Last chance for flats

[bassdude51]

What's funny is this is the ONLY decision I have that problem with. Everything else is solved except this one. But dang it, it's going to be solved by the end of this weekend!

LOL!

Make sure ya let us know what your solution is..........by the end of your weekend!

We're all totally curious, JimmyM!

 

[miles'tone]

So you don't like this?

Can't speak for Jimmy but I love it! The Fender Original P pup is a personal fave. Killer tone, especially with flats.

 

[Gyver]

It's a less bright bass and hopefully will mask some of the clickiness of the other Precision when it had flats, plus I managed to get them pretty dead with a couple coats of Eucerin cream.

I was going between Chromes, DR Nickel Lo Riders and DR Hi Beams on my MM Sterling about a year ago. It seemed every week I would change strings, and every week I found something to dislike about each type of string. Finally I settled on the Hi Beams, the main reason being the "click" I was getting from the Chromes. If not for the click the Chromes would have won out.

But today I was listening to a bunch of different recordings of the band from that time period and the Chromes, to me, sounded best of the bunch by far. So I just ordered another set and am going to stick with them until I know for sure that they are broken in. I will turn down the treble until that time to minimize the click. They feel the best, I can set the action low, and I love the sound.

 

[JimmyM]

So you don't like this?

Actually I do. I'm speaking strictly on a personal basis here, and not meant to be an indictment of what other folks like.

 

[bluesblaster]

Really Im fine with roundwounds, played 'em for years and years, I just kind of prefer the feel of flats, everyone seems to have there favorites. To the average listener in the audience it sounds like a bass either way.

 

[JimmyM]

True, I don't hear a ton of difference either way, but I do hear a difference at times when it counts. Plus I never let the audience's positive reaction to our band no matter what I use sway me to take the easy way out. Oh sure, I've done it just to prove you can but I figure you might as well play what you feel works best when you can.

 

[tjh]

FWIW, the sound is only a part of what I base selection on ... feel and consistency are both as important IMO... sound changes with venues, I want a string that is consistent once broken in, and flats give me that ... I want a feel that makes me want to play it, and flats give me that ... I have three different gauges of Chromes and a set of Sad flats currently strung .. I like the feel, and I know what the strings are going to sound like every time I pick them up ... EQ to situation best you can, then adapt with your hands as needed and call it good ...some nights the sound is magic, some nights not, but I don't think anyone notices what strings I have on other than myself, and no matter what string I am using, I will still have nights that it sounds better than others .. so make your best choice and have fun ... JMHO

 

[bassinplace]

I like both and I have different basses strung with each so I can get whichever sound I want by switching basses. Doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

 

[Remus_Redbone]

The most sound advise (no pun intended) I can give you is to forget about flats and keep using what you like. You've played long enough to know what disliking your tone all night can do to your concentration and playing. You don't need that kind of distraction. A large number of us (me for sure) played rounds for 25+ years before even trying flats. All those years playing rounds worked out just fine. Some of us make the change and like it; some don't.

You're a don't, so don't change.

 

[JimmyM]

I like both and I have different basses strung with each so I can get whichever sound I want by switching basses. Doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

Why switching basses during my gigs is a big deal:

1. I already switch between upright and electric and have to have a separate EQ for my upright to maintain consistency.

2. Volume and EQ differences between my electric basses means I need a separate EQ pedal for each bass or a programmable EQ in order to have any consistency. Not particularly interested in doing either, especially since I'm already doing that with the upright.

3. We have a fast-paced show and we don't use a setlist so we're not stuck playing songs that are going to bomb out for a particular crowd. Our drummer just announces them as we go and doesn't give me much time to switch out electric and upright before he's counting off. And I don't want to slow the momentum down if I don't have to, either. Swapping electric basses on top of the upright is just another slow-down moment.

 

[Stumbo]

We'll see. Just tried it in an amp, and was only OK with them even after deadening them with hand cream. I'm thinking I may just be a rounds guy as I'm almost ready to yank them again after that.

Hi Jimmy,

But you still have new strings, even it they have hand cream on them.

Here's a suggestion: string up an old bass with those strings and over tighten the strings for a few hours. The point is to let them stretch out. Tune them up again and repeat a few times. Then try them on your good bass. Keep doing it until you get the feel/tone you like.

I think JohnK_10 has commented that old strings don't rebound very much compared to new strings.

I was always a passive bass/dead flats user until a bass I picked came with dead ground wounds that are still on there about 20 years later. It also came with a 3 band active eq.(which I thought I would never use). It works great because I can roll of the treble when needed or boost it to get the little spank that's left in the strings.

Right now I'm playing in my jam band(dual guitarists) mostly through the J pup with some mid-range boost/bass cut for nice cut-through burp and with a gentle foam mute. I palm mute also when necessary along with sometimes inserting a 16th or 32nd rest between the notes to simulate dead strings which, to me, is an attempt to emulate the upright bass or the Hammond Organ bass keys. Check out the keyboard bass played by the keyboard player in Jr. Walker and the All Stars:

Or maybe a few TBrs can send you some dead flat wounds they have laying around for you to test?

Good luck with your search!

 

[Ric5]

I am a hardcore roundwound guy who has been anti-flats for decades. But I must admit when I pick up a bass strung with flats sometimes it has a certain allure to it. I played a Squier bass at my local Music go round recently and it was a 5 string converted to a 6 string bass. It was strung with flats and sounded good. Then yesterday I took delivery of a Rickenbacker 4004cii trans red bass. It came with flatwound strings. So I started playing "One of these nights" by the Eagles. The original bass line was played with a Rickenbacker strung with flats. So the new Rick totally copped the right tone for the song.

