Flats for metal?

[David Lansen]

Who here use flatwound strings for metal?

What kind of flats do you use, and what bass do you put them on?

Can you post links to some of your music?

p.s. Steve Harris uses new strings for every gig. I'm more interested to hear how "the-deader-the-better" flats work in a metal setting.

 

[ishouldbeking]

I've never done it myself, but I could see how flats might work well for some really sludgy doom metal type stuff. Like Khanate or Sleep maybe. The kind of metal that relies on having a ridiculously thick low end. I could imagine some music like that wouldn't need the attack of roundwounds... but otherwise, for other kinds of metal at least, I think the attack of the rounds is what would help you cut through that wall of guitar. I guess it would all depend on approach.

 

[bikeplate]

HI

Steve Harris, 'nuff said

Rob

 

[Blacksheep]

Well, I play hardcore music on a Jazz bass with flats. So dont let anyone tell you that flats wont work great for abbrasive music. I get a thick really sweet tone, but of course, by the end of a gig I have blood blisters and all that fun stuff, mainly cause of the strings and the fact that I play by the bridge. There are some videos here (The recordings were done with my old Ibanez BTB)

Link Removed

Rock and roll.

 

[David Lansen]

Well, I play hardcore music on a Jazz bass with flats. So dont let anyone tell you that flats wont work great for abbrasive music. I get a thick really sweet tone, but of course, by the end of a gig I have blood blisters and all that fun stuff, mainly cause of the strings and the fact that I play by the bridge. There are some videos here (The recordings were done with my old Ibanez BTB)

Link Removed

Rock and roll.

I dig it!

What brand of flats are you using? You say they give you blood blisters, but I thought flats were generally smoother than rounds?

 

[SoLongJake]

From my experiences, with flats your finger actually makes a considerable amount more contact with the actual metal of the string. So while smoother feeling, they wear on my skin a ton more than rounds.

 

[Time Consumer]

I actually started out playing metal with flatwounds, it was pretty fun and smooth, and i actually loved the fact that I could just effortlessly slide to any fret. I dont know how that one dude got blisters with his, but mine were smooth as hell. I had a squire p-bass that was given to me, then my brother kinda stole the strings that were on it and put flatwounds on it (*******), but that was before I started seriously playing so I have no idea what kind they were. I have since traded that bass for an archer acoustic bass, and I now rock an ibanez btb 200.

 

[Buskman]

I'm almost positive Geezer Butler rocked with some flats in the early Sabbath days...

 

[oldnoob]

To the best of my knowledge Geez only used flats on a few songs, the most notable being Snowblind. I know on the Never Say Die tour he used a Ric 4001 w/flats. Hope this little bit helps.
I don't see how anyone could get blisters from flats. I use flats on all of my basses atm and I get no kind of skin damage at all. Now with rounds, I would get the indents, skin removed, and as such limited my practice every day. With flats I can practice as much as I want with no problems.
Later all!

 

[David Lansen]

To the best of my knowledge Geez only used flats on a few songs, the most notable being Snowblind. I know on the Never Say Die tour he used a Ric 4001 w/flats. Hope this little bit helps.

It sure does! I found a video on youtube of them performing "Snowblind" on the Never Say Die tour. I think it sounds great.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=S63fVLFtmyQ

I actually started out playing metal with flatwounds, it was pretty fun and smooth, and i actually loved the fact that I could just effortlessly slide to any fret. I dont know how that one dude got blisters with his, but mine were smooth as hell.

I don't see how anyone could get blisters from flats. I use flats on all of my basses atm and I get no kind of skin damage at all. Now with rounds, I would get the indents, skin removed, and as such limited my practice every day. With flats I can practice as much as I want with no problems. Later all!

I'm very tempted to try some flats now.

