drumvsbass
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Flatwounds on a "fancy" bass
- Thread starter J. Brooks
- Start date
Check out John Patitucci’s album Brooklyn, and Thundercat’s newest two albums (one dropped yesterday, it’s great!). Both players use flats, at least some of the time, to great effect.
I have TI flats on my MTD 635 Marilyn and love sound. The bass also sounded great with rounds, just personal preference really.
I have TI flats on my MTD 635 Marilyn and love sound. The bass also sounded great with rounds, just personal preference really.
I have flats on my Alembic, and it’s my “fanciest” bass. It’s the one in my avatar. I use them because I prefer the feel and sound of flat wounds on all my basses.
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Another player that just prefers the feel and tone of flats, on any bass. Regardless of pedigree or electronics.
I have 6 electric basses at the moment, 5 of them have flats on them. And the other is a recent add to the collection and I haven't made up my mind about that one yet (a Sadowsky "modern"). Maybe I want to keep that one super-zingy.
I have 6 electric basses at the moment, 5 of them have flats on them. And the other is a recent add to the collection and I haven't made up my mind about that one yet (a Sadowsky "modern"). Maybe I want to keep that one super-zingy.
I have flats on my 67 Epiphone Rivoli and my PRS Gary Grainger 10 Top 4 string. I also had them on the Rick I sold. I also had a Fender P Deluxe with flats. My Rascal has D'Addario XLs because that was what was in stock at the music store. I am thinking about changing them out for a bright flat.
I've tried them on active basses before, and it's fine if you like flats. But I prefer rounds overall, and the basses I have flats on are more suited to flats.
I put flatwounds on my Dingwall NG-2 5-string, and people almost always associate Dingwall NG series with djent prog metal with a very aggressive and sharply distorted tone. But that's not what I was after.
My quest is to have the tactile smoothness of flats/tapes, no finger noise/excessive fret buzz, but can be bright like a roundwound (I could always turn the tone knob down if I need a warmer/darker tone). So it doesn't matter what kind of bass I put the strings on, that's the end goal.
My quest is to have the tactile smoothness of flats/tapes, no finger noise/excessive fret buzz, but can be bright like a roundwound (I could always turn the tone knob down if I need a warmer/darker tone). So it doesn't matter what kind of bass I put the strings on, that's the end goal.
Ric5
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- Jan 29, 2008
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Yeah I've only ever heard dingwalls be super bright. Do you have any recordings? I'm curious
I have clips that I record as a form of data collection, to compare various basses, pickups, strings, string aging, etc. I can post them if you want. But basically it's exactly as you'd imagine--the Dingwall mellows out a lot with flatwound and is much rounder and softer sounding.
Payson specializes in multiscale sets (like on Dingwall) and they do have a flatwound option. It feels good on the Afterburner I 6-string! But that might make sense because 1) this instrument is passive and 2) I use it mostly for a Jazz type application where the mellower vibe fits right in. The low B still slays.
I do tend to associate flatwound strings with passive electronics but of course there is no law against mixing it up. I had flats on my Pedulla Rapture for a while and I think I preferred that instrument that way. (But my left brain just couldn't reconcile fretted w/ active EQ with flats. Not when I have a few passive axes - and some gigs that call for modern roundwound "sizzle".)
I do tend to associate flatwound strings with passive electronics but of course there is no law against mixing it up. I had flats on my Pedulla Rapture for a while and I think I preferred that instrument that way. (But my left brain just couldn't reconcile fretted w/ active EQ with flats. Not when I have a few passive axes - and some gigs that call for modern roundwound "sizzle".)
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Well as luck would have it my DR flats came today in the mail for my pensa jazz bass so I threw them on. So far so good. It's still pretty bright sounding, hopefully these strings will mellow out.
I din’t have “fancy” basses necessarily, but they are a loo mid-level Ibanez basses with active preamps. I only use flats. For me, they simply sound clearer and sit better in a mix. I play heavy metal and had issues that when I turned on distortion, the extra high end content simply got lost amid the guitars. I switched to flats for more lows and mids and less highs, and it worked like a charm. My bass is always present in a mix now, though it does make some things more difficult, like using envelope filters and some dirt to Alesis serious tweaking, but I can’t really stand rounds anymore. I try them occasionally just to see again, but they are quickly removed.
I occasionally string up my Roscoe with flats for a change of pace. I like it a lot- kind of a syrupy drizzle on my normal tone
chris merrill
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- Dec 14, 2012
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@J. Brooks if you’re the same guy that was playing with rubblebucket a few years back, just keep doing what your doing. Sound was killing ! I was playing the same festival, and y’all sounded great!
Come to think of it, I think I made this EXACT question/post a few years back.. try it out, that’s what I did!
