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Flats or Rounds?

Flatwounds or Roundwounds on a P bass

  • Flats

    Votes: 119 63.6%

  • Rounds

    Votes: 58 31.0%

  • Rotosound

    Votes: 8 4.3%

  • D'addario

    Votes: 2 1.1%

  • La Bella

    Votes: 12 6.4%

  • Ernie Ball

    Votes: 2 1.1%

  • TIs

    Votes: 11 5.9%

  • Other

    Votes: 1 0.5%

  • GHS

    Votes: 7 3.7%

  • Fender

    Votes: 6 3.2%
  • Total voters
    187
#85
Sam Farnon said:
Hello there

I'm going to be purchasing a Presicion type bass in the next few weeks, and I'm currently debating on whether I should put rounds or flats on it; I currently play in a blues/blues rock band, and use a Modern Player Jazz bass with Elixir stainless steel rounds on it, which has an amazing sound for rock/funk/fusion thanks to a combination of the strings and the pickups, but it does seem a bit aggressive sounding for the bluesy stuff I'm doing with the band (Which is one of the reasons I'm going for a P bass haha).

I am curious as to whether its better to put rounds or flats on it however; there are convincing arguments for both, and not all flatwound strings sound the same; the music is kind of 50/50 between standard electric blues sound and more hard edged Zeppelin/Hendrix sounding blues rock; my main concern is the flats being able to cover the heavier stuff as well as the more blues focused music. Its a three piece band btw.

What do y'all think?

- Sam
Click to expand...

Rounds, unless you can find like some really rusted, crusted 40 year old flats that have “just broke in and sound great”.

Seriously, strings were not meant to be a life long commitment (contrary to popular opinion here). Why not try both and then make a choice?
 
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#86
My opinion is, flats for P and rounds for J. I have 3 basses, Fender P, Sire V7, and an ABG. I put LaBella flats on my P, Rotosound on my Sire, and D'Addrio Chromes on mu ABG. It's a win. Different food for different beasts.
 
#87
'78 P-Bass-2.JPG
Well, out of 24 basses, I only own one that I always keep round wounds on - and, it ain't this one. In fact, I'm not sure it's ever had round wounds on it - unless it came from Fullerton with a set... So, I'd say put flats on it. I want old school, flat wound thump out of this '78 P (and there's a mute in the bridge cover too); and, with so many basses, versatility is not really a requirement in my herd. That's just me, though; other people often don't have that option. So... if it were me? I'd probably put on a set of flats from the brighter side of the ledger; EB Cobalts, D'Addario Chromes, or maybe Fender 9050s. They'll give you a little versatility, while still making your fingers happy. And you won't have to change them once a week, either...:thumbsup:
 
#90
Tony In Philly said:
Two common canards here on TB: 1) Dead rounds sound like new flats. 2) Rounds with the tone rolled off sound like flats. Both of these assertions are not completely accurate because they don't account for the complexity of tone that good flats offer in the upper midrange frequencies.
Click to expand...
Agreed. However, I'm a rounds lover and I need the versatility of being able to cop reasonable versions of both flats and rounds because I hate changing basses in the middle of a show, so I opt for dead rounds these days, even though the only rounds I've ever even liked when they go dead are my Dunlop Super Bright Nickels. Everything else I ever used just sounded like dead rounds, whereas the Dunlops do a very reasonable approximation of flats with a decent enough amount of round zing when I need it. Not dead on of course, but not too far off the mark.
 
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#94
Okay, seems like Flatwounds have the win! I've added extra responses onto the poll (For flatwound users primarily, but if you're a roundwounder you can vote too), to see what kind of brands people prefer;

This isnt to influence my choice at all cos I've made it already now haha (I went for Rotosound Flatwounds) but I'd like to see what other people go for in terms of flatwound brands!
 
#96
Try rounds and flats. You'll never know until you give them both a whirl.
I love the feel of flats.
I was a die hard flats user, and refused to admit that they contributed to my poor sound. In fact, I almost got rid of an amp (PF 800) because I thought that's where the fault lay.
Turns out it was indeed the flats. Chromes, Labella, et al.
I've gone back to rounds, Pure blues on one Precision, and Pressurewounds on the other.
I still have EB Cobalt flats on the Yamaha BB 5 string. But that may change to rounds soon too.
 

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