Flats vs. rounds

[Jefenator]

I would have to admit that the tone control will obscure a lot of the more easily-heard differences.
BUT: 1) the feel for the player can be important and 2) I spend a fair amount of time with the tone control not turned down.

 

[lm183902]

I feel like the sound of the attack is wildly different between flats and rounds. That thud you get from flats is essential to the old school R&B bass sound that so many people know and love. Not to mention the fact that they will have a faster decay when they're broken in. All of this is accentuated even more if you're using a pick. I have 2 P Basses for this very reason - one with flats, one with rounds.

 

[GroovinOnFunk]

This poll is going exactly how I would have figured.

 

[CochinoBass]

Are we talking about on our own bass, or on record?

 

[rmayer]

Might be less of a difference with old rounds. I have flats on my P and J and love the sound (I like fresh flats) and especially the feel. You can’t get that flatwound feel by turning down a tone knob.
My string preferences is Sadowsky Blue Label Flats. They have a nice top end.

 

[pbass2]

I feel like the sound of the attack is wildly different between flats and rounds. That thud you get from flats is essential to the old school R&B bass sound that so many people know and love. Not to mention the fact that they will have a faster decay when they're broken in. All of this is accentuated even more if you're using a pick. I have 2 P Basses for this very reason - one with flats, one with rounds.

Absolutely, the sound of flats with a pick (especially old ones) with the tone wide open cannot be replicated with rounds. No matter how old your rounds are there's still gonna be some zing in there if you have the treble up. You can't get that same "clicky" attack followed by a clear fundamental like you can w flats. It's one of the classic bass tones going back to the early days of the bass guitar.

 

[mambo4]

How often can this topic be discussed?

We like to refresh it when it starts to lose that zing

 

[CochinoBass]

You can't get that same "clicky" attack followed by a clear fundamental like you can w flats. It's one of the classic bass tones going back to the early days of the bass guitar.

I agree, and while there are many examples, the one that always pops into my head when I think of "that" sound is the bass on Brown Eyed Girl. That is what I think when I think P with flats through a B15.

 

[vvvmmm]

I think I can usually get closer to a upright sound with flats than I can with rounds, especially with the requisite fretless.

 

[Swerve]

Depends on the genre. There are some reggae bassists that don't change their strings for decades, if ever. On a recording I probably couldn't tell you if they were playing rounds or flats.

John Paul Jones is another example. People have debated whether he was using rounds or flats. I think the consensus is both. He had a very dark tone for a jazz bass.

 

[matthewbrown]

We like to refresh it when it starts to lose that zing

It's true! If you don't set the strings debate on boil once in a while, the crud buildup from older discussions take the zing right out

 

[CochinoBass]

John Paul Jones is another example. People have debated whether he was using rounds or flats. I think the consensus is both. He had a very dark tone for a jazz bass.

Another couple of examples are Roger Waters and Paul Simonon. Waters probably recorded with new Rotosound flats, which are bright for flats, and people debate on whether Simonon had fresh flats or dead-ish rounds. I always thought Simonon used rounds, but apparently the London Calling smashed bass has flats on it.

 

[Element Zero]

 

[REV]

It's not just the sound. It's the feel and the way the strings react to touch.

 

[5StringBlues]

We've done the passion fruits!

 

[J Wilson]

What about how when brand new they sound very different, but gimme a month and my rounds will sound a LOT like flatwounds!

 

[carsonchilders]

Once I do what I want to rounds (deaden, action, etc) the difference between string type is much less.

There a huge difference between the kinds stings fresh.

 

[CochinoBass]

I'm sure its because of being too cheap to buy strings unless one broke when I was younger, but I kind of like not new rounds. Not completely dead, but definitely with a lot of the new brightness knocked off of them. I used Rotosounds for most of the 80s and 90s, but one thing I like about DR Hi Beams is they seem to stay in that "not new, not dead" sweet spot longer than any other string.

 

[KidAmnesia]

In a mix with effects and crowd noise I'm lucky if I can hear the bass at all.

But I don't use effects and bold of you to asume I get a crowd.

 

[lowplaces]

I like both rounds and flats these days, so I just use both (on indentical basses).