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Round or Flat? The difference for premium ignition

W

WD_Stevens

Aug 12, 2012
46
1
30
Melbourne, Australia
#1
Hello there!
I am new the world of bass and have been playing for round about 3 months and got my first cheapie bass about 2 months ago. I have been after the Höfner Ignition (previously termed Icon) ever since I took an interest.

I have read that the roundwounds that come with it sound crap compared to any flatwounds you can get. Now, me, I prefer round to flat but that's a whole other story ;)

I've been looking for ages and I know this question has been run into the ground on many occasions but I haven't actually been able to find a sound comparison of the two types of strings so that I can make up my own mind as to whether it's worth it. I've been looking at Pyramid Golds that I can get for a rather modest price from the same place as I'm getting my bass so they should arrive together.

In addition, is it difficult to change strings? I haven't got any specialist materials and I guess it's just a matter of unhooking, unwinding, detaching then repeating in reverse for the new strings.

Thanks for all your future help. I really appreciate it
 
#4
It's true that the strings that come stock on cheaper basses are sometimes not great, but that's not because they are round wound, they might just be bad strings.

If you're just starting out I recommend sticking with roundwounds. Try something like daddario XLs 45 gauge. That's a standard starting point. If you learn that you want different tones down the road then you can start experimenting.

Flats are great for certain things, and they get a lot of love here, but rounds are far and away the most popular string and what most people consider the standard bass string now.
 
#5
sigmafloyd said:
It's true that the strings that come stock on cheaper basses are sometimes not great, but that's not because they are round wound, they might just be bad strings.

If you're just starting out I recommend sticking with roundwounds. Try something like daddario XLs 45 gauge. That's a standard starting point. If you learn that you want different tones down the road then you can start experimenting.

Flats are great for certain things, and they get a lot of love here, but rounds are far and away the most popular string and what most people consider the standard bass string now.
Click to expand...
Ah, okay. I was under the impression that it was some justified prejudice behind it but it's really just a personal preference thing.

I can't tell whether my other bass (which sound cool anyway) has rounds or flats. If it has rounds, would it make more sense to have one of each to vary in the different tones I want?
 
#6
It's all about personal preference and how they fit with the natural sound of your instrument. I played for many years with flats on my old Telecaster bass, then went to round wounds. And there's a real difference just among rounds, with the steels being very bright and nickels less so. Liking the nickels now, but I have a set of ground wounds in my case to put on and try out. Yes, sliding back to the darker tone.
Flats have a much easier feel and are more forgiving of a sliding left hand. Down side is that it's easy to pick up bad habits with them.
Strings might seem expensive, but they're one of the cheapest and most effective things you can do to change your tone in a big way.
Depends on the bass, but usually the only tool needed for changing strings is a small pair of side-cut pliers to trim off extra string length, unless you're a big fan of getting your eyes poked out with those dangly bits hanging off the headstock.
Cheers
 
#7
Just keep in mind that how the strings sound to you, when you're just playing around by yourself, can be quite a bit different than how they sound when you are playing along with a band.

Also, I never cared for flatwounds at all - until I got my first P bass and then decided to try some on it. For some reason, on a P bass, flats sound GREAT to me, though I still don't like them that much on an active, humbucking bass.
 
#8
WD_Stevens said:
Ah, okay. I was under the impression that it was some justified prejudice behind it but it's really just a personal preference thing.

I can't tell whether my other bass (which sound cool anyway) has rounds or flats. If it has rounds, would it make more sense to have one of each to vary in the different tones I want?
Click to expand...

If they feel very smooth then they are flats. Most likely they are rounds.

It's good to have one of each, but it depends on the bass. I have 3 basses, 2 with flats and 1 with rounds at the moment.

I'd recommend not getting to hung up on strings at this stage in the game and just focus on learning the instrument. Chasing tone can be a fool's errand. I really didn't think much about strings for the first 15 years I was playing.
 
#9
The world of strings can be overwhelming to a beginner as there's not only rounds and flats, but there's compression wound or ground/half wound to provide a compromise between the tone and feel between rounds and flats. There's round core and hex core. There's strings with no windings over the bridge or tapered down over the bridge. We have strings with nickel, steel, copper, bronze and cobalt windings. Some are gold plated, some have high-tech space age coatings. Some go through a freezing process to change the molecular alignment, some weld the winding onto the core. There's strings with silk windings at the end, others have colored ball ends and some you attach the balls yourself to tailor as you like. We have strings that keep their tuning stability over a wide rage for those who de-tune. Strings that are made by hand that cost twice as much as those made by a machine. We have strings that are wrapped in nylon tape, strings that are packaged in cardboard because mother earth hates plastic, strings that are vacuum sealed for freshness and strings that are sold in long straight packages because winding them into a 5 inch circle might hurt them somehow.

After that, and you bought and installed them and played them till they are dead, you can come on talkbass and listen to the old timers reminisce about the days they boiled strings to regain their brightness, the guys who say soaking them in denatured alcohol is better and the ones who scoff at both and say just buy another set of strings.

The bottom line is there's no right or wrong. Some of the marketing is snake-oil and there's no way to tell you how a particular set of strings is going to sound on your bass being played by your hands. You just have to buy and try different strings and judge them for yourself until you find what works for you.
 
#11
They're past their best before date when you say they are. Some folks boast they're running 5 year old flats. I'm guessing that's pretty dead, but those guys love 'em.
More a function of how much you play, how sweaty your hands are and how well you wipe them down. To my ear it's like a logarithmic curve, but shallower than with guitar strings.
Bass strings last a lot longer.
 

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