• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

ALL BASS PLAYERS USE FLATS!!!

#21
i figured that flat users would be all over this thread cause it HAD seemed to me that 99% of TALKBASS used them.but this thread is seeming to prove otherwise.. :D

anywho, i had actually bought a set of flats once cause i actually heard a member claiming "they make it sound more punchy and bright" only to find that they are the total opposite, may have posted a thread about my disappointment with them. then to have someone else make me feel like a "basstard" saying i "completely missed the point/didn't understand the use of flats". this made me want to slap the first person cause i felt dumb and out $40 at a time i probably could have used it lol.
 
#27
The funny part about the whole flat deal is that it seems like only a small contingent of flat users use them because of the sound. More often than not it seems, the reasons are: I don't like the finger noise from rounds (even though rounds sound better), flats don't eat my frets (what would I ever do if my frets went bad???), rounds hurt my fingers ("I got blisters on my fingers"), and last but certainly not least, you have to have flats on a P.
 
#28
MysticMichael said:
These kinds of pseudo-controversies get fueled to the extent that that they do precisely because of such dogmatic statements as this. As if roundwound strings were somehow fundamentally inconsistent with "real bass".

Just silly... :rolleyes:

MM
Click to expand...

Pseudo-controversy is exactly the right term for this, as well as some other issues around here. I play a Squier P-Bass, with flats, a rosewood bolt-on neck, passive electronics, a pick on some songs, and fingerstyle on other songs. It works for me. Whatever works for you is just fine. ;)
 
#29
MysticMichael said:
These kinds of pseudo-controversies get fueled to the extent that that they do precisely because of such dogmatic statements as this. As if roundwound strings were somehow fundamentally inconsistent with "real bass".

Just silly... :rolleyes:

MM
Click to expand...

What???
I was not trying to start anything. I even agreed that on TB it seems like most players use flats when in the real world very few do.

To ME a bass with rounds sounds like a piano. Use what you want.
 
#30
I'm madly in love with the sound of my J with rounds on it. However, I play in a band with three guitars and a keyboard. I can hear myself better when I play a P with flats in this band.

When my old buddies come into town to jam there are three of us; drums, strat and me. The J with rounds can really shine in this situation.

Like everything else in this world, there is no perfect answer that suits everyone in every situation. It depends on what kind of sound you're going for personally and what's happening in your band.


Serve the song.


Or else.
 
#32
TB is definitely skewed. I know pretty much every bass player in the town I live in..... and I'm the only one who frequents TalkBass. I'm also the only one who is a dedicated flatwound user, although there are a couple I know of who have a bass or basses with flats for when the situation demands it. I cant stand the zing and sizzle of new rounds, especially stainless.
If I played punk, metal or other hardcore genres I probably would use nickel rounds, but for the classic rock, reggae, blues, country, jazz and latin I play I'll stick to flats thank you.
 
#34
hdracer said:
What???
I was not trying to start anything. I even agreed that on TB it seems like most players use flats when in the real world very few do.

To ME a bass with rounds sounds like a piano. Use what you want.
Click to expand...

i feel where your coming from but i definatly think some basses are exceptions.. a music man stingray strung with extremely bright rounds played with a pick definatly doesn't sound like a piano, unless maybe you dropped something incredibly grindy and metallic in the "string box" or what ever it's called. clearly not a piano player if you could tell.. :D
 
#39
infamusblkdeath said:
i feel where your coming from but i definatly think some basses are exceptions.. a music man stingray strung with extremely bright rounds played with a pick definatly doesn't sound like a piano, unless maybe you dropped something incredibly grindy and metallic in the "string box" or what ever it's called. clearly not a piano player if you could tell.. :D
Click to expand...

I have flats on my Ray :D

I even had them on my Ric :hiding:
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back