Do you play faster/easier with Flats or Rounds

[Bass4ThePublic]

I play faster typically with rounds, however I have recorded death metal with a p with flats and fingers, so assuming I warm up and stretch properly I dont really worry about that. I DO play and prefer mainly flats because I can go anywhere on the neck without finger noise, from way up high to way down low all muting with my fretting hand. I like flats more, the note to me feels more defined/whole, easy to point out where it is in a mix, and easy to record. I do keep a bass strung up with zingy rotosound rounds though, because even though sometimes I prefer flats it's best to swallow my pride and do what's best for the mix.

 

[Artman]

I play fastest on tapes.

 

[5StringBlues]

rhubarb

 

[getBAK]

For raw speed, rounds win the day. But, raw speed is only worth so much.

 

[Diminishedfilth]

Rounds for me. I wear gloves for my day job, and with my landscaping side hobby.
Might sound gross, but my finger tips go through a lot of moisture/dry cycles. Flats end up feeling sticky. I did try half rounds, once, but a they felt like that little rope-saw you’d get in the kit inside the handle of your 1985 Rambo Knife.

 

[ELG60]

For me, ease and facility are more contingent upon neck profile, string tension, and string spacing rather than the strings being flats or rounds.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

Aside from the sound preference, do you feel it is faster or easier to play with flat strings or with rounds. Think also of comfort

The keyword is easier. And you can qualify it in your responses, like punchier, clearer... etc.

For me, I think flats with the equivalent tension may actually be faster, but the quality of the flat sound makes it appear as if it is slower. The difference is slight to notice. With a pick, it seems faster if I am honest.

Or it could be neither.

I don't think I've ever noticed much of a difference. I used to play mostly using a pick, but I'm getting much better with my fingers.

I'm assuming you mean on the same bass? The closest I have are two Epiphones (both from the 90s). I've been meaning to try flats on the "Jazz". Do you want me to conduct a 'speriment?

 

[Stevorebob]

Do you play faster/easier with Flats or Rounds?

Without a doubt, yes.

 

[pfschim]

for me there is no meaningful difference. Certainly less string noise with flats (obviously), but other than that ..... nada

I don't really play a ton of super fast passages anyway, so there's that.

 

[StayLow]

“Doesn’t matter”, but probably flats as I tend to have higher tension in my flats; that and a lack of windings friction helps for shred speed.

 

[5StringBlues]

Invalid Link Removed

 

[mmon77]

If I put flats on a bass, I play slower than slow. I don't like them, so it makes me not play that bass at all. You can't go any slower than that.

I've tried, I just do not get along with them. I don't like the way I sound playing them. Maybe if I bought a set of those Thomastik-Infeld flats, I would "get" it. But I'm not about to drop that kind of change to find out.

 

[el murdoque]

I feel that some rounds feel like they offer a little more speed.
However, that is negated by the fact that flats give you a little more leeway in terms of clean fretting, where slightly messing up note on a round would sound dull while flat can't lose any brilliance it does not have in the first place and only lose sustain which does not factor since we're playing fast.

 

[Old Blastard]

Flats are kinder to my finger tips after a 3-hour gig. Sound great in my Americana band. My BL in the alt rock band likes rounds and nickels really fit the sound, so I have basses dressed in both.

Don't really notice speed being affected.

 

[mrperkolator]

I’m slowest on pahoehoe

 

[onda'bass]

makes no difference.

 

[brianrost]

Round vs. flat doesn’t matter, gauge and tension does.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Faster with rounds. Flats can be grabby with my fingers. This isn’t a bad thing either. I like that it forces me to approach songs differently than I normally would.

 

[Gervais Cote]

For me, it’s more about tension than anything else. High tension = high speed for me, low tension = low speed. My best is medium tension though. This applies to rounds and flats.
The other thing that influences my speed is the neck. Big baseball p bass neck = slow and C shape jazz neck or MIM Fender p bass neck = fast.
I tried many strings and basses and always came to that same conclusion.

 

[JRA]

i voted "rounds."

not sure about speed: i've never compared the two (i'm rounds only,* since the beginning of time).

the rounds i play are "easier" rounds: compliant ("low tension") and/or the lightest gauges.


* seems like i try a set of flat wound strings once every other decade or so: have never liked the feel! last trial = TI JF344 = = didn't like the feel.