Anybody else went back to rounds?

[Microbass]

Flats suck





IMHO

Good golly, there are people who can see the light on here!!

I recently put rounds back on my p and thought “where’s the fundamental?” Sounds hollow.

My experience is the opposite. The love for P+flats on here I find a bit crazy. A P absolutely comes alive with rounds IMO.

Flats absolutely have their place and are fun to play with when you're used to rounds, but I feel they just get buried if you're in a "louder" (i.e. rock/grunge/2+ guitars etc) situation.

 

[JimmyM]

I did, but I still have a couple shorties with flats. I don’t use them very much, but if I need one, I’m covered. I just like how rounds feel better.

 

[-Stingray]

You all DO realize that once a sound engineer gets a hold of your nice zippy rounds tone he's going to make them sounds like flats anyway?

 

[scuzzy]

You all DO realize that once a sound engineer gets a hold of your nice zippy rounds tone he's going to make them sounds like flats anyway?

our sound guys typically want more zing. i've played old flats and they tend to ask for more "presence" and note definition.

 

[-Stingray]

our sound guys typically want more zing. i've played old flats and they tend to ask for more "presence" and note definition.

Yep. Really depends on the style of music. If you are slapping they will want it zingy. For rock, they tend to frequency slot you with an LPF on the highs, HPF on the lows and slots in the vocal and guitar ranges along with a slight bump around 100hz. There are exceptions of course, but if you are playing venues with a soundman you'll generally get a very generic mix (and good luck convincing the sound engineer otherwise). The example just given varies on the room of course. End result is a sound that reduces mud (and sonic chaos) and doesn't interfere with the other instruments and vocals.......and tends to sound a LOT like a bass with flats.

 

[TheArchitect]

Has anybody else gone back to rounds after using flats exclusively or predominantly for a long period of time?

I’d been using flats almost exclusively on my Fenders for 4 or 5 years when I sold them last year and bought a short scale 6-string bass that could only be strung with rounds.

I hated the rounds at first — rough and overly bright — and when I bought another 4-string Fender last month I thought for sure I was going to string it with flats, but… rounds are kinda cooler.

Sure, they’re a bit rougher, but it’s really not as bad as some flats player want you to believe. The noise you get with the fretting hand isn’t as bad either.

They’re bright, but at least I have the ability to turn the brightness down with muting or foam or the tone and treble knobs.

And they’re so much more flexible! (Yes, I know TIs are flexible, but it’s nice that most rounds are flexible).

I don’t know. I guess I got on the TB flats train because I feared I was missing out, and stayed on the train, believing that all rounds were rough, overly bright and that the noise was unbearable.

But I guess I now see why people were excited about rounds when they first came out.

Anybody else? What’s your story?

I never saw it as an either / or proposition. I just use what is appropriate for the situation

 

[butterfingers1]

Flatwound strings have a body and presence that just sounds right and rounds just don’t have. The brightness and zing sounds noisy in a mix, and when dialled out there’s not much left, and the knob fiddling starts.

 

[SpiderBass1965]

No

 

[Kyle_S]

I've moved away from flats for now. Got rounds on my three main basses. I've only got one P-bass and kept going back and forth between flats and rounds on it, but I've settled on rounds. I really value the versatility of rounds, and love the big rock sound of a P with rounds and some overdrive. And while I love all kinds of music, I am a hard rock and metal guy at heart.

Someday I'll get another P to keep flats on.

 

[Gopherbassist]

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

Correct.

 

[petch]

What would you describe as the differences between the Cobalts and rounds/flats (in general)? I've been interested in the Cobalts for some time, but never met anybody that has played them and am wary of just grabbing some as I don't usually change strings often.

Cobalt flats, unlike almost all other flats, have most of the zing of rounds, with a smooth winding. I slide around a lot to get to the right notes because my tiny little finger makes traditional fingering awkward. So the smoothness plus the sound works well for me. They also have more presence in the band mix than traditional flats (except perhaps for TI's, which are on one of my basses). In my opinion, of course, and I recognize that this doesn't mean they're for everyone. For players looking for that "in between rounds and flats" sound, they are the bomb.

 

[DuluthDank]

I find that my right hand technique changes if I play flats exclusively for a while, then when I go back to rounds, I need to readjust. If anything I prefer to have one bass with each so I keep my technique up for both.

A decent number of rock groups are making good use of flats with light OD these days, especially on short scale basses. King Gizzard and Tame Impala are two that come to mind.

 

[Element Zero]

Correct.

Wild. Because in nearly every example, they’re a night day difference. Just curious if you hear a significant difference between fresh round wounds and 1 year old round wounds.

 

[Lo-E]

When I started using flats I never stopped using rounds on other basses so there was never really anything to “go back” to for me. I just started using both and still do.

It did take me a long time (decades) to warm up to flats, though. I was strictly rounds-only for about 25 years and hated flats. I don’t see myself “going back” to that; now that I’ve learned to appreciate flats and used them for 15-ish years I kinda like having them around, even if they’re not my most used choice.

 

[Gopherbassist]

Wild. Because in nearly every example, they’re a night day difference. Just curious if you hear a significant difference between fresh round wounds and 1 year old round wounds.

A significant difference? No, not really.

 

[socknroll1]

I think flats sound good on a P bass in some contexts, but I don't like how they sound on a Jazz or Stingray.

I think it's because, to me, a P-bass can excel at a less-bright tone. When you put a less-bright string on a bright-er bass like a Jazz or Stingray, it rubs me the wrong way.

 

[Hawk620]

For me it's not an either/or choice. For me a PBass must have LaBella flats for that old school Motown/Memphis Stax kind of tonality. I've always used GHS Pressurewounds on my Jazz Basses and G&Ls. I also use them on a P/J Bass for a more modern PBass tonality. Gotta have some variety to meet all needs.

 

[JimmyM]

You all DO realize that once a sound engineer gets a hold of your nice zippy rounds tone he's going to make them sounds like flats anyway?

Nope. I’ve played for decades and never had that problem. Had other issues with sound techs occasionally but never that.

 

[brianrost]

I’ve never swapped from flats to rounds on a bass only the other direction, but once I started using flats on a P, I've kept a couple of basses strung with rounds. When I need that sound, I use one of those (currently two). It doesn't matter to me that neither is a FSO.

 

[shoulderpet]

I used flats for a few years but have used rounds for the last few years and no intention of going back to flats.

I do like the tone of flats but I like the tone of rounds with a little overdrive way more and most bass amps have more than enough low end so I really don't need a string that has more low end (or the perception of more low end)