More mid punch from rounds or flats

[the low one]

I love the sound of both pickups maxed on a jazz bass and I use rounds at the moment but what strings will give me the most mid punch, rounds of flats ?

[JustOpenYourMind]

Low mids, I would certainly say flats

High mids, depends on the particular brand/model of string round or flat.

For example:

Flats

Ti flats have plenty of midrange, Labella's are low mid punchers, but don't expect much definition from them.

Rounds

DR high beams are mid scooped while SIT Powerwounds are very mid present.

[One Drop]

I find my Js blend better with both PUPs fully open, but for more punch I roll off one of them a third to half-way.

For a big fat bass-drop sound roll off the Bridge, for a more burpy or growly tone, roll off the neck PUP.

I find flats punch harder in general.

[the low one]

Thanks, I forgot to mention the other option which is half round.

[Kenny Allyn]

With both pickups maxed on a Jazz Bass your already getting some mid scoop. It has to do with phase issues brought on by where the string vibration is being picked up. It's true backing off the bridge pickup really adds fattness, that's how I usually set mine.

String wise TI flats have plenty of mid punch, GHS "Pressurewounds" are great much better than any ground wound I ever played. For traditional rounds Fender 7150s and DR Sunbeams are nice, but really the TI flats rule!

...

[DavePlaysBass]

For mid punch on a J, I like TI Flats and Sadowsky Flats. I agree with the pickup thing. Blend them till you find the sweet spot. Some nights the sweet spot is both wide open, but other nights it is somewhere else.

[LHbassist]

I have two Fender Jazz basses, one is a Japanese '62 vintage re-issue, circa 1997. It is a great bass. It is strung with Fender 9050 ml's. These are as close to a perfect flat as you can get, in my opinion. They are much better for the average bassist, than the TI's which are excellent strings, but the tension is so soft to me that they are virtually unusable. The Fenders are MUCH less expensive, too.
The other j-bass is a Fender Japanese alder body, an Allparts Japanese neck, and it has D'Addario stainless rounds "Light top heavy bottom" set 45,65,85,105 on it. It has different pickups and setup, but they are both high quality jazz basses, and sound like it. The difference in tone and punch between the two is pretty dramatic, for lack of a better word. The flat strung bass has far more articulation and punch, all over the fingerboard. Think Joe Osborn, that is what is sounds like. It sounds huge as you go up the neck, and in a band setting, it smokes. The roundwound strung bass has a noticeably better solo voice, and seems to compress more and 'sing' a bit better overall. It has a very piano-like timbre, and a lot of great sounds are available by simple palm-muting the really bright stainless strings on it now.

This is an observation- I'm a bass repairman, going on about 40 years now. I'm 57 yrs. old. I've played and heard literally thousands of basses with all kinds of strings, setups...and players. My view, is that the only time I really hear that punch-you-in-the-chest- bass, is from a flatwound strung bass. Why? It seems logical, and I'll put it out there. The flat is a cylindrical, even thickness string- continuous in the area just above the pickup(s). The round is 'visible' to the magnetic pickup as an overall smaller surface, due to the gaps in the winds. I've thought about this difference in punch and mid-push for a while... I wonder if this makes some sense to someone other than me. The difference is, after all, audible. I'm really tempted to string my other j-bass with bigger Fender flats, but having two basses with a remarkably similar tone, but a totally different vibe is a very cool thing. So, the rounds remain on it.
Remember, the basses you hear on a LOT of records, all prior to '68-'69 were only flatwound strung basses. There just weren't any rounds 'till then. All the electric guitars from the '60's were strung with flats, too- 'till the rounds came into large scale use. All The mid 60's Beatles records, flats, on both the guitars and Paul's basses. Amazing, isn't it? There are quite a few bassists in Reno that have never played anything but rounds, and I've had the pleasure of turning them on to how great flats are.... some of the local players are using them on gigs now and diggin' 'em a lot.

[naturalkinds]

I agree with the above that different rounds often have very different mid-range presences. The DR Lo-Rider Nickels that I'm currently using are mid-heavy in comparison with the more balanced or mid-scooped DR Lo-Rider Steels I had on before. That said, I think I prefer the characteristic mid-scoop of SS strings for roundwounds.