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Has the bass world changed to flatwounds?

#122
petrus61 said:
At this point, using Rounds on TB is unconventional. What about bending over backwards trying NOT to be unconventional? You seem to be good at that! :D Either way, too much bending and you'll break a string, round or flat.
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Let's remember TB Rule #1 - respect.

Who cares if someone else wants to use rounds or flats...???? What's it take away from someone else?? Why are so many things on TB religious debates??
 
#123
All this talk of convention and deliberate unconventionality is a bit silly - If the tone, and what suits you & the music you perform is a match, do it. I am waiting on some flats but love nickel rounds on both my axes - especially with the tone near off and a little muting (left hand, plam or foam - it's all got a tonal use if executed well) - hence my intrest in flats.

If people choose a bass based on image - that's their choice, same with a stack / cab etc. but strings have a BIG tonal imprint. It needs to be left to the ears in the context of the music.

Forums can get delightfully silly: :mad:That Mitchell and Webb Look: Text A Blog - YouTube

Play the damn thing:hiding:

Still waiting..... (26/4/12)
 
#127
JimmyM, this thread turned into something I couldn't control (or wouldn't even if I could).
To say it as quickly as I can, I really did notice a lot of threads on here talking about flatwounds, and since the early/mid 70's, I just ASSUMED nobody was buying them anymore. I was surprised. I was trying to get caught up again since I was completely aware ANYONE was using flats. Then I remembered that nice bass/mid-onlytone from the 60's and was curious.
I am purchasing a Beatle bass and definitely will put flats on it.
Conversely, I filled in for a rock trio on Sat night, and can't imagine how I'd ever get away with NOT having that trebly roundwound tone to add to the mix.
There's a place for both.
Regarding the D' Chromes, maybe I'll have to put them on and give them a chance. Played one gig with them and all I could get was a honky mid sound that I couldn't get rid of, even with my parametric mid control.
Thanks to all for your input.
 
#128
No. we're just going through a growing and learning phase and trying to comp the sounds and styles if the old masters. To get "That" sound you need a P-Bass and some flats, just like James Jamerson. Or the equivalent setup on another bass. but flats are required to get that solid round boom and old school flavor. I am a slapper and for me Roundwounds, nickel or stainless steel are a requirement for piano briteness, growl and grit necessary for excellent slap sounds. You can slap on anything but to be heard and have your slaps and pops articulated, even on a P-Bass you need round wounds.
 
#129
If you're playing the type of music that requires more boom and bass that articulation, flats and P-Bass are the way to go. For example Mowtown, and Blues. Some Rock as well. If you are playing music that requires an articulate, piano string bass kind of tone then you need round wounds. You can turn the teble down on a bass with round wounds and make it much warmer but it still won't quite capture that Jamerson thing. And he hardly ever changed his strings. On the flip side, you can raise the trble on a bass with flats and it will still not have the piano, tone, growl and grit that rounds provide. To me more it's more like you have two different basses, one set up with flats, one with rounds. No one is better, just two different weapons, and it depends on the job. if I could only have one bass, it would have rounds, and I'd just adjust bass, treble and mids for the motown, blues, type of songs.
 
#132
Like the OP, I started on flats and then changed to rounds in the early 70s after hearing Greg Lake, Chris Squire, Stanley Clarke and Jaco. I put flats on a couple of basses that I wanted to give a "vintage" vibe to for sessions, but that's about it. You can do things with EQ and pickup selection on most basses to get the darker sound of flats out of a roundwound bass ( I can even simulate a P Bass on my Conklin/GTBD-7) so it's more comfortable for me to hang with rounds for most of my basses but have flats on a couple just for the color of the tone.
It's funny, having some miles on me I find it amusing to see all these younger players longing with nostalgia for a time that really wasn't there. Bass tones weren't happening for a long time and for a lot of my peers and myself each step in the evolution of bass tones was really welcome.
 
#133
Roy Vogt knows his stuff.

I'm with Roy on this one. I don't get the whole flats thing. They just sound like dead strings to me. And Roy "knows". Thirty years ago he gave me my first bass lesson (thanks for starting me off right, Roy!)

For the record, I think he was seven years old at the time. I myself was barely out of diapers.
 
#134
Roy Vogt said:
Like the OP, I started on flats and then changed to rounds in the early 70s after hearing Greg Lake, Chris Squire, Stanley Clarke and Jaco. I put flats on a couple of basses that I wanted to give a "vintage" vibe to for sessions, but that's about it. You can do things with EQ and pickup selection on most basses to get the darker sound of flats out of a roundwound bass ( I can even simulate a P Bass on my Conklin/GTBD-7) so it's more comfortable for me to hang with rounds for most of my basses but have flats on a couple just for the color of the tone.
It's funny, having some miles on me I find it amusing to see all these younger players longing with nostalgia for a time that really wasn't there. Bass tones weren't happening for a long time and for a lot of my peers and myself each step in the evolution of bass tones was really welcome.
Click to expand...

