Rounds all the way. Flats are good for some stuff too, just not the kind of sound i'm after. Also, i like the feel of the rounds a lot better, but of course that is just personal preference.
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P-Bass Players - Flatwounds or Roundwounds (POLL)
- Thread starter needmoney
- Start date
faulknersj said:
I think it may have something I do with the economy. People are looking for strings that LAST, and flats are perfect for their longevity.
Rounds seem to blend in with our particular mix more than flats do. Flats are nice but, "thud" doesn't work as well, given the rest our sound.
So, its rounds for me on the P.
So, its rounds for me on the P.
i prefer my p-bass with flats, but my PJ5 wears nickel rounds and is very happy to have some zing, especially when favoring the bridge pup.
I worked with a producer recently who said "why would you ruin the sound of a P-bass by putting rounds on it?" That day I was glad that I had one strung with flats.
I worked with a producer recently who said "why would you ruin the sound of a P-bass by putting rounds on it?" That day I was glad that I had one strung with flats.
i have a squier pbass, spb3 quarter pounder, and 3 month old daddario Chromes (50-105) right now. Last week i put on 45-105 daddario xl's and within a couple days, threw the flats back on. If i had 2 pbasses, 1 would have flats and 1 with rounds. but since i only have 1 at the moment, it will have the flats. They just have the great warmth and tubbbyyyyness that i love.
Im a bass player with over 30 years experience ! Ive owned many many basses over the years ! I started out on a pbass copy by Harmony with Dimarzio p/ups then a Gibson Ripper, G&L L 2000, Ive had a Rick 4001 a Fender Deluxe P, a deluxe Jazz 4, a Lakeland US 5594 Deluxe & so on & so on ! I recently purchased a new american standard Pbass ! It came with roundwounds but I wanted to try flats in all these years I had always used rounds ! At any rate I ended up loving them I love the tone much better especially on a pbass & love the feel of them ! They are Rotosound long scale 77 Jazz flats & they sound incredible ! I will be sticking with the flats I love the tone & feel & Im sure my fretboard will love them as well ! Simple just try them if you dont like them you can change them back in just a few minutes !
Last edited:
Smooth_bass88
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- Oct 31, 2006
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I thought if you wanted to be a bass player, you HAD to a p bass with flats (even if you never use it) in addition to your main bass
I was an ardent supporter of only using flats on any P, until I picked up a Lakland Skyline Duck Dunn and the previous owner string it with groundwounds/halfwounds. The jury is still out but I'm kinda intrigued by the sound on a P...
Flatwounds on my '78 P-Bass; Fender 9050Ms. I also have the bridge cover/mute on it, 'cause I don't care about it being versatile. I want the original, P-Bass thump; that old school kind of stuff is what I like to play with it. If I want versatile, I have 16 others; one of them will always fill the bill. Some have flats; some have rounds...
Flats. Plug in and play. Fits into a mix. Smooth and musical.
I use rounds on my thunderbird if I want to stand out.
I use rounds on my thunderbird if I want to stand out.
Rounds. I do like to use flats for recording, and for a couple of years I used flats, but two years ago I tried rounds again on a gig just to see how much my tastes had changed, and I just couldn't go back to flats again.
Now I'm sad again because I only own one P-bass. Will need to fix that, so I can have one with RS swing bass, one with Labella stainless rounds (Hard Rockin'), one with Fender 9050, one with Chromes, one with Deep Talking Flats, one with White Tapes, one with D'Addario Tapes, one with Black Beauties....
I don't have a Precision, but if I did, I would put flats on it, but that's just because I prefer them.
Either Chromes or 9050's.
Either Chromes or 9050's.
