"Confessions of a longtime orange eater who's rediscovered his love of apples" 
Good input from all.
Good input from all.
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Confessions of a Flatwound convert...
- Thread starter Sundogue
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"Confessions of a longtime orange eater who's rediscovered his love of apples"
Good input from all.
Yeah, but that's like comparing apples to oranges.
Come on now!James Jamerson used Flats, AND a mute!!! Palm Muting will NOT replace using flats, since most people can't use a two fingered approach and palm mute. I only like palm muting when I use a pick, to a get a certain thud. Also, palm muting on rounds, does not make you sound like you are playing flats. It makes you sound like you are palm muting on rounds. I really love the sustain I get with TI Flats. It is a longer sustain than most flats, but tapers off nicely without ringing forever like rounds do. Palm muting will get rid of high overtones, but will also kill your sustain. Not the answer, IMHO, although Palm muting can be useful in many other scenarios.
sustain with TI's is very smooth and very long! I just got some xl chromes, and they seem to have sustain as well.....
the reason I got the chromes, is I did a gig with rounds, it was ok, but I kinda missed the thump!
not totally, but I think I am 100 percent converted... hehehe
the tis are jf344's, and the chromes are the ecb81's.... .100 e string
the reason I got the chromes, is I did a gig with rounds, it was ok, but I kinda missed the thump!
not totally, but I think I am 100 percent converted... hehehe
the tis are jf344's, and the chromes are the ecb81's.... .100 e string
I must admit i havent read through this thread yet so sorry if this has been asked.
Ive played Chrome and TI's on and off over the past few years but keep going back to rounds. This will always happen and i guess it wont change.
Im about to go back to Chrome on my CV Jazz (for the first time on this bass) and was just wondering (not asking what i should do) what people prefer flats on.
I love them on both P and Jazz but they seem to work better for me on a P.
Ive played Chrome and TI's on and off over the past few years but keep going back to rounds. This will always happen and i guess it wont change.
Im about to go back to Chrome on my CV Jazz (for the first time on this bass) and was just wondering (not asking what i should do) what people prefer flats on.
I love them on both P and Jazz but they seem to work better for me on a P.
I think flats would sound great on Lakland DJ 
I hear that Joe Osborn likes flats on his bass too.
I hear that Joe Osborn likes flats on his bass too.
IME nothing sounds good on a DJ5 ;-). Seriously, i never liked the tone my DJ5 had, my CV jazz sounds much better to my ears.
I second this.
I had a DJ5 for a very short stint, because I thought the feel was wonderful. Turns out I hated 35" scale, and I thought the tone it produced was awful, especially with both pickups on full.
Well i loved everything about it other than the tone.
I had it modded with nordstrands in to a PJ and it still didnt sound how i wanted.
Its a very dark sounding bass IME, and not for me.
I had it modded with nordstrands in to a PJ and it still didnt sound how i wanted.
Its a very dark sounding bass IME, and not for me.
On a P. My J is staying with rounds. I found that flats go together nicely with the more thumpy sound of a P, whether the rounds give me the nice growl of the J, which is suppresed if I put flats on it.
Oh boy... Just got converted, this afternoon!
I play bass since 2004, so it is a short journey I've got here. I must say (ashamed, of course) that before today I NEVER played a bass strung with flats. Last month I got from eBay a bass I was dreaming for ages: an American Fender P (plus, with J in the bridge) and it came with old Chromes in it, which I changed right away for a set of 40-95 d'addario XL (as usual, I always put new strings on my new basses).
OK, it sounds good with the XL, specially thru my new Ampeg combo. I can do all sorts of stuff with those bright rounds. But today I was bored and decided to re-setup the bass to fit the old Chromes back on (which I never played. When the bass arrived I got them off right away and boiled them to keep it clean for a future bass). Did I mention it is the medium gauge? 50-105, stiff when I tuned it to pitch, smooth but kinda harder to push down (the heaviest I used before was 45-100) but man... THAT IS BASS. When I plugged it I realized that I never played bass before! I never had such grease and low end! I know that Chromes are kinda bright flats, so with EQ I can even dial back the sound of the rounds!! INCREDIBLE!
