Half Rounds how come?

[thisheregiraffe]

I have found that, more than most strings, half-round strings seem to need to be paired with the right bass. If they work, they might be awesome. If they don't work ... and maybe they usually don't ... then they can be kind of uninspiring.

I personally like GHS Brite Flats much more than the D'Addario Half Rounds. I think it must be the Alloy 52 winding material that GHS uses which makes the difference.

I totally agree with this. On the right bass, Half Rounds or Brite Flats will sound fantastic. I liked both sets on my fretless Jazz, with a slight edge going to D’Addario Half Rounds. I guess I like pure nickel better.

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

Also completely in agreement here. I got a pump top bottle of isopropyl alcohol at a pharmacy. A couple pumps onto a clean cloth and wipe the strings down before installation—bye bye stickiness.

 

[bholder]

For those who are not familiar, I should point out the Ken Smith Slick Rounds are the closest sibling to the GHS Brite Flats, both of which are Alloy 52 (nickel-iron) half-rounds/groundwound made by GHS.

And Ken Smith Compressors are the closest sibling to GHS Pressurewound, which are Alloy 52 "rollerwound". Currently two of my basses are wearing the Compressors and two of them are wearing the Pressurewounds.

View attachment 6985149

Great pics, explain everything, even the "grabbiness", look at those sharp edges on the grounds!

 

[michael_t]

Great pics, explain everything, even the "grabbiness", look at those sharp edges on the grounds!

Here's an illustration that explains further why half-rounds/groundwound can feel sticky/grabby.

When the outer round wire is ground down, it still leaves tiny little gaps in between...

 

[ATLbassist]

If you're looking for a best-of-both worlds option, I would recommend GHS Pressurewounds.

Seconded! I liked the first Half-Rounds I tried. Then I'm not sure what happened. Maybe the formula of the outer wrapping changed, but they started feeling sticky. I have an older set on a bass I don't even play anymore because they feel like they've been dredged in BBQ sauce.

Someone on TB suggested GHS Pressurewounds, and I've been happy ever since. It's exactly what I wanted: The attack of rounds without the clankiness, and much easiser on the fingers. At the same time, they aren't really thuddy like flats unless you roll the tone off a great deal. It's the perfect all-around string for me, and most of my basses are strung with them.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

Half-rounds are more like "the worst of both worlds" for MY taste. The only "half-rounds" (pressurewounds or groundwounds) I've ever truly liked are the Roto 55s, but these are much closer to roundwounds than any other "half-rounds" I've tested. And I still prefer the very similar sounding Roto 66 roundwounds. The 55s are really just a slightly stiffer, slightly less articulate version of the 66s. The 55s seem to stay bright much longer than the 66s though, if that's what you want. But they're also far more expensive.

GHS Pressurewounds seem to be very popular around here, but personally I've never liked them. Stiff, inarticulate and too "clacky" in the upper mids would be my description.

GHS Brite Flats on the other hand are generally disliked, but I actually warmed up to them a bit after testing them for a while. I still think they're a good example of being "the worst of both worlds" and they will NEVER be my first choice, but they can actually be quite nice for that classic "dry 70s tone", even though they feel horribly stiff and lacking in articulation. Interesting tone, horrible feel.

Of course, the choice of strings will always depend on personal taste. The only way to find out what works for YOU is to test lots of different strings. Which can unfortunately be rather expensive...

 

[GwenOnBass]

A thorough isopropyl wipe down for the Brite Flats install did not change my perceived grabbiness of the new strings. They began to feel smoother in the money zone after a fair while.

Sliding into a double stop up in twelth fretland is where I ran out of patience with Brite Flats.

 

[DJ Bebop]

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

Half Rounds how come?​

Why not.

 

[Pomni]

Musicians and humans in general like to needlessly bash things they don't understand. In the case of halfrounds they never reach the same level of "dryness" in tone compared to the classic flat, and they never sound as harmonically rich as a classic round. But in between those two extremes lies a superb voicing that while not for everyone (clearly demonstrated by all the haters) is one that is inherently unique and very much it's own thing. The pure nickel wrapped offerings from Daddario require extensive aging to truly reach their full potential but once they get there, the warm fundamental was this mwah quality to it that almost approaches fretless territory on an fretted instrument all while doing away with minimizing the undesirable traits of really old rounds (inharmonics, clank, position change 'squeak') their halfround low B is exceptional when aged properly if you enjoy making use of higher fret positions on it, it growls without the nasty over tones of a roundwound low B while never devolving into flat out thump mud like a classic flatwound low B. A heavy nylon pick+halfrounds and you've got yourself an sonic weapon that sets you apart from the usual copy and paste blandness. I shouldn't be giving away my secret sauce, but I'm feeling exceptionally motivated by kindness these days.

 

[Root 5]

Maybe the formula of the outer wrapping changed, but they started feeling sticky. I have an older set on a bass I don't even play anymore because they feel like they've been dredged in BBQ sauce.

I said it earlier: wipe the half rounds with rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) and the sticky feeling will be gone

 

[factory presets]

Musicians and humans in general like to needlessly bash things they don't understand. In the case of halfrounds they never reach the same level of "dryness" in tone compared to the classic flat, and they never sound as harmonically rich as a classic round. But in between those two extremes lies a superb voicing that while not for everyone (clearly demonstrated by all the haters) is one that is inherently unique and very much it's own thing. The pure nickel wrapped offerings from Daddario require extensive aging to truly reach their full potential but once they get there, the warm fundamental was this mwah quality to it that almost approaches fretless territory on an fretted instrument all while doing away with minimizing the undesirable traits of really old rounds (inharmonics, clank, position change 'squeak') their halfround low B is exceptional when aged properly if you enjoy making use of higher fret positions on it, it growls without the nasty over tones of a roundwound low B while never devolving into flat out thump mud like a classic flatwound low B. A heavy nylon pick+halfrounds and you've got yourself an sonic weapon that sets you apart from the usual copy and paste blandness. I shouldn't be giving away my secret sauce, but I'm feeling exceptionally motivated by kindness these days.

Glad I'm not the only one.

Never tried Daddario halfs in 5 string. Or nickel TBH. But this description pretty much matches what I found with stainless 4 string sets. I found the DR half round to be as you describe (including the B) but maybe a bit more pronounced? Been a while since I could remind myself.

I went from Dad halfs to DR rounds and was impressed. And quickly moved on to half rounds. Now it's getting hard to find halfs of any kind. Makes me wonder how long the D'addarios will be available. DR rounds, to my ears, are much closer to those than other half rounds I've tried. More so as they age a bit. Suspect the thinner wrap wire might be playing it's part in that. I'm happy to work with what they give me. Although I probably should have another listen to the D'addarios to make sure. Dunno if I'd be emotionally ready to have that rug pulled out from under me as well.

The point is well made that many posters have tried them out with unrealistic expectations and then run screaming without really seeing what they can do with them. People who are quite happy to let their flats settle for a month or so can't change back fast enough.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Glad I'm not the only one.

Never tried Daddario halfs in 5 string.

That recording I posted above is with the 5-string set.