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Has the bass world changed to flatwounds?

#141
I played a Ric w/ nickel rounds for about 15 years. That's what it came with, that's what I was used to, they sounded great so why fix it if it ain't broke.

Got a 2011 P bass recently and the guy had put La Bella flats on it. I didn't like the feel at first, felt like a spaghetti noodle compared to the rounds, didn't feel like a bass was supposed to. Tried it out with my modern rock cover band and we were all very pleasantly surprised how well it cut through the mix, better than the rounds. Kept them on, feels normal to me now - and I get lots of compliments on how good the bass sounds.

But sometimes I feel like the flats are not quite aggressive enough on the faster tunes. Probably going with rounds next time - but I certainly don't mind not having to change strings as often.
 
#143
countbassiedad said:
Try a set of Ernie Ball Group I flats on that Stingray and lower the saddles a lot. Ule love it.
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Just did exactly as you said, except the flats I had laying around were group II. Feels and sounds pretty good in the house, will likely give it a go at a gig this thursday. :)

Any particular reason you suggested the group I as opposed to II?
 
#145
Rip Topaz said:
Two days ago I swapped the Chromes on my MiA P. They were on for about two months, I decided to give a set of Lo-Riders that I had a chance.

The Chromes will be going back on VERY soon. Not digging the feel or sound of rounds anymore.

Guess I'm spoiled.
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Be careful - flats don't tend to like being taken off and put back on. The only strings I've ever had break on me were flatwound E strings that I'd taken off and put back on. Really sucks when it happens during a rehearsal. It just suddenly loses all tension and sticks to the pickup magnets. :-)
 
#146
Joe Nerve said:
Just did exactly as you said, except the flats I had laying around were group II. Feels and sounds pretty good in the house, will likely give it a go at a gig this thursday. :)

Any particular reason you suggested the group I as opposed to II?
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The Group II's are nice too - I have them on my VM Jazz so the neck won't react to humidity changes so much (less tension).

In general I like heavier strings for both the rich tone and the ability to have extreme low action, so the Group I is a personal preference. I play with a really light touch, so the combo of heavy strings with low action works well for me, especially on the Stingray which has a fantastic neck.

The nice thing about Ernie Ball (bright) and GHS (warm) flats is that the prices are low enough to experiment without breaking the bank.
 
#147
IMHO...................I'd guess 90% of all electric bassist use round wound strings. It'll probably stay in that percentage range, forever. Flat users are a minority and always will be.

To answer your question/questions, I switched to flats because round wounds destroy my frets rather quickly, especially stainless steel round wounds.

But, I read an article in Bass Player Magazine many years back and it had a big influence on me. A bass is supposed to be a bass, it said. Make nice low frequency notes to compliment a band.

It was then after reading that article that I decided that round wounds with their "zingy" , big twangy guitar sound and that horrilbe sound of finger flesh sliding on the ridges of the strings playing out notes was "anti-bass" for me.

At that point, I stopped using round wounds.

But really, it's all a personal choice for bassist on what kind of strings to use. In certain types of music, round wounds on a bass are a MUST! Slappers gotta have 'em!

Generally speaking, when playing live, it's not really noticed very much if bass strings are flats or rounds. The other musicians drown out that definition that strings give off.

No trolling intended! Peace!
 
#148
I don't know about the world, but I feel like alot of TB'ers use flats... But I could very well be wrong on that idea.

I have rounds on my all my basses except for my Fender P, my ibanez just has too much of a modern hi'fi pickupEQ system to keep rounds on there, at least it was weird for me. My G&L though, I didn't mind having rounds, the tone difference was pretty cool, but not what i really wanted. On the other hand my Pbass was the most comfortable choice with rounds compared to my others.
 
#150
>> http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f16/what-kind-strings-do-you-use-78140/ According to this poll almost 20% of us TalksBassists prefer flats. Somehow it seems this percentage is growing. This may be misleading, however. Many roundwound players don't tell the world, because they are using 'normal' strings. Only the 'odd man out' writes about his choice, as he wants to have some kind of confirmation that he's doing the right thing.
 
