No flat wound strings allowed with fretted basses?

[mellowgerman]

A friend of mine has a fretted Warwick that has worn flats for over a decade. His bass sounds fantastic and the roundwound secret police have yet to come bash in his knee-caps.
Don't let the narrow-minded hoards that insist flatwounds automatically make any bass a glorified electric washtub bass sully your exploration of all the great string options available. Dozens of different flatwound options available and they all sound different.
Some people like rounds, some like flats, some like tapewounds, etc. The only way you'll figure out what works for you is to try what's out there.

 

[Sam Evans]

83% of all TB posts are about flats on PBs.*

* True statistic I totally just made up.

 

[andare]

Although, there is no rule or law that states Precision basses must have flats on them (fretted or fretless), it is a religion practiced here on Talkbass and, if violated, some here will attempt to take away your birthday.

The only known law about strings is that all Jazz type basses must have roundwound strings and nothing else.

Your welcome.

Flats almost redeem Jazz basses for me. Almost.

 

[WillyW]

Although, there is no rule or law that states Precision basses must have flats on them (fretted or fretless), it is a religion practiced here on Talkbass and, if violated, some here will attempt to take away your birthday.

The only known law about strings is that all Jazz type basses must have roundwound strings and nothing else.

Your welcome.

Flats almost redeem Jazz basses for me. Almost.

if my jazz didn’t have flats, I wouldn’t have a jazz.

 

[GWGuitar]

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.

My fretted Jazz Bass sounds awesome with flats. That’s the TONE!

 

[jd56hawk]

The only known law about strings is that all Jazz type basses must have roundwound strings and nothing else.

Talkbass, always good for a few laughs.

 

[GWGuitar]

A friend of mine has a fretted Warwick that has worn flats for over a decade. His bass sounds fantastic and the roundwound secret police have yet to come bash in his knee-caps.
Don't let the narrow-minded hoards that insist flatwounds automatically make any bass a glorified electric washtub bass sully your exploration of all the great string options available. Dozens of different flatwound options available and they all sound different.
Some people like rounds, some like flats, some like tapewounds, etc. The only way you'll figure out what works for you is to try what's out there.

I use a mix of strings on different basses. i have rounds on one, flats on my JB, tapes on my fretless.

 

[BlueTalon]

why?

First, they shouldn't need it. If I have a set of strings that is literally cutting me as I play, there's either something wrong with the strings or something wrong with my technique. I'd be contacting the company that made the strings to let them know what happened.

Second, I'm not going to intentionally do anything to the strings that can cause uneven and/or premature wear.

And third, I'm not going to run the risk of getting any metallic dust or residue anywhere near my pickups. Or near the rest of my bass, for that matter.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

It's the opposite. Flats are better for fretted basses, because the frets will have more life. Frets like flats, I don't.

 

[fourstringdrums]

Did a Guitar Center employee tell you that?

 

[Rottie Roo Roo]

so I've put nylon wound flats on my jazz bass... a controversial choice to be sure but I went with La Bella Nylon Wrapped Gold flats which I rarely hear of someone putting on a fretted bass.

loved the feel of the strings, it's unlike anything else you'll put your hands on and makes your bass feel like a toy at first but once you get used to them you can move super fast and they're mega comfy. But I hated the dead sound. No matter what I did, I couldn't get any sort of growl or contour to the sound it always sounded muffled and lifeless.

Fast forward a few months, they're well broken in and I've adjusted my fingerstyle to suit them, as well as adjusting my amplification (basically double your volume lol). When they break in, man, WOW. They are never going to have the brightness and mojo of stainless or nickel wounds but they have this big, full, sound and once they break in you really get some amazing colors. Beautiful natural sounding highs and warm, rich, full sounding lows perfect for getting that sweet spot in poppier numbers. It's not for all styles, metal would be a challenge for sure, but for a super full, super warm sounding bass tone that fills the room and grabs your chest without overpowering or drowning out the high end, they can't be beat.

Please don't report me to the string police.

 

[Raman]

Is it possible the OP got it backwards? People usually say you cannot have rounds on a fretless...

 

[Topkat13]

C’mon man.

 

[Tommy V]

Lemmy used tapewounds on his warlock basses..

 

[Bassbubble11]

I was playing rounds since I started playing (GHS Bommers). A few years ago I bought a used P-bass with flats (D’addario Chromes). Now 3 out of my 4 main players have Flats. All fretted btw.

 

[JRT64]

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

Absolutely! I can't ever remember hearing that "flats don't work on fretted basses" crud on here. I have flatwounds on all of my basses, albeit different brands. And all of my basses have frets too. It just all depends on what sound you want to hear and make for the music you do.

 

[Jeff Scott]

The only known law about strings is that all Jazz type basses must have roundwound strings and nothing else.

Oops!

I have had a lot of Jazz Basses over the decades, but the first one I got, in 1971, came with flats (it was a late '60s Jazz Bass that my parent bought used for me), and the last one I had, a 2003 AV '62 Jazz Bass sounded best with TI Jazz Flats on it. I used round wounds on all the ones in between.

 

[StereoPlayer]

I don’t believe the OP has ever come back to post again in this thread.

 

[LBS-bass]

I don’t believe the OP has ever come back to post again in this thread.

It was yesterday. Some people have lives; give him a little time. Or not.

 

[WillyW]

I don’t believe the OP has ever come back to post again in this thread.

that’s ok we still got another 10-15 pages to go before it gets resurrected in 10 years.