I bought a set of half rounds in the late 1970's - wanted something brighter sounding than the flats that came on my Ric 4001,but was afraid to go to rounds (Ric used to warn people that rounds put too much tension on the neck, which makes absolutely no sense). I played them for a while, because... I was a college student (poor by definition) and had just spent several week's worth of disposable income on strings. I haven't bought half rounds since then. As they're still around, they must be the sound in someone's head; but it's not my head where that sound lives. Pressure wounds? Yeah, I've bought a bunch of sets of those over the years. Played a bass with those on it at a gig last night.
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D'Addario Half Rounds - Please explain the love!
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Both GHS Pressurewounds and SIT Silencers are the mainstays on my basses that do not wear flats.
My experience with half-rounds is limited, but I have had a set on my 6-string for several years.
I get what people say about the odd sticky feel at the start. That goes away.
I get what people say about the tone being neither here nor there relative to brightness or thump. But I believe that may be the point to these strings - halfway between rounds and flats.
Mine are substantially brighter than flats but feel much smoother than rounds once the initial rough wears off. And they seem to avoid going dead, like flats do. At least they don't go any more dead than they are to begin with.
I actually like them.
I like Pressurewounds too. Those are a different thing. Those are a slightly mellower take on a roundwound string, but still sound essentially like one to my ears. They're what you put on a Jazz bass if you want a Marcus tone minus 15% of the zing. I have them on mine for that reason.
I get what people say about the odd sticky feel at the start. That goes away.
I get what people say about the tone being neither here nor there relative to brightness or thump. But I believe that may be the point to these strings - halfway between rounds and flats.
Mine are substantially brighter than flats but feel much smoother than rounds once the initial rough wears off. And they seem to avoid going dead, like flats do. At least they don't go any more dead than they are to begin with.
I actually like them.
I like Pressurewounds too. Those are a different thing. Those are a slightly mellower take on a roundwound string, but still sound essentially like one to my ears. They're what you put on a Jazz bass if you want a Marcus tone minus 15% of the zing. I have them on mine for that reason.
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I had the same experience, I was expecting them to be kind of like broken it rounds but they just seemed like very rough flats to me
skyline_01
Endorsing artist: Nordstrand Audio, Tsunami Cables
I don't know what kind of coating they put on those things, but it definitely left a ring around the pot when I boiled them. And yes, I know boiling is a hot-button issues but I just couldn't stand the way they felt or sounded and I didn't want to throw the $ down the drain for the strings. They did dramatically improve after that, so all was not lost. Never again though.
Did you mean rounds?
About the sticky comments... Do you guys clean the strings before installing? Plenty of manufacturing ick comes off any type of string when I wipe them down before install.
It's been years since I last put on a set of half-rounds, but the "stickiness" never seemed like a residue stickiness, more a sort of roughness, microscopic little burrs of metal at the edges of the ground-down surface. It does seem to wear down, and becomes less and less noticeable with playing. I was a little surprised to read the note about boiling them making a difference, but there are reasons why it could that have nothing to do with removing residue.
The three times I tried the GHS Brite Flats (Alloy 52 half-rounds), I did clean them with an isopropyl alcohol wipe before installation. However, most of the stickiness of half-rounds actually come from the tiny gaps between windings left after the outer round wire is ground down. Also, this whole grinding process always leaves surface imperfections that can be perceived as being "sticky and grabby".
No, I meant "they seem to avoid going dead in the same way that flats avoid going dead."
I agree, it felt to me like an artifact of the grinding process. For me it was never objectionable but was something I noticed, until it eventually disappeared.
I started using D'addarrio Halfies around '78 because RotoSound Swing 66 were tearing up the ebony fret board of my fretless Ripper towards the headstock end. At that point I wasn't aware of flat rounds.
The "stickiness" wasn't a bother because new RotoSound sets were really "sticky" at first, too. Just something I played trough 'til it went away. Didn't even think about it. Either the sticky went away or became normal. Yes, I wipe my strings down everytime after playing.
Used to change them two or three times a year as the fretless was my main player for a few years.
About 20 years ago I tried putting some Chromes on her, but the flats were so dead sounding and thumpy I was really pulling on them trying to bring out some attack. Slowed me down a little bit. So I tried some GHS Brite Flats and found them boomy and the guage for the strings were kind of odd ball, not enough to be a bother, but noticeable. So I went back to the D'addarrio Halfies = feel good and sound good to me so gonna stick with 'em. I haven't changed the set since putting them back on and they're just fine.
A buddy of mine has a fretless Warwick Corvette with rounds on it and it sounds really good. The fret board does have little chew lines on it, but doesn't bother him. Don't know what brand of rounds they are. If I had a cheapo fretless I didn't care too much about it would definitely sport rounds - probably Dunlop nickel Super Brites.
The "stickiness" wasn't a bother because new RotoSound sets were really "sticky" at first, too. Just something I played trough 'til it went away. Didn't even think about it. Either the sticky went away or became normal. Yes, I wipe my strings down everytime after playing.
Used to change them two or three times a year as the fretless was my main player for a few years.
About 20 years ago I tried putting some Chromes on her, but the flats were so dead sounding and thumpy I was really pulling on them trying to bring out some attack. Slowed me down a little bit. So I tried some GHS Brite Flats and found them boomy and the guage for the strings were kind of odd ball, not enough to be a bother, but noticeable. So I went back to the D'addarrio Halfies = feel good and sound good to me so gonna stick with 'em. I haven't changed the set since putting them back on and they're just fine.
A buddy of mine has a fretless Warwick Corvette with rounds on it and it sounds really good. The fret board does have little chew lines on it, but doesn't bother him. Don't know what brand of rounds they are. If I had a cheapo fretless I didn't care too much about it would definitely sport rounds - probably Dunlop nickel Super Brites.
