Flatwounds on a "fancy" bass

[woodyng2]

I’ve only played/owned passive basses for the most part for years. I do have 4 of the “fanciest” Rickenbackers,(the 4004 series), which I absolutely adore. All but one of them have different flatwound or tapewound strings on,and i love the sounds they make.
Last year i bought a vintage boutique-y Veillette-Citron bass (also passive) and a Spector NS-2J.
They both have roundwounds,and i think that’s probably best for the V-C.
I’m really considering trying a set of low tension flats on the Spector (seemingly heresy),because i’m finding the sound of the active emg pickups/Aguilar obp3 preamp harsh and artificial with the SS RWs.
I think based on some comments here, flats might tame that tendency. When i got the bass,i immediately loved the light weight, body feel, the smaller Wimbish neck is a breeze,but the active only sound of it was giving me fits.
I’ve looked into replacing all the pickups/electronics with something much more basic,but that’s going to be a considerable expense on top of an already expensive outlay for the bass.

 

[fishdreams]

Ti flats on the Abass

 

[TDR1138]

I’m slowly transitioning to flats on most of my basses now. While none are necessarily “fancy,” the next one to get moved over will be a Jazz 24V, which is a take on the modern active J thing. Still trying to decide which flats (probably TIs if I can get them at a good price, but not willing to shell out $100+), but considering other options too. But it will probably be a while until my wife’s off furlough and the gig money starts up again...

 

[Dr. Love]

I think string choice is based more on playing style than bass style.

 

[steubig]

Bass monster and all around good guy @steubig runs flats on I think 3 or 4 of his Fodera 6-strings. iirc some are fretted, some are fretless, and some of his instruments are alternate tunings.

thanks for saying nice things (the bitcoin is in the mail).

it’s true, i like flats on “fancy basses.” i started back in 93 or so. (i also run rounds on some other basses.)

thomastiks on a fretted/fretless pair and some ken smiths i was gifted on a fretted tuned down a whole step (some day i’d like to do this on a fretless).

some day (one hopes) i’m going to put some pyramid flats on some basses.

 

[Viggo51]

Bubby Lewis plays exclusively tapewound (signature LaBella) on Active MTD basses
Thundercat plays flats on his custom Ibanez not quite an active bass but has some sort of an on board EQ / MIDI circuit

I’m pretty sure that Thundercat uses a mix of round wounds and Flat wounds

 

[steubig]

Still trying to decide which flats (probably TIs if I can get them at a good price, but not willing to shell out $100+), but considering other options too.

fwiw, i’ve been using the same thomastiks since the mid-90s.

imo, they last a long time and think they still sound great.

 

[chaak]

I’m pretty sure that Thundercat uses a mix of round wounds and Flat wounds

thank you for the clarification, now i know

 

[JohnnyBottom]

GHS precision flats on my Mark King Signature 5.
I believe the Alembic pickups were designed with Pyramid flats back in the day.

 

[TDR1138]

fwiw, i’ve been using the same thomastiks since the mid-90s.

imo, they last a long time and think they still sound great.

Yeah, but keeping in mind that it’s probably my least-played bass, I don’t feel right shelling out so much money. Though I’m hoping a nice set of flats will make me want to play it more.

 

[Sam Dingle]

I too have wondered about flats or tapes on an active modern bass. I consider flatwounds old school so they should go on the old school bass. It'd be kind of cool to try tapes on my fender elite one day.

 

[James Hart]

this Benavente had SIT power flats (ground wound) when it was shipped to me... then after a brief time with stainless rounds, I installed a set of medium LaBella Deep Talkin Flats (heaviest set) close to a decade back... they are just starting to settle in

 

[two fingers]

The basses you mentioned are designed to be very hi fi sounding and I would never put flats on them. It would be like installing mud tires on a Ferrari. I love mud tires, btw, but they belong on a Jeep...

Well stated. A P bass or a Jazz is a good ole Jeep. Slap some flats on those.

 

[ElMon]

 

[J. Brooks]

I think string choice is based more on playing style than bass style.

True, and people often choose their type of bass based on playing style too which was why I was wondering when people mix hi fi basses with old school flats.

 

[micguy]

Luckily, the excellent tone helps to camouflage its hideous woodgrain. Once I scrape up the cash, imma refinish it in matt black . . . problem solved!

When you get that done, shoot me a picture - I've gotta do something about this fretboard:

 

[steverosati]

 

[Dr. Love]

True, and people often choose their type of bass based on playing style too which was why I was wondering when people mix hi fi basses with old school flats.

True, I just mean that certain techniques like tapping, chords, harmonics, etc. generally respond better on specific strings like lighter gauge rounds, while more traditional techniques are less "demanding" of the string itself.

Personally some of my "modern" basses have flats because I like the way flats sit in a band mix, but I also like active EQ for on the fly tone shaping.

 

[4andnomore]

Not sure, but I think Talkbass rules dictate that you can put flats on an ultra-modern bass, so long as said bass is sunburst with tort.

 

[Relayer71]

I wouldn’t ever dream of dream of putting flats on either of my self relic’ed almost vintage Basses. Why in the world with I put flats on on something I’d pay over $3,000 to get.

What does the price of the bass have to do with whether or not you put flats on it? That's one of the most baffling statements I've seen.