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Flatwounds, Really?

howlin

howlin

Nov 15, 2008
1,075
912
I'm Not There
#1
Okay, so, I've been on & off the "flatwounds on your P bass wagon" for well over 4 years. Started out with LaBella FL-760's (?). Went to D'Addario Chromes & their Half-wounds and then on to TI's. Ended up using LaBella Low Tension Flats. All good strings. That said, every time I end up back with GHS Pressurewounds, which is where I am now. To my ears flats always sound best in a studio situation but live MEH.

No matter how I tried: wiping them down pre-gig with alcohol, running steel wool over the strings before putting them on my bass, etc., etc. They always managed to fail one way or another IME. I'm just always amazed how sounds I can get with the PW's. Foam under the strings. Using a pick. Getting slap happy. You name it they're always right there with a tone that I always find useable. I guess its just a matter of what works for you but, right now, I feel like the kool-aid has warn off, if you what I mean . . . :D
 
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#2
howlin said:
Started out with LaBella FL-760's (?). Went to D'Addario Chromes & their Half-wounds and then on to TI's. Ended up using LaBella Low Tension Flats. All good strings. That said, every time I end up back with GHS Pressurewounds, which is where I am now...

...I'm just always amazed how sounds I can get with the PW's. Foam under the strings. Using a pick. Getting slap happy. You name it they're always right there with a tone that I always find useable.
Click to expand...

I agree with the notion that the GHS PWs are versatile. I LOVE both their tone (tight low, punchy mids, no zing) and feel (smooth and quiet) on my J bass. The day I discovered these strings was the day my search ended for the J.

As for my P bass, I'd like to stay with flats. I'm in my third week with the Fender 9050CL and so far so good. My other favorite is the Sadowsky.

Two different basses, two different flavors.
 
#3
I've recently gone to Chromes for my fretless as they fit what I play better than the PW (Rotosound 707 then 55) I used for the previous 30 years. I don't think I'll be going back but never say never...
For frets I still use 66 Swing bass, but that's going off topic.
 
#5
I avoided the string jumping around by paying attention to my friend who has gone through 40 basses (thanks, TB) in the time it's taken me to acquire three junkers. The 5er was the only bass at the time and had 10-year rounds on it -- threw on the Ken Smith pressurewound strings and, well, they're still on there. I should change my strings more often.

They've been recorded. They've played live. They're played unplugged about as often as plugged in. Then I got an old Korean Squier Jazz (the one in my avatar) and guess what -- GHS Pressures. Boom.

(5er strings: Dec 2011. Jazz strings: July 2012.)
 
#7
EricssonB said:
I should change my strings more often.

(5er strings: Dec 2011. Jazz strings: July 2012.)
Click to expand...

The GHS PWs on my J bass are now 9 mths old. I initially set out with these last Sept with the hope they would last at least for a year. Meanwhile, I liked them so much I decided to purchase two more sets to keep on hand.

Based on how long yours lasted so far, it may be a long while before I need to buy another set. ;)
 
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#8
I hear ya. And in my case I don't know why I keep trying them again over and over. I guess I love the thought of changing strings every 5 years or whatever, or I see a video and think that they are a good idea again. Every time I try them I like them at home but as soon as I get them on a gig I feel completely buried in the mix or that I have no nuance or depth to my sound at all.
 
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#9
bassbully said:
Flats are pretty much a one trick pony. If its a sound you dig you will never play rounds or any other string again. I play nothing but flats, the older the better. For me its the true sound of a bass.
Click to expand...

I like to keep a few different flavors of ice cream in my freezer at all times. Good ol' plain vanilla for my favorite pies (Apple and Blueberry), something with caramel/butterscotch/maple for me and something with fudge/chocolate for my wife.

So far I've found three different flavors of flats I like for my P - Fender 9050CL, Sadowsky Lite and La Bella 760FL.

Plus the GHS Pressurewounds for my J.

A little bit of variety in life is always good. As far as I'm concerned, there is no such thing as "one true sound of a bass".
 
Last edited:
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#10
bassbully said:
Flats are pretty much a one trick pony. If its a sound you dig you will never play rounds or any other string again. I play nothing but flats, the older the better. For me its the true sound of a bass.
Click to expand...

I don't agree that flats are a one trick pony (I think my fretless tone is more sophisticated and refined than ever), but if I'm wrong it is one hell of a trick... :-)
 
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#11
I have gone back and forth as well. I have much respect for for the folks that love the flats and will play nothing else. I recently tried Eb Cobalt flats. They are my favorite of the flats. I also really like the GHS PW's. Eventually, I always end up going back to the Roto 66's. Old habits are hard to break!
 
