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Has the bass world changed to flatwounds?

#183
The whole "flats" thing is a ruse.

It's like the "Carrots" sham.


Nobody actually plays flats.

The TB insiders try to make you look like a chump by getting you to (1) fall for it, and (2) then rave about flats. It's a scam.


...Sitting around in silk smoking jackets high atop the TB-Elites exclusive rotating Blue-Room Lounge crowning TB Central Headquarters, they revel in their cleverness and enjoy a hearty belly-laugh at your expense.

That's just the way it is.
 
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#184
my two cents, I think that this is all "sociological", and it depends on the music related to the "age".

in the 50's/60's the bass soundend "big" and "round", and that's what the "music" wanted and what was produces in terms of basses: big "neck" pickups, short scales, hollow bodies... everyone used to play near the neck (think about John Paul Jones, whose thumb was "on" the neck).

with the arrival of rounds, and bass players using them, slowly the bass sound changed, players moved their fingers near the bridge, and then there was Jaco, and the "nasal" and "guttural" sound became a standard, so the music industry "wanted" that sound.

in the 80's the "vintage" sound was hard to find, lots of players started using extremely light gauges (Mark King, Nick Beggs, Pino Palladino?). the "big vintage sound" could be heard only on blues records, or from "old" or "vintage sounding" artists, like Dire Straits or Paul Simonon, to mention just two.

I guess the 90's saw the comeback of flats, with a reemergence of a 70's vibe both in rock and pop music, with less electronics.

now you can hear everything without discrimination, and depending on what's needed in the specific situation.

______

flats have their specifc sound and vibe: the shorter sustain is useful in many recording situation, and the "fundamental oriented" tone is perfect for a bassline that needs to sit in it's right place in the mix.
obviously if you want to slap like Miller or sound like a chainsaw, they are note the right choice...

personally I'm a flatwound user, I don't like the scooped or metallic sounds, and I don't play in situations that needs that.

how could a track like this one sound good with a "clangy" sound?
 
#186
Fat Steve said:
I switched to flats last year and have replaced the strings on every bass I have with them. I can't stand the sound of rounds on a bass now that I use flats. Too much zing and not enough thump. Plus I love the fact that they don't make the scratching sound when I do a glissando down from the top of the fretboard.
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Pretty much the same here. I love my flats! But so what, use what you like!
 
#188
Watchootognbout said:
I can imagine a fretless bass doing a long slow "Byoooooowwww.Or a gruff Rickenbacker with a few more notes included.But that's just me.
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and that's exactly the point of my post. more notes to my ears are useless on a song like that, and if I had an hollowbody-short-scale-whatever I woul'd have probably used that instead of a Precision.

it all depends on personal taste, and the market gives us all the opportunity to decide and buy everything with a click, waiting at home :D
 
#189
itsmecraigl said:
Here's where I come from:
Playing in 1965 with a Gibson EB-3 in a soul band. Bass came with flatwounds and I used them for years without changing.
Then came the early/mid 70's and I switched to a P-bass with Rotosound and D'Addario roundwounds, playing rock. Couldn't get enough of that piano sound and with a coupla 15's in a cabinet it was the real deal.
Now I see a shift in opinion again. I play in an acoustic trio and fill in for rock acts in emergencies. I see where the rounds are just not thumpy enough and are too twangy in the acoustic trio, so I get on here and I see all these posts about flatwounds.
My question is simple. Is there a current shift away from roundwounds?
After all these years I realize strings play perhaps the biggest role in the sound, next to the type of pickup, of course.
What gives? Any opinions? Did you change from rounds to flats, and if so, why?
Also if you're playing with a humbucker, are you using rounds or flats?
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Sounds like me. My first pro bass was also an EB-3 (still wish I had it) that I bought new in '70 which of course, came with flats. Kept those strings on for a few years then switched to Roto's. Absolutely loved that "low end of a piano sound" that I suddenly had. I've used rounds ever since.

But in 2012 I bought my first P bass, kept rounds on it for about a year and then put a set of Fender 9050ML's on it. For me, the sound of flats is a favorite childhood memory because that sound is what I heard on so many recordings which in part, is why I wanted to learn bass guitar. So even before I ever touched a bass there was just something about that flat wound sound that stuck with me.

The rounds are staying on my SR505 and on my Fender Jazz. But the flats are staying on my P bass. I like how they sound on that bass and I'll admit that for me part of it is nostalgia.
 
