No flat wound strings allowed with fretted basses?

[CaribooBass]

I have a Warwick BO 4 string bass. Plays very sweet and sounds even better. I have round wound strings on it now and the time has come to replace them.
I have found that I like the feel and sound of Flat wound strings on my fretless. So I was thinking of trying them on the Warwick. In reading some past posts here about strings, apparently flats are not good on fretted basses.
At this time I do not have any experience with flats outside of my fretless.
Could use some
Wise words of other Warwick players or flat wound users
would be very helpful.
Thanks.

 

[Mastodon2]

Nothing stopping you from putting flats on a fretted bass, or a Warwick. It would be an unusual choice, most Warwick players don't want the dull and dead sound, not to say the bass can't do it with flats or extremely old, worn out rounds.

 

[Jazz Ad]

Nope. Makes no sense. Prior to 1970, all basses came with flats. Most of them were fretted.
Please point to threads that said that.

 

[Moving Pictures]

Many a fretted bass has and do wear flats. As was mentioned above that was the standard in the early years. Listen to Pino Pallidino on John Mayer’s Try album. TI Flats on a Precision and sounding amazing. There really are no rules for string type on a bass. Just preferences. No go string up and explore that sound to see if you like it.

 

[Smurf-o-Deth]

If you want the flats feel while sounding more like rounds, there are options, like GHS pressurewound strings.

 

[Count Bassie]

GHS Brite Flats
Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats
Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats
D'Addario Half-Rounds...

There is a pretty interesting and varied selection of good-sounding flats out there, neither dull nor dead sounding. Don't let the Talkbass general population be the end-all authority, especially when it comes to the subjective. The feel you like and the sound you hear will be your best guide, and that comes by experience. Try something...

 

[C Stone]

Never heard of that "flats not good on fretted basses" sounds completely made up, in the begining all basses came with flats, rounds were invented about a decade later. I have at least three P basses that wear them exclusively. No experience with Warwick basses but good luck.

 

[GIBrat51]

Yes, as Jazz Ad said; there was a time - before a considerable number of people here were alive - when basses came from the factory with flatwound strings. Because, for a bass guitar? That's all there was. I learned to play bass during the end of that time; in 1968, on a 1968 Rick 4001, which came with 45-100 Maxima Flats from the factory. And, I've pretty much played basses with flats - all manner of flats - ever since. So... I think I'm pretty well qualified to tell you that - regardless of some people's opinion - there is just as much difference between flats, as there is amongst rounds. Yes, there are flats that are mostly low end, with just a little taste of mids (I have them on basses that I want that from), but there are also more "modern", midrange-focused flats (I use those, too); and there are even some flats that can give some rounds a run for their money, brightness-wise (I tend not to use those - much). Which ones to use, depends on what you want to play...
So, bottom line? If you want to use flats - on any of your basses? Do so, by all means. Just understand that, like rounds, some flats work best for some kinds of music; and some do not...

 

[chris_b]

. . . . In reading some past posts here about strings, apparently flats are not good on fretted basses.

I don't know who posted that, but it is BS. Flats were initially designed for fretted basses.

TI flats have been on my fretted PJ5 for about 6 years and still sound great. Try them on whatever bass you want. If you like the sound keep them, if you don't put some rounds on. At least you will know from your own experience.

I put flats on my active Jazz bass and didn't like the sound much. Sounded too much like my P bass and not enough like an active Jazz bass, so I put rounds back on.

 

[MobileHolmes]

I've literally never heard that. Flats on a Pbass are super popular here. I have flats on my P bass in fact

 

[captainofsmooth]

Yeah, never heard of this. I know a lot of folks don’t prefer flats on certain fretted bases, but I’ve never heard anyone say they’re “not good” on fretted basses.

 

[2F/2F]

That is utter nonsense, and I can't recall it having been frequently posted here...or at all, for that matter.

 

[43ManSquamish]

Flats transformed the sound of my Epi T-Bird Pro into something glorious. So do it if you want. The rule is when it comes to personal choices (picks vs. fingers, flats vs. rounds), there are no rules.

 

[jd56hawk]

In reading some past posts here about strings, apparently flats are not good on fretted basses.

Whoever said that should forget all about playing the bass and buy a kazoo!
Other than that, I'd go with black tapewounds...GHS or D'Addario.
There's a reason I have them on six basses.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

I have a Warwick BO 4 string bass. Plays very sweet and sounds even better. I have round wound strings on it now and the time has come to replace them.
I have found that I like the feel and sound of Flat wound strings on my fretless. So I was thinking of trying them on the Warwick. In reading some past posts here about strings, apparently flats are not good on fretted basses.
At this time I do not have any experience with flats outside of my fretless.
Could use some
Wise words of other Warwick players or flat wound users
would be very helpful.
Thanks.

As posted elsewhere: Who told you this? Flatwounds were standard issue for decades.

 

[JKos]

In reading some past posts here about strings, apparently flats are not good on fretted basses.

Total rubbish. Scratching my head how you came to that conclusion here on TB.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

I have flats on everything, admittedly mostly fretless (including a Warwick Corvette fretless 5), but also on my fretted Ibanez 5-string. TI Jazz Flats in particular work very well on fretted basses. Flats are not dull and dead as some think, but on the other hand they aren't going to sound like rounds.

 

[WillyW]

You need to expand your circle of influence.

regardless of bass, pickups, tonewood, or knob configuration…

All of my fretted basses have flats. Pyramid Golds are my preferred strings.

All of my fretless basses have roundwounds, Ernie Ball extra slinky are my preferred strings.

I also only change strings if they break or have been on the instrument for more than 7 decades.

My reasoning for the above is as follows:

flatwounds on fretless sound like poopie

roundwounds on fretted feel like poopie

but develop your own opinions

and I didn’t type poopie…

 

[G On Bass]

In reading some past posts here about strings, apparently flats are not good on fretted basses.

Absolute absurdity. That's about the same credibility level as someone saying 3" straps don't work well on passive basses.

My main bass and fretless both have flats and they sound awesome.

 

[bovinehost]

In the olden days of yore, I discovered that flats on my Music Man basses was the tone I dreamed of.
You maybe would/wouldn't believe the response I got from certain groups right here on TB.
"You have neutered your Stingray."
Well, not really. I sure did tame down the zing. "If I wanted zing", I said, "I'd play the cymbals."
And now I have flats on a Big Al and numerous Bongos.
And even a Warwick (semi) hollow body.
It's mildly amusing that flats have once again become socially acceptable because in the 90s, I felt like a sex criminal.
Put flats on your Warwick. If you don't like them, here's the secret: you can take them off.

Jack