses. I like less growl and use TI Jazz flats for that purpose.

+1 on DR's and Chromes

But I must say I get more "growl" from TI Jazz Flats than any Flat I've ever used...

[Jewbass]

Ok, so with all these growly flatwound strings, will I be able to get the warm tone too? I'm almost positive I can, but I'm just making sure....?

[HogieWan]

Originally Posted by DogBone

I just put D'addario Chrome flatwounds on my ABG and so far I'm loving it.

I have a soundclip on my myspace link that has some simple string runs if you're interested.

The first 30 seconds or so I recorded direct into my laptop. The second 30 seconds or so I recorded acoustically with a condensor mic.

Peace.

The mic'ed tone was great! Plugged in, meh. Is the volume any different with the flats as opposed to the Phosphors?

[DogBone]

Originally Posted by HogieWan

The mic'ed tone was great! Plugged in, meh. Is the volume any different with the flats as opposed to the Phosphors?

I can't believe it but the flats are noticably louder than the Phosphors.

The flats do have higher tension than my old Elixirs, which I believe is where I'm getting the increase in volume.

Also I upgraded to a higher quality saddle (cheap original one was cracked) so there's that. I don't think it has much to with it but it is a variable.

I agree about the plugged in tone versus mic'd.

For this demo I ran the eq flat on the bass' preamp and literally just plugged into my laptop and hit record. When I play live I bump the low mids and kill the higher frequencies and it gets rid of much of that dreaded piezo quack.

[HogieWan]

Originally Posted by DogBone

For this demo I ran the eq flat on the bass' preamp and literally just plugged into my laptop and hit record. When I play live I bump the low mids and kill the higher frequencies and it gets rid of much of that dreaded piezo quack.

figured it was just flat. A good pre helps the piezo tone as well.

[unclekebm]

Originally Posted by Jewbass

Ok, so with all these growly flatwound strings, will I be able to get the warm tone too? I'm almost positive I can, but I'm just making sure....?

Yes...