String advice for my fender P-Bass??????

missymoolaura · #1 01-07-2008, 04:18 PM

I have a 57 Precision Re-issue, and i cant decide whether to keep my flatwounds on or change back to roundwounds. I like Roundwounds, but my dad seems to think flatwounds sound better??

sethlow3 · #2 01-07-2008, 04:22 PM

forget what ANYONE else thinks. What tone do you want? what styles do you play?

If rock, try Ernie Ball heavies for a similar tension. DRs come in 2nd for me.

If old school R&B, blues and walking jazz use your flats or try some different flats. If you are multi styled I'd say use rounds and change the amp tone depending on style.

If I had a P on the side it would have flats, but not if it was my only bass. A GREAT happy medium would be rotosound solo bass. Feel of a flat, but the tone of a round. I miss those strings. I'd only use them on a 4 which I don't have right now.

scottbass · #3 01-07-2008, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sethlow3

forget what ANYONE else thinks. What tone do you want? what styles do you play?

+1. There are so many different brands and styles of strings because there are so many different preferences. I prefer DR strings, others prefer something else. And unless you can find a few basses similar to yours strung with several different brands and styles of strings, you won't know what you prefer until you start trying them. Yes, it takes years.

missymoolaura · #4 01-07-2008, 04:41 PM

Well i like to play rock, so yeah better change back to rounds. I think dad wants me to keep flats on so he can keep using it for some of his jazz gigs haha. because the 2 stingrays he has arent enough

PaulMacCnj · #5 01-07-2008, 05:28 PM

I put a set of LaBella Deep Talking flatwounds on my Fender P-bass last June. 7 months later and I still love the sound and feel. That's the longest I've ever used the same set of strings. I really like how the classic P-bass thump is even more pronounced with flats.

mulambo · #6 01-07-2008, 05:43 PM

My expirience: I am using Dr Sum Beams on my 57 RI, and im quite satisfied! Seems to be excellent rounds for that bass. Great Tone (with a capital letter!) i alternate on those strings and Chromes on this P bass. Ernie Ball could be a wise choice to.
I tried some hi-beams and they does not work, the bass lost its punch and character. Daddario XLs does not fit either.

DavePlaysBass · #7 01-07-2008, 06:12 PM

I have a MIM 50's P with the basically the same neck and an alder body. I have been happy with Fender 7250s and GHS Boomers. Both seemed to bring out a nice maple snap. I tried some La Bella steels and took them off pretty quick. They were not a good match. Sort of took away from the whole P vibe. If I was playing metal I might have hung with the steel. And I have tried a set of Labella 760FLs. These were pretty nice but I missed the pop and back to the nickels. I am wondering if Chromes is the way to go. For some reason I love slapping this bass. Anyone like to slap Chromes?

FaithNoMan · #8 01-07-2008, 07:54 PM

Whatever strings John Wetton used.

bassbully · #9 01-07-2008, 10:48 PM

Chromes on both my P's a 50's reissue and MIM love em.Yea they slap pretty good although its not something i do much at all or even like but i will admit the maple board and chromes have a cool snappy thump.

glwanabe · #10 01-08-2008, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by missymoolaura

Well i like to play rock, so yeah better change back to rounds. I think dad wants me to keep flats on so he can keep using it for some of his jazz gigs haha. because the 2 stingrays he has arent enough

Flats and rock go together like cheese on pizza.

Use the strings you want, but flats can and do rock!!
Listen to, John Paul Jones.

WayneS · #11 01-08-2008, 04:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by missymoolaura

Well i like to play rock, so yeah better change back to rounds. I think dad wants me to keep flats on so he can keep using it for some of his jazz gigs haha. because the 2 stingrays he has arent enough

Listen to Iron Maiden. Steve Harris plays flats.

If you want to play rounds, try Rotosound. They sound excellent on my P.

sethlow3 · #12 01-08-2008, 01:42 PM

Steve Harris changes his flats every show to have the new string sound, so that's really not practical.

John Paul Jones has a great flats tone, but its not near the same tone used in modern rock today. Grind, growl, definition, and treble response are all much easier to get out of rounds.

glwanabe · #13 01-08-2008, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sethlow3

Steve Harris changes his flats every show to have the new string sound, so that's really not practical.

John Paul Jones has a great flats tone, but its not near the same tone used in modern rock today. Grind, growl, definition, and treble response are all much easier to get out of rounds.

So who says the modern rock tone is worth a flip. I saw Metallica a couple years ago. Trujillo's tone SUCKED! I'm open minded and listen to a lot of musical styles, but some of the so called modern rock bass tone is garbage. No bottom, all grind. I like distortion, but c'mon keep it real.

I like bass to sound like bass, not baritone guitar.

Give me Bonham and Jones for a back section.

Ok, so I sound like a Geezer, and I was out of school before you were born. I still think modern rock bass has gone the wrong way. Slap happy top end sounding stuff that does not groove worth a darn. IMHO

markdavid · #14 01-08-2008, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sethlow3

Grind, growl, definition, and treble response are all much easier to get out of rounds.

I would like to respectfully disagree , I have always found roundwounds very undefined sounding and empty. Personally I have always found that the bass and low mids are where the definition comes from and that is where flatwounds really deliver. I have tried roundwounds but they are really not "my" sound at all , give me tapewounds or flats , i'll pass on the roundwounds

sethlow3 · #15 01-08-2008, 06:14 PM

I like bass to sound like bass too! I love JPJ and Bonham. The bottom in tone is going to come electronics, EQ, and amp more so than strings alone IMHO. The rounds growl with bottom sounds great in countless current bass players like Flea, Maroon 5, Tim Commeford, Stuart Zender, Paramore, and countless other current stuff.