#151
Not yet a convert, BUT... was surprised when I put them on my stingray last night. I can still slap, and it sounds great, plus I can still get sizzly highs out out of it if I want. Roundwounds became popular before active basses were popular. I'm gonna guess that on passive basses you can do a whole lot less with flatwound than with an active. What's my point? I don't know. :) Can't say much more right now, cuz I don't know how I'm going to like these until I play them with a band. may soon be a flatwounder.
 
#154
I use both flats and rounds on various basses. For me it comes down to this: When the band is big, or loud, or I need to be in charge of the grove (regardless of style) I use flats. They have a the punch and articulation I don't get as well with rounds.
 
#155
Joe Nerve said:
Not yet a convert, BUT... was surprised when I put them on my stingray last night. I can still slap, and it sounds great, plus I can still get sizzly highs out out of it if I want. Roundwounds became popular before active basses were popular. I'm gonna guess that on passive basses you can do a whole lot less with flatwound than with an active. What's my point? I don't know. :) Can't say much more right now, cuz I don't know how I'm going to like these until I play them with a band. may soon be a flatwounder.
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That's typically how Chromes sound when they are freshly installed. Wait till you've beaten them for 10+ hours. Then they'll let you hear how they really sound.
Active or passive doesn't have to affect the sound of a string. I removed the electronics from my Ibby, as it didn't contribute to the sound. It only consumed batteries.
 
#156
I went to flats about 5-6 years ago and its all I will use and play. I will say I tried a set of tapewounds on my Bullet P bass after reading post about them and they are pretty cool. They feel and act like a flat, less tension, but they clack more. I found I needed to set the action up higher and that went away. Flats are easy to EQ and always sit in the mix.
 
#157
I started playing with roundwounds and i always had a lot of fret buzz because i'm a very aggressive player. i'm not as aggressive as I used to be but it's still kind of in my nature to play hard. I always thought, "bass has heavy strings. use heavy picks?" so that didnt help all my fret buzz so I started to use heavy gauge strings. I went all the way up to .115's (in standard tuning) so with the heavy picks and the heavy strings i didnt have as much buzz but it was obviously still there. recently I got a guild Pilot bass that a very good friend of mine didnt want anymore. he just gave it to me! from the first year of production! and it had the original flatwound strings on it. not sure if they we factory or he put them on. they weren't trimmed at the end so I would assume he put them on. but still they're from the mid 80's! anyway I started to play the bass (finger style) and I noticed there wasnt a lot of fret buzz. and I got really excited so I played it with a Gator Grip 1.14 mm pick and I heard a little more buzz but not as much from roundwounds. so I realized that my pick had a lot to do with it. so now I use dunlop .88 nylon and regular gauge strings (.100) anyways, back to the strings. I think it depends on the technique, the bass and the style music. like a rickenbacher should definitely never have flatwounds on it. (my opinion) if you have really aggressive technique but still want a clean sound use flatwounds. if you overdrive your amp a lot or play with distortion, roundwounds would be better. (John Paul Jones it's an exception) but me personally? for the majority of my I love that nice warm sound that can only be achieved by putting single coils with flatwounds through a slightly fuzzy all tube amp. occasionally I like to get some heavy fuzz tones going and beat the **** out of my P-bass with roundwounds. but always .88 Dunlop Nylon picks and regular gauge strings round or flat .100 all the way.
 
#158
I went through a flatwound phase, but ultimately came back to rounds. Not exact, but i can mimic flat sounds with some old nickle rounds. Labella's were my favorite, but too many dead strings for the price they charge. When I called them up, customer service guy sounded a bit arrogant about quality control. Didnt really like chromes or roto flats too much.

Ironically, I like my p strung with rounds and warwick with flats.
 
#159
famousbirds said:
"Clean" sound is a huge sticking point for me. Flats were a revelation for me - the tension is high enough to get low and yet completely buzz-free action, and there is zero string noise.

With Chromes and Fender flats, the tonal profile is pretty similar to roundwounds. Flats no longer mean all bass and thump with no sustain.

At this point, I don't think I'll ever go back to rounds. I'll spend two hours trying to get them set up to play as smooth and clean as my Fender flats, and take them right back off.
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Me too!!
 
#160
I think it is cool to have a bass with flats and a bass with rounds. I cant say if i like one better or not..... I dont have to......... I can play whichever i want.
 

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