La Bella tapewound white copper, that was the happy middle ground for me. Super smooth, but nice crisp tone.
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For a long time I was married to rounds....
- Thread starter skygzr
- Start date
For me it was the GHS Pressurewounds that hit the sweet spot between the roundwound tone I needed and the smooth feel I wanted.
Which ones do you recommend. I've been thinking about a new direction for my 5-string Jazz.
I love LaBella Black and White Tapewounds.
Are they just different in color or is there more to it?
I could be wrong, but looking at the website it looks like just a different color, but I use the white.
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Another analogy of this is whether you wear the same clothes every day? Most people don't.
So - - I don't think there's anything wrong with switching back and forth between flats and rounds. For years, I would laugh at anyone who used flats until I tried them myself (and discovered T-I Jazz Flats).
Occasionally I still will revert to using rounds, but I mostly use flats (and wear jeans most of the time).
So - - I don't think there's anything wrong with switching back and forth between flats and rounds. For years, I would laugh at anyone who used flats until I tried them myself (and discovered T-I Jazz Flats).
Occasionally I still will revert to using rounds, but I mostly use flats (and wear jeans most of the time).
you do you, I've got flats on my 4-banger passive J and rounds on my active fiver J. I'm thinking of going back to one bass, as well.
Personally, I love love flats! I can still remember my life before my discovery of flats on a P-Bass, and they are not fond memories. I spent way too many years struggling to find that tone in my head, but never could find it. I tried sooo many roundwound strings, thinking that the next set must be better. But they weren't.
So yes...flats forever!
(Don't tell anybody but I use Roto flats on my Ric 4001. They sound great.)
I play fretless exclusively and went from rounds to tapes for several years (D'Addario and LaBella) and really enjoyed how quiet they were in terms of finger noise but not dead sounding like flats. Then when I switched to uke basses exclusively a few years ago I was more or less forced to play rubber strings which I got used to but there were a lot of idiosyncrasies to deal with. I have just recently discovered uke sized tapewounds and at this moment my custom made uke bass is back with its maker to have the action adjusted and a magnetic pickup installed, so exciting times ahead.
I've always thought using the right tool for the job is the key.
Does the song call for flats? Rounds? Tapewound? Fretless? Precision? Jazz? Acoustic?
Use what you need.
Support the song.
Does the song call for flats? Rounds? Tapewound? Fretless? Precision? Jazz? Acoustic?
Use what you need.
Support the song.
I fell to the Flat Side about 15 years ago and never looked back. I love them. I even have a set that is about 10 years old still on a p-bass. Its not a one stop shop and only use that bass with those strings for certain things, but man.... it just sounds so good.
I'll be the contrarian. I've never had flats on a bass. I don't necessarily dislike the tone - I get it - but I've never been comfortable with the feel when I've played them on other basses. They're smooth, yeah, but they seem to catch my fretting fingers in the wrong way. I don't know how to describe it. I've also played Black Beauties and felt the same way.
Maybe one day in the future I'll end up with flats on some bass for a specific reason - and I admit that they do lend themselves really well to certain music - but I dunno, that day hasn't come.
Awesome that you guys experiment so often, though.
Maybe one day in the future I'll end up with flats on some bass for a specific reason - and I admit that they do lend themselves really well to certain music - but I dunno, that day hasn't come.
Awesome that you guys experiment so often, though.
To every gig, I bring one bass with rounds and one bass with flats. This is to cover different genres of material, to handle different acoustics, and to simply have a back-up.
I fired some 760FS flatties onto this parts build and I've been absolutely loving the result. Very tempted to take it on-stage for our rock covers project. MJT alder body, Allparts neck, GZR pups, and, most importantly, the relic knobs that crashed Talkbass (tm).
