Anybody else went back to rounds?

[scuzzy]

Bright flats sound like crappy rounds. Good flats sound like rounds with tone rolled off.

Not universal, but I'm not a huge fan of flats. I have some tijf's, and some ebmm cobalts that I enjoy. But beyond that.... Not a fan of flats.

 

[JohnEdward]

I’ve gone back to rounds multiple times only to put the flats back on. I do have one bass with rounds because Rotosound 66s are fantastic strings and I feel it’s necessary for the versatility.

 

[sikamikanico]

I went from nickel flats to stainless rounds i found that 80% of what I needed flats to do I can control with technique and tone adjustment. But then there’s all that extra on top, if I need it.

 

[sunbeast]

Bright flats sound like crappy rounds. Good flats sound like rounds with tone rolled off.

Not universal, but I'm not a huge fan of flats. I have some tijf's, and some ebmm cobalts that I enjoy. But beyond that.... Not a fan of flats.

I haven’t found that to be true at all- that punchy “thump” I get with flats and palm-muted plucking or picking is nearly impossible to replicate with rounds, regardless of tone knob settings or even external EQ’ing

 

[DanAdams]

I went back to rounds a couple days after first trying flats on a fretted bass, and never looked back.
It feels to me like 'flat mania' only exists at talkbass.com

I like flats on a fretless. That's all.

 

[scuzzy]

I haven’t found that to be true at all- that punchy “thump” I get with flats and palm-muted plucking or picking is nearly impossible to replicate with rounds, regardless of tone knob settings or even external EQ’ing

Cool. I haven't found that to be true at all. Deader nickel plated rounds with the tone rolled off have a ton of thump to me.

 

[Low Main]

I don't think of flats as a generic thing because they come in so many flavors. Same with rounds.

I just find string sets I like and can rely on whether flats or rounds and keep them handy for when a new bass comes in and I want to find the string set that works best on that bass for me. I don't care if it's rounds or flats, just so I feel as though I've optimized the bass for my purposes.

If I mod a bass, I might have to change the strings to pair well with different pickups, which is fine. I enjoy finding each bass's happy place and sticking with it.

 

[Element Zero]

I've never tried flats. It seems like they tend to cost more and I don't hear a significant difference to rounds.

You’ve never tried them but also don’t hear a significant difference?

 

[DirtDog]

Yep - just strung my P up with rounds after a dozen years of half rounds. Love it.

 

[bikeplate]

Nope cause I never went to flats. Hate em

 

[Slade N]

Kinda - have Cobalt flats on my Stingray fretless and probably always will, have flats on a P and probably always will… just re-tried/auditioned with Nickel Lo Riders on a J 5 after running Pressure wounds for a few years and so far I love them but we’ll see if that lasts.

 

[GreyBeard]

Back in the late 60's when I started playing everything came stock with flats. In the 80's I started to notice the bass on many recordings sounding brighter with a lot more tone. I asked my guy at Fawley music what I was hearing and he said "Rotosound" and sold me a set. I've been using rounds ever since. I keep a set of flats on my G&L LB-100 for the off chance I need it but, I'll never use flats exclusively again.

 

[Dust2Dust]

Flats suck





IMHO

The damn price tag won't let me find that out for myself

 

[DaveParker39]

Yeah. I was all flatwounds for a while. Now I just keep em on one of my Precisions and use rounds on the others.

 

[Ben Clarke]

I exclusively played flats for about a decade. Pyramid Golds on a Stingray for rock, TI Flats on a G&L SB-1, Stingray5, G&L slotpole L1K, Fender 51P RI, probably a couple other basses I'm forgetting.

I still have that same first set of TI jazz flats on the SB-1; it's a late 80s, and my first bass. I remember I installed them right around the time my first kid was born - 2003.

I didn't know the inside scoop on where to buy them for $75, so maybe I paid $90 back then?

That works out to about 35 cents a month.

Maybe expensive to play around with to see if you like them, but a lot cheaper than keeping rounds sounding like rounds.

I've moved to DR Pure Blues for my main instruments - I'm in an original rock band and having aggressive pick sounds is important to me. I like the nickel composition of them to keep harsh highs down, and the round core feels nice and flexible so I have a right hand response I'm used to. I also use string mutes and can roll off the highs to get close enough to flats for live work. I still bring out the flats in the studio.

That said, I love everything about how the G&L CLF L2500 S750 I picked up in late '23 sounds and feels with their D'Addarios. It's time to change the strings and I'm worried about wasting a set of the DR - I like so much about the stock setup. But, as I do... I digress...

 

[RobertAuCoin]

I did the TB endorsed precision with flats thing for a while, but it’s really just too dark for me so I put rounds back on it.

My mileage has varied from this. My ears don’t hear the TI flats on my P bass as dark. I hear a very pointed tone, one that cuts in a thick mix.

 

[Pings Bass]

I switched to flats on my fretless basses but still have rounds on the P and J.

 

[Iristone]

I used flats predominantly until I've got my first Thunderbird. I didn't want to waste any "tone" of it, which is an expensive bass! Later I use mainly rounds on my main basses, but sometimes I keep a side bass with flats for the "thump".

 

[Kerem Koseoglu]

They are not mutually exclusive, you know... I have one bass corresponding to each string type: Flats on my P, nickel rounds on my J, steel rounds on my Sadowsky M5.

 

[FearNoEvil65]

I always use rounds, even on my precision basses, I don't like what I percieve as the dead sound of flats and never have.
So I never went with flats to be able to come back to rounds.