 

[ishouldbeking]

I think it really just depends what you're looking for. If you just want thick low end to add a lot of beef while the guitars get to do all the abrasive stuff I think flats would work fantastically. But if the bass is going to be more forward in the mix, like some newer extreme acts like Big Business, or even some of the noisier tech-stuff like Meshuggah, you'd probably need rounds to get the kind of harsh edge you'd need to cut through the wall of guitar. Clearly there's a wide range of options that would all get things done in different ways. A lot of guys use stainless steel rounds, but that's another sound entirely.

The Steve Harris thing is kind of an anomaly, I think, since very few other bassists play the way he does. Sure, he uses flats, but he changes them every few days so that they never settle in (mellow out) the way that other flats do. And he's not using a traditional fingerstyle either, he grows out his fingernails and plays with a really light touch. On most of the metal forums, when people ask how to get his tone they're usually told to get nickel roundwounds and play with a pick, unless they want grow and strengthen their nails, spend a few hundred dollars a month on strings, and learn a completely new style of playing. It works for him, but it's not practical for most. Not to say dead-as-hell Labellas won't work for someone else, just that Harris uses flats in a completely different way.

 

[Darkstrike]

I use flats a lot for metal, TI Jazz Flats and Steve Harris Rotos, to be precisce.
I use them a lot for Pantera songs. The Steve Harris ones are great for downtuning.

 

[scronus]

A buddy of mine that plays hard core plays a yamaha 5 string fretless with rotosound tape wound flats .He gets really good tone from it but he also has a n old 70s dietz 4x15 cab he palys through with a marshall head so go figure

 

[David Lansen]

Resurrecting this thread. I just want to say thanks to everyone who replied, especially Blacksheep, who shared some of his music; oldnoob, whose post led to my looking up the "Snowblind" video; and everyone else who commented on the smoothness of these strings.

Anyway, I just came home with some DR flats, installed them, set up, and played for an hour. I suck at describing tone, but suffice to say, it sounds a lot closer to the tone I have in my head when I think "bass"! Furthermore, I love how smooth these strings feel, how little string noise they have, and how easy it is to slide around.

I still have to spend some time to figure out how to cut through in metal, but I will definitely be using flats with other kinds of music I play. I'm a convert now.

 

[Darkstrike]

Resurrecting this thread. I just want to say thanks to everyone who replied, especially Blacksheep, who shared some of his music; oldnoob, whose post led to my looking up the "Snowblind" video; and everyone else who commented on the smoothness of these strings.

Anyway, I just came home with some DR flats, installed them, set up, and played for an hour. I suck at describing tone, but suffice to say, it sounds a lot closer to the tone I have in my head when I think "bass"! Furthermore, I love how smooth these strings feel, how little string noise they have, and how easy it is to slide around.

I still have to spend some time to figure out how to cut through in metal, but I will definitely be using flats with other kinds of music I play. I'm a convert now.

Try boosting your mids, should help no end.

 

[David Lansen]

Try boosting your mids, should help no end.

Will do! Thanks.

 

[improvpwnd]

It sure does! I found a video on youtube of them performing "Snowblind" on the Never Say Die tour. I think it sounds great.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=S63fVLFtmyQ



I'm very tempted to try some flats now.

That drum kit is huge! Never seen Sabbath with a kit that big..

 

[hbarcat]

Try boosting your mids, should help no end.

Agreed. Spend a lot of time experimenting with EQ in order to optimize your sound with flats. Also make sure the strings settle in for a few months because they'll develop that signature "bwah" sound over time.

This may not be practical for everyone, but selecting a more aggressive pickup will help adjust your sound more for heavy metal.

 

[Darkstrike]

Agreed. Spend a lot of time experimenting with EQ in order to optimize your sound with flats. Also make sure the strings settle in for a few months because they'll develop that signature "bwah" sound over time.

This may not be practical for everyone, but selecting a more aggressive pickup will help adjust your sound more for heavy metal.

Just can't figure out why nearly all metal bassists scoop out the mids, the only audible space left to them!

 

[WayneS]

I play metal with flats. However, I record with rounds. I know about the blisters... it got to the point where I had to wrap tape around my finger. That made it hurt worse and I couldnt feel the strings!