Half Rounds how come?

[Mike Vee]

I would rather play Chromes or another brighter sounding flatwound than a semi-flat.

Yep!

 

[micguy]

I like really spicy food - eating jalapenos straight up is within my palate. I also like sweet stuff like lemonade. But halfway between those....not ideal. Half rounds are like putting jalapenos in your lemonade - not the best of either, but a blend.... that just isn't right.

Pressure wounds are a better compromise to my ears.

 

[J-Bass RMR]

I found them to be the WORST of two worlds!

^^^^^^^^^

 

[michael_t]

GHS brite flats WOULD be awesome if they weren't so INCREDIBLY stiff and tense. The tone is good but they are absolutely brutal to play.

I use the light set of the Brite Flats (45-56-77-98) and don't find them "INCREDIBLY stiff and tense" or "brutal to play". Their stiffness allows a nice low action, and with the right setup they're quite comfortable to play on and very nicely balanced across all four strings both in tone and feel.

 

[Geogio]

I use them on a string through 6 equipped with 18 volt 3 band eq and ceramic pickups so the low end is crystal clear. The only reason I went to these was because I wanted to reduce fret wear. They sound okay but they have help. I did purchase a set for a four string passive and it was not optimum.

 

[2thAche]

I tried to like them. D/G are bright-ish like rounds and E I found to be dull, they weren't balanced well.

 

[Root 5]

I have never understood the dislike for half rounds. At all.

1) “they’re sticky, grabby!”
Rub them with isopropyl alcohol and problem solved.

2) “they feel rough! I hate the feel of them!”
No. They feel very much like flatwounds.

3) “they sound awful!”
If you want deep fundamental, a rich tone with useable top end… half rounds will give you that.

I have them on a few instruments and they allow me to perform the function of a ‘bass player’ and they last forever, ya can’t kill them.

Keep them comin’ D’Addario

 

[HaphAsSard]

Have to take your word for it. It's been 30 years ... Candi

Life is crazy.

 

[michael_t]

1) “they’re sticky, grabby!”
Rub them with isopropyl alcohol and problem solved.

2) “they feel rough! I hate the feel of them!”
No. They feel very much like flatwounds.

3) “they sound awful!”
If you want deep fundamental, a rich tone with useable top end… half rounds will give you that.

Agreed on all three points!

As I wrote earlier in this thread, it's an acquired taste; it took me a few tries and a few basses to start appreciating the uniqueness of half-rounds (GHS Brite Flats in my case).

 

[GrapeBass]

I've played half-wounds for at least 30 years and I cab validate the premise that they're good on certain basses, not all.

 

[Dincrest]

Groundwounds are persnickety. They really need the right bass to match up to. On the right bass, GHS Brite Flats are amazing but on most they're meh. I think they best complement active basses with harsh/peaky preamps.

Pressurewounds are a little more forgiving, but can be persnickety too. I used to own a German Warwick. When it had the MEC active electronics, pressurewounds strings sounded AMAZING! But when I had a luthier swap out the active MECs for passive Duncans, the pressurewounds didn't quite work, but regular roundwounds did.

Compromises never fully satisfy everyone. So it's rare that a compromise like a groundwound string fully satisfies, but if/when it does, it REALLY does.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I have them on my fretless Jazz. It works - halfway between the two normal options.

 

[GwenOnBass]

I just ran out of patience, and wanted to try the EB Group IV flats anyway. The Brite Flats would have probably played in fine, had I given the usual 8 months trial period.

 

[Clark W]

They've been around forever but seems they never really caught on, on paper they look like best of both worlds. Gonna try them for the first time on my jazz bass and see what they’re like. I use TI flats on my P and thought I’d try these for my jazz bass. Anybody here use them? thanks

I have D'Addario half rounds on one of my Jazz basses and absolutely love them on that bass. I have D'Addario tapewounds on a PJ, love those strings on that bass. Have D'Addario rounds on two other Jazz basses and a Precision, love those strings on those basses, and D'Addario Chromes (flats) on my acoustic and love those strings on that bass.

I've never been dissatisfied with anything by D'Addario on my basses. Matter of fact they should just sponsor me and give me free strings.

 

[michael_t]

I just ran out of patience, and wanted to try the EB Group IV flats anyway. The Brite Flats would have probably played in fine, had I given the usual 8 months trial period.

Now that I have the Brite Flats on my SR650E, I intend to put the EB Group IV back on my P bass. Semi-flats on a reverse PJ and (real) flats on my P... It will be an interesting comparison.

EDIT: And this time I plan to stick with them for at least a full year, possibly longer.

 

[JRA]

on paper they look like best of both worlds

i tried them a few times --- each time i thought they had to be the "best of both worlds." i really tried to love them. i ended up thinking of them the same as @KenD = "worst of both worlds!"

Anybody here use them?

i used them for a bit, years ago. they didn't work for me. at the time, i wanted something less abrasive (i was generally playing harder and i wanted some relief, some help). i didn't like the feel or the sound. i thought the d'addarios sucked. YMMV

 

[Altitude]

You have to commit to half rounds. I had a set on my 6 string for like 8 years. That sticky thing goes away eventually.

Patitucci plays half rounds. He sounds OK.

 

[SheaNC]

I never bonded with bass half-rounds (which is technically a D'Addario product name). They are kind of sticky/coarse feeling, just in a different way than rounds. Tone wise they sound far more like rounds and I would actually struggle to assign much of any flatwound tone factor to them, other than reduced string noise. I did however find the Half-round 6 string electric guitar strings to have some likable qualities. I like them more than roundwound guitar strings but I don't love them as much as I love flatwounds, so they didn't quite win me over in that arena either.

If you're looking for a best-of-both worlds option, I would recommend GHS Pressurewounds (which aren't ground down rounds, but rather rounds with the outer winding pressurized to an oval sort of shape if you looked at a cross-section) which have a nice nickel-round-esque top end, but legitimately pack that big low-mid punch that I love in flatwounds OR Ernie Ball Cobalt flatwounds, which are true flatwounds but almost the same amount of bright top end sparkle as rounds.

GHS Pressurewounds are great -- they retain the full mass of the string, instead of half of it being ground off. More mass = stronger signal

 

[michael_t]

GHS Pressurewounds are great -- they retain the full mass of the string, instead of half of it being ground off. More mass = stronger signal

I use both the Pressurewound and the Brite Flats, both of which are Alloy 52 (nickel-iron). They do have very different tonal characters, but in terms of overall output, they're equally strong.

 

[Yahboy]

Never bond with halfround bass string myself , weird tension and weird playing feel . The alternative are GHS presurewound ,