My Precision with Geezers wears Chromes . They are perfect for it . But my ESP LTD Phoenix 1004 wears Pro Steel roundwounds . Again perfect for it . Both basses serve their purposes for me beautifully .
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Once you go flat, you never go back
- Thread starter GodPlayedBass
- Start date
JRA, I could not have said that any better. You are quite right. I play with two girls who only chord guitars, while singing. Electric drummer. Besides being the eye candy, I'm able to put guitar parts in spots, coloring the melodies better, while being dynamic.Once you go flat, you never go back
per the OP: IME: round wounds let you articulate, suggest some nuance, and induce 'clarity' in an otherwise crowded, muddy field. flats make you suck...
disclaimer: i have a set of flats (new) still in the package. i'm afraid to put them on an instrument. i'm afraid they'll feel funny and that i won't forgive myself for 'knowing better'. i don't even like to talk about it.
You can not achieve what we're talking about with flats, at least not live.
Then on the other hand, it's painful and no fun to play rounds with a lot of individual passion for every song on the album, only to have the producer compress my bass enough I felt lost in the mix.
I have started playing with Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats on the basses I use everyday. Today I picked up my '76 Musicman Stringray with roundwounds to play an old Boston song with lots of slides in it and felt like my fingers were scraping sandpaper. I know that bass needs roundwounds to sound the way Leo meant it to sound, but I had no idea how much difference I would notice. On my flats I effortlessly slide up and down the strings like skating on ice. The Cobalt Flats have all the brightness I need. My fingers can't take the rounds anymore. Maybe for a song or two, but that's it.
Played a bass with flats once back in '79.
Under the influence of Stanley Clarke,I borrowed a bass from my cousin.
A EBO no name copy with flats.
Awful dark,whooly sounding thing,With stiff flats that felt like steel rods.
That wasn't the bright,zingy sound of Stanley.
Oh no no.
I gave the bass back to my cousin.
When I bought my first bass,I immediately got a set of Rotosound swing 66's.
Never looked at flats again!
Under the influence of Stanley Clarke,I borrowed a bass from my cousin.
A EBO no name copy with flats.
Awful dark,whooly sounding thing,With stiff flats that felt like steel rods.
That wasn't the bright,zingy sound of Stanley.
Oh no no.
I gave the bass back to my cousin.
When I bought my first bass,I immediately got a set of Rotosound swing 66's.
Never looked at flats again!
Last edited:
Interesting! I find the "grating" of the roundwounds quite enjoyable after playing my flatwound equipped basses and in turn, I need some time to readjust to flats as they feel a bit "sticky" during transitions/slides. Never tried the cobalts though.
I play a lot iof slap and I never found a fkatwound that sounded good while slapping until the cobalts.
I'm sure technique enters into the equation as far as strung noise and tactility. But I have 3 basses with cobalts on them and I don't have any problem with sliding on any of them. It's actually probably improved my technique in that regard using these strings.
And I don't work for Ernie ball.
I'd love to try them - although they do seem very, very bright for my tastes but I actually can't find a bass that might fit them. I got a MM style strung with La Bella nickel plated rounds that I absolutely love, I got a P with my favorite TI flats, a 51 with La ella 760FS... Maybe the PJ fiver? I got a Talman with pretty aggressive pickups as well but I don't think the Cobalts are gonna fit that very well.
You got me thinking man!
The 1st set I bought had a defect on the D string. I sent an email to Ernie ball and a picture of the problem and they sent me a new string. I decided to give them another chance and I have been pleased to see it was an isolated issue.
I just had an issue with a Cobalt D as well! The gauge changes in the middle of the string. I didn't notice it until the string was on. When I tried to intonate, the 12th harmonic was on the 13th fret. My brain crashed for 30 seconds.
Last edited:
That is weird. Mine was much more normal.
My string had a notch in it. I kept catching my finger on it.
I hope you let them know and got a replacement. I had the packaging and the product code when I reported mine, but given what you are looking at I don't think they would give you a hard time no matter how long it has been.
I have flats on my sire V7. It's my #2 bass. I play it a lot with the blues band; sounds great for that kind of old school stuff.
I have pressurewounds on my Fender Am Elite Jazz. It's my #1. Works for just about everything but I favor the flats for the old stuff and this bass for a lot of the other things I do.
I have roundwounds on my Schecter Model T. Even though it's a telecaster style bass, the EMG pickups give it a more modern sound and I favor that bass for some of the 80's new wave stuff.
Everything has its place. As far as what I enjoy the feel of? I'd go with the flats. But the pressurewounds are a close second. I generally dislike the feel of the rounds because I like my strings slick and slidey.
I have pressurewounds on my Fender Am Elite Jazz. It's my #1. Works for just about everything but I favor the flats for the old stuff and this bass for a lot of the other things I do.
I have roundwounds on my Schecter Model T. Even though it's a telecaster style bass, the EMG pickups give it a more modern sound and I favor that bass for some of the 80's new wave stuff.
Everything has its place. As far as what I enjoy the feel of? I'd go with the flats. But the pressurewounds are a close second. I generally dislike the feel of the rounds because I like my strings slick and slidey.
Heres a thing. Got hold of a video copy of an largish outdoor festival I played at. P bass dead flats. Watching the playback I could not believe what I was hearing. The sound guy had driven my sound so much into clang I might have well have been using a fresh pack of rounds. In other words unless ur playing unsupported in a bar etc....it dont matter what ur wearing, once the sound guys got hold of it.
