P-Bass Players - Flatwounds or Roundwounds (POLL)

[BackToTheGroove]

For a P bass I just bought a JBT-401 a few days ago. Put D'Addario's XL ground-wounds on, but will order a set of LaBella deep-talkin' flats. But the more I play these half-round/ground-wound/compression style strings I've had on the other basses (including Fender Kingman Acoustic) the more I think they're the great all rounder, but would like to find a heavier gauge and try other maker's versions.

I bought the JBT-401 to have good thumper, counter to my Ric 4001R growler, so the LaBellas will be good for that.

 

[morebass!]

Flats (Chromes) on my '72 Precisions for now. But I have several basses. If I had only one bass and it was a P-bass I'd probably go with rounds as they're more versatile.

So I didn't vote.

 

[Boombass76]

Close run... I prefer rounds on all my electrics, but flats on the Mouse and the DB!

 

[bluesblaster]

Flats on the jazz bass but rounds on the P bass

 

[CapnSev]

The poll is a lot closer than I though it would be.

Flats for sure for me. They just pwn in the mix on a P.

 

[jastacey]

I've got 2 P-basses and I'd have to say one is strung with TI flats, and the other is strung with the Dunlop Nickel Plates Steels ...... and I like them both

 

[Gord_oh]

yes.

 

[Bassman316]

I was cool with rounds for a while... had 'em both on my P-bass and Jazz bass. Then, I went through the 'Confessions of a flatwound convert' thread again. Fast forward about a week... my P-bass now has a brand new set of GHS flats and the Jazz bass is wearing an old set of Chromes. I'm in heaven. I've been back and forth for a while, but now that I've tried GHS flats, I wonder why I ever went to rounds on the P-bass.

 

[FatCity]

Rounds. Roto 66. I love the sound of flats on a P but for the type of music the band is doing now (Modern/Hard Rock) rounds work better for me.

 

[officialjlox]

I put Labella 760FMs on my MIA P as soon as I got her home a few weeks ago, and I'm in love. I may pull a Jamerson and never change them for as long as I live

 

[jeffbrown]

Flats on my Pbass clone, without hesitation. Its THE sound - we do some classic rock and some originals. It just works best *for what we do*. Rounds on the Ibanez 5er, for a different way to go, and rounds to chime on the 8string.

Variety is the spice of life.

 

[jaywa]

Thinking of switching to flats on my 78 P after years running Ernie Ball Slinkys. However, my P-Bass has been modded to active with an EMG PJ set. Does the flats-and-EMG combo strike anyone as a good formula for my upcoming new gig which will basically be old-school and newer R&B/soul backing a female singer? I'd like to know before I spend big $$ on a set of flats and the time putting them on.

 

[bluesbass99]

Flats (Chromes) on my '72 Precisions for now. But I have several basses. If I had only one bass and it was a P-bass I'd probably go with rounds as they're more versatile.

So I didn't vote.

Ditto..I use the same flats (Chromes) on my '72 Precision bass also. I've gone back and forth, but have finally settled on flats on both of my basses. I like the way the tone fits in with the band. I've used Black Beauties, which I really liked, but flats seem to sound better than rounds in a band, in my opinion.

 

[fearceol]

What I particularly dislike, tonewise, are bright sounding flats . I really can't see the point to them at all

The same could be said about people who like dull rounds. Some go to endless trouble ( rubbing on chicken fat etc ) to kill the brightness of new rounds, all the while people say that their rounds go dull too soon.

 

[darkstorm]

Roundwounds on every bass Ive owned wether or not it has P pup/s. Likesw roundwounds sound much better, Flats just sound flat and dull to me in comparrison. My current P bass. BC Rich eagle with active eq likes rotosounds 66 just fine.

 

[fretlessguy]

Although currently my two Ps have TI flats, I am hankering for a set of rounds for one of them. I like both actually, and my preference really depends on what style of music I am playing at the time.

 

[BackToTheGroove]

Link Removed

 

[ericw]

Rounds. I'm not sure what I'm going to use for the fretless (the neck arrives today) but I have a feeling it will be rounds as well.

 

[zachoff]

Flats don't give me the attack I want. I use the EB Power Slinkys... .110-.050. They sound deep and fat and evil.

 

[thunderfish]

I am an old school-lover of rounds. Crunch, growl, a little distortion (Geddy, Squire, Tool Sober, Grrrrr!!!) But... For my p-bass, I thought I would try out some flats just cuz my homies wuz diggin' a more straight forward kinda thang. Strung up the p-bass with flats and never looked back. The simplicity of the p-bass lends itself to the in-yo-face punch of flatwounds. No harmonic overtones. No mixed pick-ups or over-analyzed, dual-amp, multi-channel split definitives. Just a pure singular bass note - booooom, next? That's it.

1: Recognizing you have a problem. Most dudes don't even know they're killing me not-so-softly with their clack. What a deal breaker. Bass, song after song, clacking away. Hey, ZZ Top! Clack, Clack, Clack, Clack, Clack, Clack...

B: The "other" knob. I wundur if I can cut der clack by turning the tone knob down? Yup. Now it's subtle, muted, mellow clack. You can barely hear it! I'm less annoyed!

iii. Flatz baby. Pure tone. You might even have to trim the bass on your amp! The P-Bass sings out and sits in the mix more like a friend of the bass drum than an enemy of the guitar. NO mix conflicts. Think Queen or AC/DC.

Admittedly, without a decent amp (at min an ampeg BA115), it tricks you into thinking "boooring." But listen to the whole band, not just your bass. Pure bliss. If you want a "Sweet Child O' Mine" tone, this ain't it. But there is something so special about a p-bass with flat-wounds when you get it right.

First post. Thanks t-bass members for educating and inspiring me over the years!