BUT ...


My problem with flats ...

I get tired of the flat tone after 10 or 20 minutes and I need to go play a bass with rounds.

For me the best use of a bass with flats is if I want to cover an old song and really nail the exact tone of the original and a bass with flats is the way to do it. Or if I do the odd song in a studio and I want flats to cop that tone.

But so far I haven't felt the need to string even one of my 15 basses with flats.

But maybe someday ...


off in the future

I

Might


maybe use flats


possibly on one bass

 

[bkbirge]

1. I already switch between upright and electric and have to have a separate EQ for my upright to maintain consistency.

I think you have your solution. Just use upright on the tunes where you'd normally use flatwound classic sound. It won't be the same but it will still be appropriate, assuming you can handle the parts which I'm guessing you can.

Then keep your electric setup with rounds.

 

[RHFusillo]

I keep flats on some basses and rounds on others. For some basses, I can't decide what I like, so I keep switching.

However, if I had to use a single bass with one set of strings for an extended period of time, I'd use nickel roundwounds, probably Fender. They seem to me like a reasonable compromise between the two types of strings.

 

[gastric]

I waffle often and as a result have a box full of bass strings to show for it. My comments mirror Jimmy's - love the flats but often hate the fret clickiness they seem to exhibit, and sometimes find them a bit dull. Then I switch to rounds and hate how bright they are. Then put the flats back on. I typically tend to favor the flats. I specifically never liked Chromes.

I recently pulled my LaBella flats and have some GHS Pressurewounds on my P bass and have been enjoying those quite a bit right now. It's nearly time for me to play the round-vs-flat game again to see what I prefer this month.

My real takaway from the whole adventure is just how much a set of strings can change your bass tone. It's way more drastic than you'd think it should be.

 

[smeet]

I waffle often and as a result have a box full of bass strings to show for it. My comments mirror Jimmy's - love the flats but often hate the fret clickiness they seem to exhibit, and sometimes find them a bit dull. Then I switch to rounds and hate how bright they are. Then put the flats back on. I typically tend to favor the flats. I specifically never liked Chromes.

I'm a waffler too. I love Chromes myself, found LaBellas too thumpy to be versatile (although they absolutely nail THAT sound).

My real takaway from the whole adventure is just how much a set of strings can change your bass tone. It's way more drastic than you'd think it should be.

For the player, yes. For the audience (and to some extent the rest of the band) it makes a pretty small difference. Or rather, the difference is felt in the overall feel of the band rather than being consciously heard in the bass tone.

I had a Roland VB-99 for a while, and I never had time to really get into the editing. However I think that in a few years that kind of technology might be able to do a really good model of a bass with blendable/morphable flat/round sounds.

 

[Sparkdog]

Jimmy, I know you're tired of trying strings but I will throw out one suggestion you might look into.

Have you ever tried the Rotosound Tru-Bass 88's? Those are the black nylon tapewounds. They are the fattest, darkest, thumpiest strings I have tried, and I think I have played every brand of flats you can buy. These things are totally unique, and not to be confused with the ones made by La Bella or D'Addario which sound NOTHING like the Rotos.

The low end is huge and round, but also tight, and if you roll on some treble you can get a beautiful top end. It never gets a metallic edge to it like flats can though, it stays smooth and clear. They are really magical to me.

I know a lot of guys who aren't completely happy with rounds and have tried flats for a change in tone, but weren't really satisfied with those either. When I turned them on to the Roto tapes it was a real eye opener.

Just trying to help with your pain

 

[bassinplace]

Why switching basses during my gigs is a big deal:

1. I already switch between upright and electric and have to have a separate EQ for my upright to maintain consistency.

2. Volume and EQ differences between my electric basses means I need a separate EQ pedal for each bass or a programmable EQ in order to have any consistency. Not particularly interested in doing either, especially since I'm already doing that with the upright.

3. We have a fast-paced show and we don't use a setlist so we're not stuck playing songs that are going to bomb out for a particular crowd. Our drummer just announces them as we go and doesn't give me much time to switch out electric and upright before he's counting off. And I don't want to slow the momentum down if I don't have to, either. Swapping electric basses on top of the upright is just another slow-down moment.

Yes, I see your conundrum. I failed to mention that I'm a rank amateur so it's a bit more simple for me, lol. Maybe make switching basses part of your practice routine so you can fine tune it? That's all I got. For the record though, I do prefer the flats about 98% of the time. They have a "roundness" in terms of physical feel and the way it relates to the tone they produce that rounds just can't get, to my ears, anyway.

 

[iiipopes]

Hey, bassinplace - talk to your drummer. Try to work out something so that he doesn't call alternate songs back-to-back, so you're constantly switching. Go over the repertoire list with him and make a DB list and an EB list and get him used to calling several in a row on the same instrument so it avoids some of the awkwardness. I have done that with the bandleader in my jazz/dance bands so it minimizes lag. There will be natural breaks in the progression of things that lend themselves more to changing or not.

Another option: play them all on EB and have a flip mute, like vintage Jaguar guitars used to have.

 

[pbass2]

Man, I hate switching basses during a set, unless it's one of the (for me at least) very rare cases when there's a stagehand there to hand me one and take the other. Simply having different strings on a bass guitar would not warrant switching in my book, unless the bass was truly so radically different sounding and there was no way to approximate it on the main player for the gig. I just try and find one bass that'll work for everything in a set--it can be rounds or flats, just depends on the overall aesthetic of the particular band.
Switching between EB and upright is of course a very different scenario--in that case I'd do what it took to make it work(if I played upright that is!).