• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Giving up on 1/2 rounds

#22
tothemax said:
I tried a set of 1/2 rounds about 8 months ago on my P bass. During that time I had trigger finger pretty bad and had the release surgery. During my rehab I was playing mostly guitar to let my hand heal up. Last night we were jamming and I grabbed my P bass, no love there for the feel and tone of the 1/2 rounds. Ended up swapping out for my home built short scale (franken parts caster), at least I was able to wrestle some decent tones out of it. I wanted to give the 1/2 rounds a chance, but I like my PB and need it back to my go to bass. Really rusty after about 6 months off the bass, ended up playing with pick (which I haven't done in years).
Click to expand...

What was on your PB prior to half rounds? Personally, I’ve tried half rounds on 3 different basses and two brands. Didn’t like them much. I’m pretty good with an EQ and just could not extract a usable voice out of them.

I was around another bassist that used them quite a bit the last several years, and he loves them. Good bass player too, but his band mates, most comprised of band directors, conservancy grads, and degreed music majors, absolutely despise his tone. He almost got fired, but he’s been with them since the early 70s. His tone was best described as a honky sort of mud, which is what I got out of 1/2 rounds as well. JMO.
 
#23
I personally find all compromises between rounds and flats to combine the worst characteristics of each. Half rounds, ground-wounds, pressure wounds, none of them work for me. They're an answer in search of a problem -- a problem I don't have.

I speak only for myself, of course.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bassfiddlesteve
#25
I was using D'Addario XL's Nickel wound light. We were doing "What's going on" and I had a foam mute under my bridge to get a Jamerson "type" of tone. So I thought I would try the 1/2 rounds for closer tone. With my hand about 40% (left index finger locking up) I figured it was mostly me. OK, fingers on the mend and I'm just not liking the playability or tone. My "P" is my go to bass, no big deal to switch back. Like other folks have said it never hurts to try things out.
 
#26
I started using half rounds years ago when I noticed that the strings I was using at the time were filing my fret material down to nothing, then I noticed the fingerboard on my Fender fretless was definitely groovin because of string filing on the Rosewood fingerboard surface. That was the final straw that put me into Flats on all basses,

Now over the years I've just switched it all Flats because half round were good for what I was using it for- I'm no longer playing those basses, so I no longer need half rounds for reducing wear and tear.
 
#30
I gigged half wounds for several years on a Fender Aerodyne Jazz bass. They were ok. I wouldn't play them again but they were ok. I think they exist to give us something to talk about.

Here's a "half wound" gig video shot with a single stereo mic in front of the acoustic trio. OK, I was amped, but it was turned down low behind the guitar player. Tone was good!

 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: trothwell
#35
Just swapped the 1/2 rounds out and went back to D'Addario Nickel Wound lights, already feels and plays better. There must be a difference in the tension between string types, maybe the grinding process changes the metal properties. The rounds feel much better, but that was what I was used to.

While I was changing strings, I swapped out the stock white PG for a black pearl I picked on Amazon and put the original fender P'ups back in. I had tried a set of GFS P'ups I bought at their 4th of July sale. Plays and sounds much better.
IMG_20220320_164700a.jpg​
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back