I play pretty hard on my strings and have been told flats wouldnt be good for me? Not sure,as i am definitely not a finesse player....
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flats?
- Thread starter SNOTROCKET56
- Start date
SLaPiNFuNK said:
No - i was just thinking about puttin labellas on my gretsch but i never used em before and my buddy told me not to bc i dont play with finnesse, which i dont. I hit pretty hard on my strings a lot but nothing major. I have medium lights on right now which doesnt affect me but i have mediums on my pbass and if i play a few songs at practice my fingers are mega blistered if that gives you any idea of how i play. Its not a bad thing as i like my tone but im just tryin to figure out if flats will be good for me cuz im interested in gettin some on my gretsch hollow
- Aug 5, 2005
- 7,243
- 92
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: J.C. Basses
Whoa, there's a lot going on here. Let me try to dissect it all.
1. You play hard enough to get blisters. This is probably the reason they are suggesting flats, as they will be smoother on your fingers. However, given enough time, you will gain callouses so you should stop blistering. You'll probably (hopefully) pick up some good new technique habits in that time too that will allow to you exert less energy when playing.
2. You use light strings. This is another potential reason flats were suggested - some flatwound strings tend to feel stiffer, which would kind of help even out your playing. However, it's not universally the case, and the same thing can be achieved with a heavier gauge of roundwounds. Might I suggest a set of Circle K Balanced 112's?
3. You like your tone. Awesome. Most of us like our tones, but spend years trying to get them to be perfect to our ears. What this also tells me is that, unless you're looking for some diversity in tone between your two basses (having a bass w/ flats and another with rounds is a good way to accomplish this), you should just stick to rounds - flats may not do anything for you.
What it all boils down to is that everything is about the experimentation. You will probably spend hundreds of dollars on different strings throughout your career, trying to find the perfect set to pair with each of your basses. So if you're curious to try flats, do it.
1. You play hard enough to get blisters. This is probably the reason they are suggesting flats, as they will be smoother on your fingers. However, given enough time, you will gain callouses so you should stop blistering. You'll probably (hopefully) pick up some good new technique habits in that time too that will allow to you exert less energy when playing.
2. You use light strings. This is another potential reason flats were suggested - some flatwound strings tend to feel stiffer, which would kind of help even out your playing. However, it's not universally the case, and the same thing can be achieved with a heavier gauge of roundwounds. Might I suggest a set of Circle K Balanced 112's?
3. You like your tone. Awesome. Most of us like our tones, but spend years trying to get them to be perfect to our ears. What this also tells me is that, unless you're looking for some diversity in tone between your two basses (having a bass w/ flats and another with rounds is a good way to accomplish this), you should just stick to rounds - flats may not do anything for you.
What it all boils down to is that everything is about the experimentation. You will probably spend hundreds of dollars on different strings throughout your career, trying to find the perfect set to pair with each of your basses. So if you're curious to try flats, do it.
I get calluses but they get shredded i have a combination of frail skin and fingering the string hard...its not a big deal for me its cool it doesnt affect my play. Flats were suggested for the type of bass i currently play
And i have played flats before just never for a long time so im just wondering if i have to adjust my playing style bc i think they would sound better than whats on it now
I have stiff bulky heavy mediums on my p and i like the sound i get just going in a different direction. Never thought i would but hey, if it sounds good it sounds good. And ill def go back to the p again in the future but im just goin different
I have stiff bulky heavy mediums on my p and i like the sound i get just going in a different direction. Never thought i would but hey, if it sounds good it sounds good. And ill def go back to the p again in the future but im just goin different
