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Former diehard flat fans, what made you change?
- Thread starter JazzyJacuzzi
- Start date
What made me switch to flats = smooth feel with no finger noise. Hated the rounwound FEEL.
What made me give up on flats = missed the roundwound TONE.
What gives me the best blend of roundwound TONE and smooth FEEL? GHS Pressurewounds.
What made me give up on flats = missed the roundwound TONE.
What gives me the best blend of roundwound TONE and smooth FEEL? GHS Pressurewounds.
I have 4 basses. Each one has a different set on it.
P - GHS Pressurewound (main player)
Jazz - Swing 66 steel
DiPinto semi-hollow - EB Cobalt Flats
G&L Fallout SS - La Bella DTF
I want variety, mainly for recording purposes.
P - GHS Pressurewound (main player)
Jazz - Swing 66 steel
DiPinto semi-hollow - EB Cobalt Flats
G&L Fallout SS - La Bella DTF
I want variety, mainly for recording purposes.
Nope, but I ordered DR Nickel Lo Riders, SIT Powerwound and La Bella RX. That should keep me busy for a while.
You?
My bad for wanting to discuss strings on a forum dedicated to strings. Have a good evening!
I've never understood the people who take the time to post their irritation with a certain thread rather than just ignoring it.
Back in the 70's I was playing my old p-bass with tape wounds when I heard "Roundabout". I asked my local music shop owner Casey, what gave that bass player such a Twangy sound. He told me that their bass player was using a Rickenbacker with round wound strings and sold me a set of Rotosound round wounds. I put them on and have never looked back. I hate flat wounds.
I always have a P with flats, at least since I discovered the magic combo (and yes, tort too). I also keep at least one bass with rounds because it keeps me honest and offers variety. Sometimes more than one has flats. Sometimes more than one rounds. But after a brief stint of all flats, I rock at least one of each. While I’m no slap player, I do like the slap-pop and other different sounds that rounds do better. My preference, I admit, is P with flats. But I play blues and blues rock so it is a good fit there.
After coming to TB I tried flats on a p-bass and flats on a 4-string with thunderbird pickups. At first I liked the feel. But it didn’t take long for me to miss the rasp, tone and feel of rounds.
Now all my basses (except the fretless) have Elrick Nickels and they’re perfect. For a more thumpy/muted sound, I have a tone knob and a palm.
So I guess I don’t qualify as a die-hard flats guy ever. But after giving them an honest try (Chromes, Cobalts, LaBellas, tapes and TIs), I can honestly say I think they sound awful on a fretted bass. I get the appeal, but they’re certainly not for me.
Now all my basses (except the fretless) have Elrick Nickels and they’re perfect. For a more thumpy/muted sound, I have a tone knob and a palm.
So I guess I don’t qualify as a die-hard flats guy ever. But after giving them an honest try (Chromes, Cobalts, LaBellas, tapes and TIs), I can honestly say I think they sound awful on a fretted bass. I get the appeal, but they’re certainly not for me.
Call me crazy but I think the differences between a bright set of rounds and a worn-in/dead set of flats on a P or J can be as great as the differences between a P and a J.
Typically rounds can be toned-down(treble/tone reduced, played more lightly away from the bridge, etc) to not stick-out, and in that way meet those parameters of flats.
Trying to go the other direction and getting round “sparkle” out of flats is far more difficult.
It’s easier to subtract than it is to add when it comes to tone. Everyone’s gig is different, certain songs and material within that gig has different weight and expectation. You have to know where the money is and make the decision. Half/ground wounds are probably the right choice for some, I’ve gotten away with using well worn rounds for those “in between gigs”. Obviously having both options is a great choice as well.
One last thing I’ll say is band members and audiences usually don’t give a crap what strings you use as long as you play well and don’t have $h!tyy tone.
Typically rounds can be toned-down(treble/tone reduced, played more lightly away from the bridge, etc) to not stick-out, and in that way meet those parameters of flats.
Trying to go the other direction and getting round “sparkle” out of flats is far more difficult.
It’s easier to subtract than it is to add when it comes to tone. Everyone’s gig is different, certain songs and material within that gig has different weight and expectation. You have to know where the money is and make the decision. Half/ground wounds are probably the right choice for some, I’ve gotten away with using well worn rounds for those “in between gigs”. Obviously having both options is a great choice as well.
One last thing I’ll say is band members and audiences usually don’t give a crap what strings you use as long as you play well and don’t have $h!tyy tone.
I love flats on my P-Bass (haven't tried them on my Jazz) BUT I stopped gigging with flats as I do a decent amount of outdoor gigs, some of which are at the beaches here, and I get some decent blisters when I start to sweat. They also seem to require a little more "work" from my hands. I just use rounds live and work the tone know knob and no one in the audience cares really. Only my wife, a singer in most of my projects, notices; she loves flats on a P! The guitarist thinks they sound great but doesn't care at all.
That being said, I don't consider myself die-hard anything. BUT I do love that sound!
That being said, I don't consider myself die-hard anything. BUT I do love that sound!
I exclusively played flats (Fender 50-100) for most my life, but switched to rounds about three years ago as they simply worked better in the mix for the band I was in at the time. I needed a brighter top end I could only find with rounds. I settled on DR HiBeams which I love due to their flexibility (tension is pretty much the same as the flats I used, but the round cores make them more flexible). I still keep flats on one of my basses, but probably sticking with rounds on my main bass for the rest of my playing days. I think it's easier to roll some treble off a set of rounds than try to add it on to a set of flats.