I'm 42, and have been playing for 30 years, so thanks for calling me a younger player. It's not evolution of tone, it's diversification of tone. Lots of good players continued using flats though out the 70s, 80s, and 90s. They're not new, Talkbass just makes it seem so, and it's not a revival, your reading Talkbass just makes it seem so. I always use rounds and hated their zinginess, and loved it when they "went dead" (or from my perspective, when they were finally ready). I tried flats a few times and hated the "sticky" feel but after reading some things here, other players encouraged me to stick it out. I've changed to Chromes, and have played nothing else for four years, and have converted a few bass players who don't read Talkbass but who happened to pick up my bass and say "wow! What strings are those??"

Not every bass player wants to emulate Chris Squire or Stanly Clark. I'm actually really *not* a fan of their stuff. Sorry if that's a bubble burster. Yeah they can do stuff I could never do, but so can a can opener. It's not about technique and speed, it's about music and their stuff just sounds noisy to me. That's not meant as a personal attack on your taste, so please don't be offended.
 
#135
Before writing anything I must confess I've read nothing in this thread. Want to subscribe though, for when I have the time to do so.

Must also confess that I'm flats phobic. And want to push past it. I own a crapload of basses, have a few sets of flats laying around, and for some reason can't gather the nerve to put em on any of my basses. While I realize how illogical and self defeating that is... well, it hasn't yet happened. I have one, MK acoustic fretless that has had flats on it, and it's sound is pretty uninspiring. I think this has a lot to do with my reluctance to experiement.

Anyhow, I'm plugged in to perhaps push myself past this and drop them flats on my Stingray. Stingray's been hiding in the closet anyway. Big Al and Bongo get pretty much all my action these days. Anyhow, in hopes that this thread convinces me... subscribed.
 
#136
It will never happen, but I sometimes wish I could walk into a store and try the basses I want to test with flats.

To me the string type makes a bigger difference in tone than the pickups, preamp, wood, etc. So I never really get to hear what a prospective bass will sound like until I buy it and throw the stock strings in the trash.
 
#137
Joe Nerve said:
Before writing anything I must confess I've read nothing in this thread. Want to subscribe though, for when I have the time to do so.

Must also confess that I'm flats phobic. And want to push past it. I own a crapload of basses, have a few sets of flats laying around, and for some reason can't gather the nerve to put em on any of my basses. While I realize how illogical and self defeating that is... well, it hasn't yet happened. I have one, MK acoustic fretless that has had flats on it, and it's sound is pretty uninspiring. I think this has a lot to do with my reluctance to experiement.

Anyhow, I'm plugged in to perhaps push myself past this and drop them flats on my Stingray. Stingray's been hiding in the closet anyway. Big Al and Bongo get pretty much all my action these days. Anyhow, in hopes that this thread convinces me... subscribed.
Click to expand...

Try a set of Ernie Ball Group I flats on that Stingray and lower the saddles a lot. Ule love it.
 
#138
BillMason said:
I'm 42, and have been playing for 30 years, so thanks for calling me a younger player. It's not evolution of tone, it's diversification of tone. Lots of good players continued using flats though out the 70s, 80s, and 90s. They're not new, Talkbass just makes it seem so, and it's not a revival, your reading Talkbass just makes it seem so. I always use rounds and hated their zinginess, and loved it when they "went dead" (or from my perspective, when they were finally ready). I tried flats a few times and hated the "sticky" feel but after reading some things here, other players encouraged me to stick it out. I've changed to Chromes, and have played nothing else for four years, and have converted a few bass players who don't read Talkbass but who happened to pick up my bass and say "wow! What strings are those??"

Not every bass player wants to emulate Chris Squire or Stanly Clark. I'm actually really *not* a fan of their stuff. Sorry if that's a bubble burster. Yeah they can do stuff I could never do, but so can a can opener. It's not about technique and speed, it's about music and their stuff just sounds noisy to me. That's not meant as a personal attack on your taste, so please don't be offended.
Click to expand...
No offense taken. By way of a perspective, when I started playing in 1970 flatwounds were the only option. I played a Kalamazoo EBO copy with flats through a Gibson Thor amplifier with 2x10 and dreamed of upgrading to a Fender Bassman. When you started playing in 1982 I was routinely using an Alembic, a Music Man Stingray, a 66 P Bass with a J-pickup added, and a fretless Ibanez P-Bass clone with J pickup and rounds on all of them. I didn't particularly dig the way new roundwounds sounded, so about a month in the strings would speak well. I think my point is that there were limited/no choices 42 years ago and we have evolved to where I see guys with P-Basses, foam mutes and flats playing alongside guys tapping on 11 string basses. I pretty much enjoy it all-how far we've all come!
 
#140
I have a bass with steel rounds, a bass with nickel rounds, and a bass with flats.

I love the sound of flats on a P bass. James Jamerson, Carol Kaye, Paul McCartney and so many others have the tone I grew up listening to. But I love all kinds of music.

I share Roy's opinion. I really enjoy seeing players take the instrument past where they found it.
 

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