#190
I DO think that trends are BEGINNING to lean towards flats, but I DO NOT think it's all the way there yet. And realistically, the majority will probably never swing towards flats. For the last 30 or so years, flats made up such a minority, that seeing a few prominent idealogical shifts towards flats might seem like they're "taking over", but I don't think they are.
What IS happening is that a few of the semi well known, most-forward-thinking players have made the shift to flats (for example: Owen Biddle, Tim Lefebvre, and Juan Alderete.)
It used to be that the cutting-edge dudes were goin for that 5string, active, piano-tone. That's an outdated notion. The masses caught up, and I believe for most everyday bass players, that sound is probably their norm. The hipsters (read: the trendsetters!) are moving towards passive 4strings with flats going into lots of effects, and that's cool! I dig it! Flats sound great clean, and they really make effects "pop". This is catching on with lots of players that consider themselves "forward thinking" and I think it's pretty neat. If nothing else, it's a cool approach to try, and another way for any bassist to add to their arsenal of versatility.

We can't ignore the fact that the root of our instrument is planted firmly in the "Pbass with flats" sound. That is it's origin. That's it's core, and that sound has ALWAYS been there and ALWAYS will be. Even as trends shift (which they have, and they will again and again) that core will never disappear, though at times it may shrink.
 
#192
itsmecraigl said:
Here's where I come from:
Playing in 1965 with a Gibson EB-3 in a soul band. Bass came with flatwounds and I used them for years without changing.
[snip]
My question is simple. Is there a current shift away from roundwounds?
What gives? Any opinions? Did you change from rounds to flats, and if so, why?
Also if you're playing with a humbucker, are you using rounds or flats?
Click to expand...

As far as I'm concerned, flats never left. I'm not generally a fan of the brightness of rounds, although I realize that many like them. For me, when I hear the pankety-plonk of Seinfeld's theme I nearly shudder.

My oldest bass (a '63 P) has flats installed around 1972, and it sounds great. 9 of my 12 basses have flats, and the others have rounds that are all more than 2 years old and have lost that obnoxious "zing" from finger contact.

Doesn't matter whether the pickups are P, J, humbuckers or something else - my basses almost always get flats.
 
#193
IMHO, flats have changed dramatically since the original old-school P-Thump days. Flats can be bright, dark, high tension, low tension and most everywhere in between. The stereotypical assumption that flats can only thump is, also IMHO, outdated.

I adore flats and nickels, and have used several brands on different basses over the years, and each of my basses calls for different strings to really get what I consider to be each bass's best tone. The projects I'm in play Rock, Classic Rock, some Pop and some Jazz, and there is a pretty broad spectrum of tones required. My main bass (5 string P/J) seems pre-ordained to wear Sadowsky Light Gauge flats, and it covers the most ground tonally of any bass I've ever had with any type of string, bar none (yes, it can get too bright, even with year-old+ flats). My active Jazz likes nickels, and my passive P is good with just about anything, but it usually gets flats (Chromes or LaBellas). The fretless sounds best with tapes (mwah when needed, thump when required).

If my projects required lots of slapping (which mercifully they do not), then I doubt I would use flats (or be in that project). But my favorite recorded bass tones include everything from Duck Dunn to John Wetton in the King Crimson years, so it's great that there are options.
 
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#194
I think there MAY be a slight upsurge in flats use. Hey some years white cars out sell silver, and sometimes not. I'd bet rounds still out sell flats by a big margin. Personally, I think they BOTH have their place, and almost always have a bass stung w/each. It's always nice to have two arrows in the quiver! I enjoy switching it up sonically, if it works w/the music I'm playing at the time.
 
#197
adamsmatthewj said:
That's the tricky thing about music. Really, about art in general. "Trends" are necessary! They are what actually progress art!
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True, but when its a trend over something that is mainly preference, it can be a bit ridiculous. If there's a style someone enjoys that incorporates flatwounds, then that makes sense. But if someone chooses them just because "its trendy", they will probably be disappointed.
 
#198
I certainly have enjoyed flats in the past. I've kind of come full circle, though.

I have found that:
- Flats can't do everything rounds can do
- A nice broken in set of rounds Can do everything flats can do.

I'm back to really enjoying rounds, once they are broken in. You really can conjure any tone with rounds,
including the tone that people think can only come from flats. A little eq'ing, right hand technique and position,
and you can have any tone.
 
#199
SBassman said:
I have found that:
- Flats can't do everything rounds can do
- A nice broken in set of rounds Can do everything flats can do.
Click to expand...

I totally disagree. there are lots of "shades" characterizing flatwound's sound, and with dead rounds you can't get any of them. if you are not looking for that particular sound, and to your ears flats are just "dead sounding strings", it's ok with rounds.

if you can't ear the difference, and think you can emulate flats with rounds, it's not a string issue ;)

I can tell the same thing switching strings. equalizing in the right way I can get a "roundwound" tone with flats, but it won't be the same.

it's like "yes, with the neck pickup of a Jazz Bass I can sound like a Precision"...
 
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#200
Contrary to popular belief, most basses are not played by seasoned studio pros, touring acts or even Talkbass members. They are played by 16yr olds and amateurs who wouldn't know a flat wound from a flat tire. Unless that changes, and it won't, most people will play and buy what the damn things came with for the last 30 years: rounds.
 
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