I hate slap. I hate 90s Metallica. Thats not the tone I like at all with my rounds. Think more like Flea, Billy Cox, or Jaco.

One drawback of rounds is to keep that tone, you'd need at least need to change them once every 2 months. I HATE the sound of dead rounds. Flats are great but they are way more popular in older stuff. No qualms. I just figure that this guy wants the modern pop and rock tones.

glwanabe · #16 01-08-2008, 06:52 PM

Seth,

I don't want all kinds of electronics coloring my sound. I don't want an undefined string with no bottom that I have to eq the snot out of, to get a good tone.

I want good passive pickups that give a very organic sound, coupled with strings that naturally have the bottom and low mids already built into them.

I use very little eq and just a little overdrive to get a good agrressive growly tone from my Jazzbasses.

I also love Dee Murry's tone, with his jazz and flats. Thats a solid rock tone to my ears.

I'am not really fond of Jaco's tone. his top end is good, but he needs a rounder bottom to suit my taste. He obviously can play, but it's not really my thing. I still listen, cause I stay open to lots of ideas.

This is a good discussion, and I'm glad we can have a dialogue, without it turning ugly.

regards, Jeff

ericmknight1906 · #17 01-08-2008, 06:53 PM

If you want a nice slap/growl tone then you have no choice but to bless your P bass with D addario light gauge or supper light gauge nickel round wounds.

PaulMacCnj · #18 01-09-2008, 10:01 AM

It sounds like you prefer a strong fundamental tone (flats) as opposed to strong harmonics (rounds). Either is cool for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by markdavid

I would like to respectfully disagree , I have always found roundwounds very undefined sounding and empty. Personally I have always found that the bass and low mids are where the definition comes from and that is where flatwounds really deliver. I have tried roundwounds but they are really not "my" sound at all , give me tapewounds or flats , i'll pass on the roundwounds

sethlow3 · #19 01-09-2008, 02:04 PM

I don't want a ton of electronics coloring my sound either. My Flea J5 sounds great with the bass and mids boosted on the simple active EQ and the treble flat. I leave the amp pretty flat too, just a slight low mid boost, thats it. I am not an EQ junky either, I don't have time for that.

I am just confused about how you can't get lows or definition on rounds. Especially on my 5 string, I can hear the low B perfect. I tried flats and the B string sounded like mud after a week. I get plenty of lows with the rounds, plus they're so alive sounding.

I like rounds on it, but if I had the Fender I want, I'd have flats on it. I am a huge Jamerson and Jones fan. If I had my druthers I'd use a Fender J with flats and my Flea J5 for gigs depending on the song or band. I was just saying that 85% of rock music in the 90s and now has rounds.

To each their own.

glwanabe · #20 01-09-2008, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sethlow3

I don't want a ton of electronics coloring my sound either. My Flea J5 sounds great with the bass and mids boosted on the simple active EQ and the treble flat. I leave the amp pretty flat too, just a slight low mid boost, thats it. I am not an EQ junky either, I don't have time for that.
I am just confused about how you can't get lows or definition on rounds. Especially on my 5 string, I can hear the low B perfect. I tried flats and the B string sounded like mud after a week. I get plenty of lows with the rounds, plus they're so alive sounding.

I like rounds on it, but if I had the Fender I want, I'd have flats on it. I am a huge Jamerson and Jones fan. If I had my druthers I'd use a Fender J with flats and my Flea J5 for gigs depending on the song or band. I was just saying that 85% of rock music in the 90s and now has rounds.

To each their own.

See, I would just use flats on a jazzbass without even having to do that much boosting and artificial coloring of the sound.
The closer I can stay to a organic tone, the more I like it.

I started off by saying that you can use flats for rock.
I still stand by my opinion on that. I've not said that you can't get lows with rounds, but I would prefer to use flats and eq less to compensate for what is not there.

There are a few players with rounds that I think have a good tone, but in modern rock I hear a shift toward very little actual bass. It is all about being as bright and top end as possible.

Don't even get me started on the whole state of modern sound recording and how all the nuance of music is being taken away.

Here is what I don't like in modern rock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlW0g...eature=related

Not as bad, and I like what these guys do, for the most part.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-xBVfYks0g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVnSS9dm1zg

It helps that Sully Erna is a drummer so they tend to keep some more bottom end in there music. I was more impressed with Godsmack than I was with Metallica.

Big fat bass tone. This would work in a rock situation as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3BXrPYPd4Y

Of course you know how I feel about this guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX0QYuVuHrI

Like whats going on here. Solid bassplaying that still sounds like a bass. I wouldn't want anymore top than this, and could stand a bit more bottom. Still it fits very well with the song.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1n...from-abbey-roa

http://www.dailymotion.com/related/2...bey-road_music

Rounds that sound great, obviously I like what this guy does.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MYzGMxGq9rM

So, my main point being that you can use flats for rock, and I prefer to use them. However there are players that use rounds that I like as well.

I do not like where most of the younger bands have gone with regards to the overall state of the rythym section in general. To much top end and no real solid bottom. Even Rushes last album is much more top biased as opposed to the earlier work.

As ar as my own rig. I use a simple BA-115T and plug straight into it most of the time. I do have a Tech21 unit that I use run nearly flat, except for a bit of drive for some grind as needed.

Standard and Geddy jazz both wearing Roto jazz flats.