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How do you EQ Flatwounds?

zachoff

zachoff

Apr 16, 2003
4,373
581
Boulder Suburbia, Colorado
soundslikewords.bandcamp.com
#1
Got a bass last night... 80s Peavey Fury. It's OK. It has flats on it and it's my first bass with flats. Plugged it into my SVT/810 and I couldn't be heard. Messed w/ the eq for about 4 or 5 minutes and still couldn't be heard. Went back to my regular bass. Anyway, since I'm a flat noob... Just wondering how you EQ them and I guess a better question would be are they at all usable in a punk rock sorta setting? I'm probably just doing something wrong.
 
#2
I'm not sure that flats are a good match to an SVT - (I'm sure I catch hell for this) Flats are the only way to go with a 50's~early 60's era amp. Modern amps work well with them. To my ears, the SVT was made for round wounds.
 
#4
BFunk said:
An 80's Peavey Fury should have a very high output muscular tone even with flats. Based on your description, I doubt it was the strings. Have you tried the bass through another amp?
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Not yet. I only played it for a couple songs last night before I switch back to my G&L. Didn't get home until after 11 & went snowboarding today so I just got home & now I'm headed out. I'll plug it into my micro tomorrow.

Also, when I say I "couldn't be heard" it wasn't that the bass was making no noise. It's that on my regular amp setting the guitars were totally drowning me out. I turned up to about 12:00 and while I could be "heard" I had no definition. It was weird. When I went back to my G&L I had to turn back down because I was killing the guitars. They're both basses w/ P pickups although different manufacturers and the MDFs are super hot. Just seems like there shouldn't be that much of a difference in output.
 
#7
4stringfiend said:
boost your mids too. It's not wrong to play flatwounds strings specifically but to get some serious balls in your sound roundwounds make more sense. I prefer SIT David Ellefson strings and DR. Marcus Miller Strings.
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Totally depends on the player and the context. I find my tone pretty anemic with roundwounds. To me, some balls = low mids, but we're all different.

I personally EQ mine pretty flat on my GK, I generally just boost a little around 250 Hz, and cut the lows a little.
 
#8
zachoff said:
Got a bass last night... 80s Peavey Fury. It's OK. It has flats on it and it's my first bass with flats. Plugged it into my SVT/810 and I couldn't be heard. Messed w/ the eq for about 4 or 5 minutes and still couldn't be heard. Went back to my regular bass. Anyway, since I'm a flat noob... Just wondering how you EQ them and I guess a better question would be are they at all usable in a punk rock sorta setting? I'm probably just doing something wrong.
Click to expand...

Try boosting your mids a bit.
 
#11
depends on the amp and cab. if im running DI eq is flat always. my pf500 is flat too. other amps (ie that arent mine, i second JTE's advice) i usually turn down treble and lows. boost low mids. sometimes i cut high mids somtimes i boost them. but the sound im going for is the DI sound of my bass.

what i recon is that gain structure is key for flat wounds. the difference between completely clean and a little in the red area is significant.
 
#13
I agree.....boost the mids. Also, are you using a pick? In a punk-rock context, that will help you cut through.
 
#14
I tend to run with GHS Precision Flats or (for a hybrid) Brite Flats. Mids are generally the critical adjustment for attack and penetration in the mix. Lows and highs are more for tone character. I tend to agree the SVT and flats aren't a match made in heaven. It does take getting used to, but you hear it better with just a little time. Try various flatwound brands - they are quite different (to my ears, at least as wide a variety as stainless rounds).
 
#16
sounds like you may have Rotosound 77's. They have red silk ends, I have a set on my Squier standard jazz. After putting them on my bass, I noticed that though I loved them when I practiced at home, they just didn't seem to mix well with other instruments in the band. I haven't yet had a chance to mess with eq settings to correct this problem. Other bass with roundwounds cuts through great, will go back to roundwounds if I am unable to solve problem.
 
#19
You will hate them at first, especially when playing by yourself. Your ears and brain are trying to get them to sound like rounds. It takes some getting used to. If I were you. I would have someone else play your bass while you step out front. You just have to trust me that in a mix, they sound really good.
 

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