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D'Addario Half Rounds - Please explain the love!

#43
stringthrough said:
Just put on a set and I don't get it.

They're nowhere near as smooth as flatwounds, in fact they feel stickier than roundwounds.

The sound is nothing special. You can dull rounds by using tone/ EQ controls and brighten flats by dialing in the other direction.

Not looking for "to each his/ her own replies" but for the case made for using them, and if you love them, why?

Thanks!
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Although they're not exactly what you're asking about, GHS pressurewounds are perfect for my fretless basses: a get a roundwound sound with less fingerboard wear.
 
#44
They're my general 'go to' strings but it really depends on the bass. For my custom made J/P/J Kali-Koa slab bass, they're simply amazing. I chose to go flats with my P using chromes. My fretted J and fretless J/Squier are wrapped w/Fender 9050Ls and my AGB with LaBella DTP tapes. Pretty dark in general and when I took out the J/P/J with the Half Wounds the other day, they sounded amazing, not too clanky or dull at all. Mind you, there is a break in period that you'll feel the stickiness diminish, which is not unlike other strings.

At the end of the day, it's all personal preference but what I've learned was that we most-likely need to allow the strings to break in (flats in particular).

Good luck

Jb
 
#45
Tried them once, found them sticky, didn't try them again.

I don't understand how the stickiness happens. Is there literally a sticky coating on them for some reason? Or is it just some weird quirk of physics that neither round-wounds nor flat-wounds are sticky but half-rounds are?
 
#46
Here's my two cents, since you asked.

I only like them on the Yamaha in my Avatar; not on any other bass that I own. And that's "like" - not "love."
I "love" the touch of initial brightness without string/fret noise that I get from them, but that fades quickly and then they sound like flats to me. They are sticky for about the first hour or so of playing, but that fades in what I deem to be a reasonable amount of time. Once they become "flat-like" with tone, they do seem to stay in tune for quite a long period of time. However, I've found issues with sustain on the D and sometimes G strings. Now, that might also may be because of more playing on those strings, I'm not sure, but it's a working theory.

All that said, I haven't found a set of strings I love for that Yamaha yet. I'm going to look into bright flats or pressure wounds, but I think (haven't done a lot of research on it yet) options on a packaged set for a 6 string are somewhat limited (excluding rounds with this statement).
 
#47
I tried a set of Half Rounds on my fretless 'Ray a while back. They sounded dead to me right off the bat, so I took them right off and boiled them to see if I could get rid of the sticky feeling and gain some clarity.

It did make them feel and sound a lot better but I'd rather not have to go through that process every string change, so hard pass next time. Pressurewounds for the win!
 
#48
stringthrough said:
Just put on a set and I don't get it.

They're nowhere near as smooth as flatwounds, in fact they feel stickier than roundwounds.

The sound is nothing special. You can dull rounds by using tone/ EQ controls and brighten flats by dialing in the other direction.

Not looking for "to each his/ her own replies" but for the case made for using them, and if you love them, why?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

i’m with you. Tried them four different times, thinking I missed something. I normally play flats, but I now have a bass with rounds rather than these. Wasn’t a fan.
 
#50
If you expect half-rounds to just sound like rounds but have the feeling of flats, your barking up the wrong tree. The D'Addario Half-rounds are definitely brighter than flats, don't have the zing of fresh rounds, but have a really gritty, growly sound. I find them to sound thicker on D/G strings than rounds. They are fairly stiff and rough, so they don't have the best tactile feel.

I found them to work really well for recording. I've had a set strung up for 2+ years and they sound the same now as they did the week I put them on, which is great for consistency.

They aren't my favorite strings, and they obviously aren't for everyone, but they're their own thing and shouldn't be thought of as flats with zing or smooth rounds, IMO. I like them, but I also like Chromes, Nickel rounds, and TI Flats. They're all strings.
 
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#52
I have a set on my Skjold 6 string. Admittedly I tried them because Patitucci endorses them and I like the sound he gets from them on his bandleader recordings.

They’ve been on the bass quite a while now. They did have that sticky feeling at first, but whatever was causing that wore off. They don’t seem to die like roundwounds or even Pressurewounds do, but have a nice bright but slightly mellow balance.

I like them.
 
#53
One of the guitarists in my band swears by them. I think the main appeal to him is the lack of string squeek from moving/sliding the fretting hand. I've also heard they feel less sticky after a while.
The only hybrid type strings I've really appreciated were the GHS pressurewounds, which have the compressed outer wind (kind of oval wire rather than round). Not by any means a favorite of mine, but they were comfortable to play and definitely packed more punch than average rounds
 
#54
I started using them years ago due to a finger injury. My left index finger nerves were pretty scrambled (still are). Round wounds were causing me too much discomfort for that finger, to the point that I thought I wouldn’t be able to play anymore. I had played flats years before but wanted to try half rounds. Turned out they worked really well for me and I’ve stuck with them.
 
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#56
michael_t said:
I tried GHS Brite Flats (Alloy 52 half-rounds) three times on two basses in the last couple of years. NO GO! While I liked their tonal quality, I just couldn't get on with their sticky feel. No more half-rounds for me. I would much prefer the smooth, non-sticky feel of GHS Pressurewounds (Alloy 52 rollerwound).
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Agreed. Had em on my classic ray 4 and it just sounded sucked out
 
#57
Tried them on my MIA P, actually they are still on there but I am also unimpressed (as someone said above, kind of the worst of both worlds). I am just deciding whether to put flats back on or put rounds on that bass. I've used pressurewounds in the past, but they aren't for me either.
 
#58
Probably my least-liked set of strings that I've ever used. Kind of a worst-of-both worlds between rounds and flats, IMO. I had them on that bass for a day before I swapped them out for something else.

Conversely, GHS Pressure Wounds are probably my favourite.
 
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#59
Ampslut said:
I've got a set laying around but haven't put them on anything yet. Do they sound like really bright flats or really dull rounds?
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Really dull rounds. They always have a little spark of bounce or brightness that flats never have, and they never have the thump you get with flats.

Sam Evans said:
don't understand how the stickiness happens. Is there literally a sticky coating on them for some reason? Or is it just some weird quirk of physics that neither round-wounds nor flat-wounds are sticky but half-rounds are?
Click to expand...

My guess is that the process of grinding down the round winding creates microscopic burrs, which get flattened out after some use. My fingertips feel like they've been "lightly sanded" after playing a new set. To be clear, this is a lot less aggressive than the effects of rounds, but nothing like the silky smoothness of flats. The callouses I get from half rounds are much closer the the ones I get from flats.

bigthemat said:
the one time I tried them my arm hairs kept getting ripped out by the strings. never had that happen with flats lol
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Ouch! Obviously they're a no-go for you, then. I am not very hairy, but I don't think my arms ever come in contact with my strings... Do you have a wild playing technique or is this happening in passing?
 
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#60
Ryan in PDX said:
Really dull rounds. They always have a little spark of bounce or brightness that flats never have, and they never have the thump you get with flats.



My guess is that the process of grinding down the round winding creates microscopic burrs, which get flattened out after some use. My fingertips feel like they've been "lightly sanded" after playing a new set. To be clear, this is a lot less aggressive than the effects of rounds, but nothing like the silky smoothness of flats. The callouses I get from half rounds are much closer the the ones I get from flats.



Ouch! Obviously they're a no-go for you, then. I am not very hairy, but I don't think my arms ever come in contact with my strings... Do you have a wild playing technique or is this happening in passing?
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it was just like when taking it out of the case or when handling it outside of playing haha
 

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