I swear to God I'll never string my P with rounds again! Today is the day I realized that, indeed, P basses are MADE to use HEAVY FLATS! The only con of it is a ****ing bad GAS right now telling me to buy another bass to put rounds on... I did get converted, but still like rounds to mess around at home... but from now on, the P Plus with flats is my main gigging bass.
I play bass since 2004, so it is a short journey I've got here. I must say (ashamed, of course) that before today I NEVER played a bass strung with flats. Last month I got from eBay a bass I was dreaming for ages: an American Fender P (plus, with J in the bridge) and it came with old Chromes in it, which I changed right away for a set of 40-95 d'addario XL (as usual, I always put new strings on my new basses).
OK, it sounds good with the XL, specially thru my new Ampeg combo. I can do all sorts of stuff with those bright rounds. But today I was bored and decided to re-setup the bass to fit the old Chromes back on (which I never played. When the bass arrived I got them off right away and boiled them to keep it clean for a future bass). Did I mention it is the medium gauge? 50-105, stiff when I tuned it to pitch, smooth but kinda harder to push down (the heaviest I used before was 45-100) but man... THAT IS BASS. When I plugged it I realized that I never played bass before! I never had such grease and low end! I know that Chromes are kinda bright flats, so with EQ I can even dial back the sound of the rounds!! INCREDIBLE!
I swear to God I'll never string my P with rounds again! Today is the day I realized that, indeed, P basses are MADE to use HEAVY FLATS! The only con of it is a ****ing bad GAS right now telling me to buy another bass to put rounds on... I did get converted, but still like rounds to mess around at home... but from now on, the P Plus with flats is my main gigging bass.
If you want to have your own sonic territory in a live band or in the studio flats do it. It's nice to OWN your own sonic real estate. Guitarists usually like to own all of the frequency spectrum, but with flats they really can't step all over you. Flats produce big authorative notes.
I do appreciate the comments on flats, and I tend to agree with you, albeit not from experience. However, I picture the sound, and it doesn't seem right for the kind of music I've been writing. I have a very heavy Rush influence, so I like the Wal tone, with the solid low end with emphasis on the high mids. not twangy, but precise and still solid. It's kind of a pity, though, since Rounds wear out much faster. With flats, you don't have to worry about strings going dead as much.
Well, I hear you on this, however, much of Geddy's tone is all about overdrive, and if you had great overdrive on bright flats, like Chromes or Ti Flats, I don't think you would be unhappy.
I just played a blues jam last night with my TI flats on my Sadowsky Modern 5 and I couldn't believe how great they sounded. The house amp was a really mid-rangey Peavey which made every other roundwound bass sound honky but added a nice mid-growl to the deep punch that my bass offered. What really amazed me is that as I did a little solo, how great the higher notes sound on these strings-they really sang out and had all the sustain I want. They don't just disappear like upper fret passages do with stainless rounds. I am sold all over again! It doesn't get better than TI flats for me!
I really like how my Bass sounds with stock pickups and Chromes (medium-light). Just the right level of brightness with lots of thumpy warmth!
Well, The thing is, I'm not talking mainly about his 2112 through Signals or so sound, I'm talking about the Power Windows and Hold Your Fire sound in the late 80s. He had very little distortion if any at all, and he used Funkmasters, I believe, just smaller gauge Rotosound Swing bass 66s. It isn't really that much of an issue, though. I don't have enough money to shop around, and Since I'm not primarily a bass player, I don't play bass on serious gigs very often. (I actually don't play gigs that often at all, I'm a senior in high school, and our band has been fragmented for quite some time) So, it really doesn't matter that much. I will definitely try different strings out, eventually, but right now that's kind of unnecessary.
Commreman
Faith, Family, Fitness, and Frets
Wow. I'm a month into my experiment with Flats on my jazz.
I'm using Chromes, .40 - .100. These sit so FAT in the mix, with great fundamental and definition. Last night I played an outdoor gig, and the bass tone was huge! After 30 years with rounds, I'm definitely impressed. These will stay on for quite some time!
I'm using Chromes, .40 - .100. These sit so FAT in the mix, with great fundamental and definition. Last night I played an outdoor gig, and the bass tone was huge! After 30 years with rounds, I'm definitely impressed. These will stay on for quite some time!
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