I have rounds on my Modulus and do not have flats on my Alembic. But the Alembic is fretless, nevertheless came with rounds. Only they like instantly began chewing the fingerboard and I freaked out! Flats are not quite the thing for that bass so I put ground wounds on it which it still has. Same for my G&L fretless L2500 which came (used) with ground wounds and I've left them on it. My fretted L2500 has rounds on it. SX 6 string Fretless Fender clone in avatar, however, does have flats on it. I guess that doesn't qualify as a "fancy" bass! And it's also not active, but I will say that each and every of these basses is killer in it's own way. I also have two other identical SX 6 string fretted basses and one has flats and one has rounds. Strings make a huge difference in sound even on identical basses. My Squier P-bass 5 has flats but is passive. I'm trying to think if ANY of my active basses have flats and I don't think they do!
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Flatwounds on a "fancy" bass
- Thread starter J. Brooks
- Start date
I have rounds on my Modulus and do not have flats on my Alembic. But the Alembic is fretless, nevertheless came with rounds. Only they like instantly began chewing the fingerboard and I freaked out! Flats are not quite the thing for that bass so I put ground wounds on it which it still has. Same for my G&L fretless L2500 which came (used) with ground wounds and I've left them on it. My fretted L2500 has rounds on it. SX 6 string Fretless Fender clone in avatar, however, does have flats on it. I guess that doesn't qualify as a "fancy" bass! And it's also not active, but I will say that each and every of these basses is killer in it's own way. I also have two other identical SX 6 string fretted basses and one has flats and one has rounds. Strings make a huge difference in sound even on identical basses. My Squier P-bass 5 has flats but is passive. I'm trying to think if ANY of my active basses have flats and I don't think they do!
I rarely see any boutique basses in person. I’ve literally seen two Foderas in my life and they were played by the same guy at two different shows. He replaced his 4 string with a 5. Never seen a Sadowsky in person. Normally I’m the bass gear dork in my area and Dingwall and Warwick are about as “fancy” as I’ve gotten. Probably the most interesting trend around here that I know of is several bass players who play musicman stingrays with flats. Which seems like a weird thing to do in theory. But for example one plays in a emo/rock band with 3 guitar players and his sound sits well in the mix. That’s kind of how I look at it flats. They work really well in a dense mix. Where rounds work better in situations where’s there’s not as much going on.
Yep!
I don't know if they do anymore but I think Alembics shipped out with there's on them at one time:
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TI Flats on my both my Alembics - fretless Epic 5 and Series 1 5 string. The flats seem to have a synergy with the filters on the S1. And great mwah on the fretless. But I'm spoiled as I run S/S roundwounds on my family of G.Gould, Zon and Status basses. If you want the clank, best way is with a carbon fiber neck!
Luthier, Michael Dolan, designed this bass with me. It was loosely modeled on the Aria style violin bass.
Not fancy at all but my active Ibanez SR405 has TI flats, E1-C3 on it. I dig the flats and the preamp allows me tweak it if I want.
You can hear it on my instagram. www.instagram.com/jamesba55
I haven’t got anything better than the latest video I’m afraid. The few times I’ve been in the studio in the last year or so I’ve always ended up playing my P Bass (also with flats).
I would just give it a try. By a set and see what you think. In the grand scheme of things it’s an inexpensive experiment to make.
I have just uploaded a new video which I played my MTD in. You can hear what it sounds like with Thomastik Infeld flats on it:
The closest thing I have is a Muckelroy PJ. She's sporting a set of D'addario half rounds. I found the roundwounds way too bright for the ebony board.
Quoting myself from a while ago, but... Still lovin' the TI's on the Alembic, and the Chromes are still on the G&L ASAT. They seem to be the stuff on that thing; it's a Tom Hamilton Signature model from the Custom Shop (no leftys otherwise); maybe it's the "Hamiltone" pickups. So, until I get bored with them; they finally die; or I think something else will work better? The Chromes will stay...View attachment 3770460 View attachment 3770459 I imagine an Alembic Epic is sorta boutique-y. Also; both it and my G&L ASAT Bass are active, with pre-amps and lots of tonal options. And, yes; both of them do, indeed, wear flat wounds. TI Jazz Flats on the Alembic, and an old, very broken in set of D'addario Chromes on the ASAT. Do they respond to the pre-amp and stuff? Yes they do - quite well. Do they limit both bass's tonal range (or "timbre")? I'll have to admit that - yes, they do. However...
Any kind of string will limit a basses tone. The real question is, do they keep you from getting what you want/need out of that particular bass? Being able to get, say, 50 different, distinct tones from a bass/string combination is fabulous; providing you want/need 50 different tones. But, if you only really ever need or want, say, eight of those tones? Then, why should you give a tinker's damn about the other 42? If you don't need them, who cares if you can't get them? I suppose getting as many tones as possible would matter if it was your only bass, and you needed to play many kinds of music with it. But, no matter what kind of strings you put on that bass, they're gonna limit you to some extent. I can be happy with a relatively limited tonal range from a given bass, because I have...several... basses. For what I want to play with the Alembic, the TI Jazz flats work very well. If I decide I want to play a different kind of music, or want a tone that the Alembic/TI combo can't give me? I'll use a different bass, with strings that I think will work better. That's why I have...several. The G&L is my most recent bass, and we're still getting acquainted. So far, for what I think I want to play with it, the Chromes are working quite well. But, if I decide that I want it for some other kinds of music? If the Chromes do not give me the tones I want, then the Chromes will come off. I'm a pack rat when it comes to strings; there's a set of something - rounds, flats, whatever - in my stash that will give me the tones that I want ...
I got a left handed Stingray 4HH Special early last Spring. After listening to a "Flatwound comparison on a Stingray" video, I was impressed by the strings that "won"; Galli JF4505 Jazz Flats. My Stingray Special is wearing a set right now; for what I want from that bass, they're the cat's ass. So... flats on a Stingray? You betcha...
Matter of fact, out of 23 basses? All but 3 wear flats of one kind or another. One wears TI Jazz Rounds - to keep it from being just a mudhole; one wears Tapes; and one still wears the old Boomers it had when I bought it about 6 years ago. But, I'm left handed, and it's a right handed parts bass; why waste the effort? The Boomers still sound pretty good, anyway...
Flats on my Cort Artisan B5 with EMG 40JX pickups and the BTS preamp. Goes from fat old school thump to tight midrangey snarl and has good response to the treble control. I'd like to have a custom bass made for flats someday, probably with just a bridge single coil and hardwoods like maple and walnut as I'm not into the motown thump for my sound, and Multiscale to even things out and get the b and e clearer. Maybe the DG tone capsule with it's high mids would be a great match.
TI Flats on my PBass
Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats on my StingRay5 Special
Stock rounds on my Sandberg Ida5. ( for now)
Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats on my StingRay5 Special
Stock rounds on my Sandberg Ida5. ( for now)