#12
I like the feel of flats, and I like that it makes my bass sound more like a double bass than a piano played in the lower register. But I agree it is a tough task finding a brand / set that sounds good for each bass.

My favorites are Sadowsky 045-105, LaBella 760FM, TI flats and D'Addario Chromes ECB81. Luckily enough, I have four basses at the moment... :)
 
#13
Klonk said:
I like the feel of flats, and I like that it makes my bass sound more like a double bass than a piano played in the lower register. But I agree it is a tough task finding a brand / set that sounds good for each bass.

My favorites are Sadowsky 045-105, LaBella 760FM, TI flats and D'Addario Chromes ECB81. Luckily enough, I have four basses at the moment... :)
Click to expand...


I have read that analogy of "piano in the lower register" so many times. No disrespect, but I have never thought that rounds sound like that at all. They sound like a bass guitar and depending on how you eq it there will be high end or low, really low if you have the rig. Foam by bridge and thumb plucking by the neck you got some thump, back by the bridge with no foam and you go some staccto growl. No piano there.
 
#14
SteveCS said:
I don't agree that flats are a one trick pony (I think my fretless tone is more sophisticated and refined than ever), but if I'm wrong it is one hell of a trick... :)
Click to expand...

On a fretless I agree there is different tones. What I'm saying is flats are just that low end , thumpy tone. You can change it some with attack like using a pick but its always going to sound like a flat.
 
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#15
michael_t said:
I like to keep a few different flavors of ice cream in my freezer at all times. Good ol' plain vanilla for my favorite pies (Apple and Blueberry), something with caramel/butterscotch/maple for me and something with fudge/chocolate for my wife.

So far I've found three different flavors of flats I like for my P - Fender 9050CL, Sadowsky Lite and La Bella 760FL.

Plus the GHS Pressurewounds for my J.

A little bit of variety in life is always good. As far as I'm concerned, there is no such thing as "one true sound of a bass".
Click to expand...
I agree with this. BTW, I cant eat ice cream have it maybe 5 times a year if that. What I was referring to is the flat tone is just that a flats tone.
You can roll off rounds and get a flat kind of sound. You can play them dead or coat em' in chicken grease or maybe ice cream to dull them down. Flats will always sound like flats to me with some tonal variance of course.
I tried pressure rounds, tapewounds ,half wounds and they all sounded like rounds to me. I tried different flats they all sounded like flats to me.

There is a local shop around my area and the owner there said nobody today wants flats.
He says only old dudes and country bums want them so I don't carry them in the store. :D
 
#16
i agree 100% , having tied the flats you mentioned plus a few others , i always come back to GHS Pressurewounds ... they seem to be a great happy medium for feel and sound ... and price ... my only wish would be for a little gauge variety on their low B & High C strings ..! i have 1 5ver w/low B , the other with High C ...

on my last beater build , i installed some GHS Tapewounds for a smooth thumpy different sound ... they're OK , ... it just sits in the corner in case a 4 strg is need ... they feel kinda strange , but OK ..

i even use similar " roller wound " under pressure type strings on all my guitars ... as i prefer less finger noise and less fret , fretboard wear ..
 
#17
howlin said:
Okay, so, I've been on & off the "flatwounds on your P bass wagon" for well over 4 years. Started out with LaBella FL-760's (?). Went to D'Addario Chromes & their Half-wounds and then on to TI's. Ended up using LaBella Low Tension Flats. All good strings. That said, every time I end up back with GHS Pressurewounds, which is where I am now. To my ears flats always sound best in a studio situation but live MEH.

No matter how I tried: wiping them down pre-gig with alcohol, running steel wool over the strings before putting them on my bass, etc., etc. They always managed to fail one way or another IME. I'm just always amazed how sounds I can get with the PW's. Foam under the strings. Using a pick. Getting slap happy. You name it they're always right there with a tone that I always find useable. I guess its just a matter of what works for you but, right now, I feel like the kool-aid has warn off, if you what I mean . . . :D
Click to expand...

If you don't like em' don't use them. That simple. No Kool-aid required. . ;)
 
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#19
I have several old(er) sets of Chromes set aside, as well as a new set, because I know I will need that sound again. Imo, there is nothing like a new set of Chromes for recording, and nothing like an old set of flats for that old skool thang that pretty much always works.

That said, my P bass currently wears Dean Markley SR2000 rounds, and is like a freaking bass cannon. It's like the barkiest Jazz bass ever, with the mids and punch of a P bass. Sharp and warm with tone full open, warm and round with definition as the tone rolls off. It sounds active.
It amazes me every time I plug it in.

Still keepin' the flats around, though. ;)
 
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