Flats - The Clear Choice!

[schmig]

ScottTunes - cut it out - keep this flats business to yourself!

I've been using them exclusively for about 6 months and have been hired into exactly 400% as many bands as was in previously, when playing rounds.

Two weeks ago, had reports from several sources that the local virtuoso guitarist/luthier was wowed by my playing at a blues gig.

I can't play to save my life - it's the flats. The unobtrusive richness that sensible musicians want from a bassist.

(Not kidding).

 

[schmig]

If I started a thread for every decision I made regarding my tone - I would admit... it would get a bit ridiculous.

Now if you get a $3000 dollar bass and your so excited, you have to start a NBD - sure, I get that. But strings? Cmon.... OP, flats work for you, great, so what?

Modern Growl, I for one am extremely interested in anything ScottTunes has to say about the electric bass, including his opinion on strings. I'm going to pick up a set of Pyramids now and if I like them, will recommend them to other players of flats. I would never have heard of the brand (certainly never seen them here in Ireland) had he not posted here.

 

[Modern Growl]

You were not pulled in and no one called you an idiot. I am not sure why you have such an obviously negative attitude here, but it's really pretty useless. As much as you hate threads about flats, everyone else hates when people post in threads that they clearly don't care about only to insult those who do.

Respectfully, if you really do feel the way you do about this topic, why don't you simply ignore it?

I didn't personally insult anyone here... not caring for this thread? Yes, guilty.

 

[Modern Growl]

ScottTunes - cut it out - keep this flats business to yourself!

I've been using them exclusively for about 6 months and have been hired into exactly 400% as many bands as was in previously, when playing rounds.

Two weeks ago, had reports from several sources that the local virtuoso guitarist/luthier was wowed by my playing at a blues gig.

I can't play to save my life - it's the flats. The unobtrusive richness that sensible musicians want from a bassist.

(Not kidding).

so flats made you a better player?

 

[Modern Growl]

Guys - be realistic.

If I started a thread titled :

"P-Bass, the best choice!!!" - and wrote in such thread:

"I've been using J's for years, and took a P on a gig and my world became 1000% better. My tone was so much better and I got hired for many more jobs and the pope commented how much better my playing got".

Please - be realisic and ask yourself - what kind of responsed would you expect in such a thread?

 

[schmig]

so flats made you a better player?

Not in the slightest! Although I am still in early stages as player (5 years) and improving. It's just the tone. Peeps are always banging on about my tone since I strung the bass with them. Prior to that they were not, so, I take 2+2 and I get 5.

 

[tZer]

I didn't personally insult anyone here...

To a letter, your posts have been nothing but antagonistic, disrespectful and insulting to the OP, for one. You have accused him of being "adolescent" and of wasting everyone's time with his opinions. You have declared people who want to create threads to talk about what they've learned about strings to be useless - and when called out on the fact that you chose to participate in a thread that you clearly have no interest in other than to insult and condescend to others who are interested, you act as if you are the one being attacked.

So yes, you did. Saying that you didn't doesn't change the facts.

...not caring for this thread? Yes, guilty.

Then why post at all?

 

[Decoyx7]

What about flats on an Ibanez? Has anyone ever done that yet?

 

[Slammin]

I recently purchased a fretless and put some TI flats on it. That was my first time using flats in about 35 years. Due to the newness factor (new bass and strings), I've been playing the fretless almost exclusively for the past couple of months.

Now, when I pick up one of my other basses (all of them have rw) the strings feel like crap. The frets also feel like crap. I'm inclined to put flats on one of my fretted basses at this point to see if that helps it feel more like what I have grown to love about the fretless. I guess the lack of frets plus the smooth feeling of fw strings have spoiled me.

 

[mdogs]

My personal opinion, Pyramid Gold Flats have the best tone there is. Unfortunately, I can't use them because every set I've purchased had a bad string. I'm hoping that someday I can go back to them.

Wait, I thought one of the big reasons for using flats is that they never have to be replaced? Hmmmm...

 

[landau roof]

What about flats on an Ibanez? Has anyone ever done that yet?

I had flats on my 90's Iceman for a while. Recently, I did a string swap on a couple basses and now it has rounds. Played it for a half hour last night and I think I'm gonna try some pressure wounds on it.

 

[landau roof]

Wait, I thought one of the big reasons for using flats is that they never have to be replaced? Hmmmm...

