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ALL BASS PLAYERS USE FLATS!!!

#41
Peepaleep said:
Jamerson didn't need rounds, and he was better than Jaco.
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He wasn't "better" than Jaco at playing incredibly fluid, expressive lines on a fretless bass...anymore than Jaco was "better" than Jamerson at laying down the low end groove for classic Motown songs. :eyebrow:

Peepaleep said:
Fieldy uses rounds.
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So does Michael Manring... :eyebrow:

MM
 
#43
I use nickel rounds. If I want mellower, or warmer, I lighten my right hand attack and roll back the tone knob on my bass. It's easier to make bright strings sound warm than it is to make warm strings sound bright. I prefer the versatility of rounds.
 
#44
I use flats on my passive P, and rounds on my active Schecter. The rounds have been dead for quite a while though....

Both basses sound pretty different from each other, but I am able to use either in any situation. I like having two great basses that are very versatile:D
 
#45
NOVAX said:
I'm going to ask it: what are the best flats for metal?
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Geroi Asfalta said:
Invalid Link Removed
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so great that there is a real answer to a tongue in cheek question... I mean Steve Harris = max metal cred

Jazz Ad said:
I'd even venture saying that the general opinion on TB isn't representative of TB members.
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I would agree 100% -some very effective vocal minorities here :bassist:

I love flats...and I like rounds - these days I play one MM SUB with flats (currently Rotosound monel flats), the other with rounds (currently SS Foderas) and am pretty happy....
 
#46
mdogs said:
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.
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now this I haven't seen - most of the replies i recall reading refer to tone in the mix or getting under the band etc.... I would hazard to bet that the vast majority of experienced players on a site like this have developed their technique to the point that fret noise, blisters etc are real issues....ime, imho, ymmv I just figure if a ham-handed semi-pro like me can do it......:bassist:

stratovani said:
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. ;)
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+ maximum allowable +'s

mrjim123 said:
Decades ago, after dating a girl who sported flats, I finally found one with rounds, and I'm not goin' back!
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/thread :D
 
#48
I used to use rounds. I used to use flats. Now, I use flats that kind of sound like rounds with the right EQ. Kind of the Steve Harris approach, but without dropping $45 every session for that "fresh "zing" out of the package string."

And I will agree with the experience some people have been having IRL. On TB, lots of threads about flatwounds. IRL, I'm the only player I know playing with flats. :hmm:
 
#52
I use flats on my fretless P, but I just got a new MIJ P bass and I might stick with rounds on it. Kind of nice to have two which are distinct enough. I like D'Addario light gauge for rounds, and some of the Fender pure nickels are nice, too. There are a number of different brands I'd like to try. Flats are great, but it's fun to try different strings. At least I think so.
 
#53
mdogs said:
Based on the direction of the threads in this forum as of late, you would be able to draw no other conclusion than 99% of the world uses flatwounds instead of the other way around. Someone needs to inform GC that they need to redo their planogram to reflect this market shift...
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Thank you! but I think they put the needs of the younger generation ahead of us that are in our late 40's, 50's and 60's.
All you can get at GC in the area of flats are DR Chromes and Fender's it seems. Face it with the longivity of TI Jazz Flats (one set every 6-8 years) coupled with the fact we are in the minority there they feel it isn't worth it and would have the strings sit for long periods between sales.
 
#54
I don't know but it just seems funny to me that anybody who plays a lot of varied material wouldn't find a use for both. So I don't understand the exclusion of one over the other. I always have and I do play either type of string when that's what fits the situation better.
 
#59
soulman969 said:
I don't know but it just seems funny to me that anybody who plays a lot of varied material wouldn't find a use for both. So I don't understand the exclusion of one over the other. I always have and I do play either type of string when that's what fits the situation better.
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With me it is not excluding. At one time I had a CV60's P and CV60's J and had rounds on the P and flats on the J. Since I only have one bass now (American Special Jazz) I have been having to weigh my feelings about which would suffice for the things I do. I have had DR Silver Star Rounds on my Jazz since a few months after I bought it. I bought a set of TI Jazz flats and couldn't bring myself to remove the rounds until the D string started to sound dead so I changed and found what I loved about the Jazz Flats on a J bass is even greater now that I have a GB Streamliner amp and modified my old Avatar cab to have a 6" mid speaker with the 15" Eminence Kappalite 3015. Night and Day on tone and feel. What's odd is the don't feel so low tension as I remembered them a couple years ago. So far, I am happy and for the 1st time my wife complimented me on how I sounded.
 
#60
LoveThatBass said:
Thank you! but I think they put the needs of the younger generation ahead of us that are in our late 40's, 50's and 60's.
All you can get at GC in the area of flats are DR Chromes and Fender's it seems. Face it with the longivity of TI Jazz Flats (one set every 6-8 years) coupled with the fact we are in the minority there they feel it isn't worth it and would have the strings sit for long periods between sales.
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Actually, I was COMPLETELY kidding. If flats were really where its at, then GC would be all over them. The point is that, as my OP said, by reading this forum you would barely know that rounds exist and have been used by the VAST majority of bass players for the last 40 years.
 

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