Lots of reasons to use flats. For some there are compromises, for others not.

 

[BBox Bass]

What about flats on an Ibanez? Has anyone ever done that yet?

I recently put SIT half-rounds on my SR305. I'm not crazy about the sound when I play alone, but I'm going to reserve final judgment for when I use it at my band's next gig.

 

[u84six]

Wait, I thought one of the big reasons for using flats is that they never have to be replaced? Hmmmm...

Yes, one of the big reasons is they last forever. That's why Pyramid needs to fix the problem. All the other flats I've used have lasted until I wanted to change my sound. Also, the even bigger reason I use flats is because I like to have the sound of a bass (i.e. upright bass), but I don't want to lug mine around. I use rounds on my Jazz for the songs that require a more piano-like bass tone.

 

[soulman969]

The "clear choice" for who? They have their place just like anything else musical but they sure aren't a solution for every need. To me they're like an ingredient I use when the recipe calls for it.

 

[tZer]

You know - I think people are taking the OP's 'Clear Choice' comment as some sort of threat or declaration that their own choice of strings is somehow wrong or bad.

I took it as "in my situation, flats ended up being the best option for these things that I did" - but wow... how insecure do you have to be to get mad at a guy for sharing such info and feeling like he's saying "YOU use the WRONG STRINGS because I like these..."

Good lord people... Get a grip, would you? The OP had an experience where flat wound strings were clearly the right choice for his circumstances and he not only shared what those circumstances were, but how he came to the conclusion that flat indeed were the clear choice. Stop taking it personally and get over yourselves, please.

 

[guy n. cognito]

You know - I think people are taking the OP's 'Clear Choice' comment as some sort of threat or declaration that their own choice of strings is somehow wrong or bad.

I took it as "in my situation, flats ended up being the best option for these things that I did" - but wow... how insecure do you have to be to get mad at a guy for sharing such info and feeling like he's saying "YOU use the WRONG STRINGS because I like these..."

Good lord people... Get a grip, would you? The OP had an experience where flat wound strings were clearly the right choice for his circumstances and he not only shared what those circumstances were, but how he came to the conclusion that flat indeed were the clear choice. Stop taking it personally and get over yourselves, please.

TZer, why don't you just ignore the comments you don't like? Common sense would dictate that writing one of your novel-length posts calling people out on the issue is perpetuating what you perceive as an issue.

 

[tZer]

TZer, why don't you just ignore the comments you don't like? Common sense would dictate that writing one of your novel-length posts calling people out on the issue is perpetuating what you perceive as an issue.

An excellent point. I suppose it's because I felt the OP was getting attacked unnecessarily.

But point(s) taken. (I should heed my own advice and shorten the length of my posts in general).

+1, Mr. Incognito.

 

[iiipopes]

Last Saturday I played a gig with a band I used to be with twenty years ago. Their current bass player went down (hospitalized) unexpectedly, and I got called in. They emailed me the set list, mostly early to mid '70's, with some '60's thrown in. When I reviewed the songs on YouTube, it was very apparent that almost all of the songs on this particular set list were recorded with a P-bass with flats. Sometimes fingers, sometimes pick, sometimes a J-bass, Gibson EB or whatever the player had at the time, but all with flats.

There are bassically (pun intended) only two musical reasons we all play, or have played rounds: Chris Squire and John Entwistle. There is only one economic reason: rounds are less expensive to manufacture.

Long Live Flatwounds!

 

[mdogs]

Last Saturday I played a gig with a band I used to be with twenty years ago. Their current bass player went down (hospitalized) unexpectedly, and I got called in. They emailed me the set list, mostly early to mid '70's, with some '60's thrown in. When I reviewed the songs on YouTube, it was very apparent that almost all of the songs on this particular set list were recorded with a P-bass with flats. Sometimes fingers, sometimes pick, sometimes a J-bass, Gibson EB or whatever the player had at the time, but all with flats.

There are bassically (pun intended) only two musical reasons we all play, or have played rounds: Chris Squire and John Entwistle. There is only one economic reason: rounds are less expensive to manufacture.

Long Live Flatwounds!

Actually, this is incorrect. Chris Squire played rounds because of Entwistle, so there is only one reason by your assesment. Of course, the fact that the VAST majority of bass players in the world believe that rounds actually sound better really has nothing to do with it, right?