I love bright strings but I hate the feel of rounds, hence:
Ernie Ball Slinky Flatwounds (aka Cobalt Flats)
Ernie Ball Slinky Flatwounds (aka Cobalt Flats)
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Round wounds vs flat wounds
- Thread starter MB_Speed
- Start date
Huh! I’ve been using Lo Riders for the last 20 years. Never took the time to see which were which, and never noticed the difference. And usually I’m pretty tone focused. Wow! LOL!! Learn something new everyday in these parts. Thanks for letting me know.
I've been wrestling with this question for about three years now. I really like the sound of flats, and don't like the zingy high end and "blurryness of rounds" when new (too many overtones) - I need them to be well worn in before they begin to sound good for me. Easy win for flats then? Well, no...... the feel of flats, while nice and smooth, can be sticky when my hands have a slight bit of moisture, so are sometimes harder to play. I'm getting used to them, so I'm edging closer and closer to being able to vote flats....
Every time this discussion re-emerges I have to read every comment. It is the ultimate bass question.
I prefer rounds, Specifically d’addario nickel wound and roto66.
I prefer rounds, Specifically d’addario nickel wound and roto66.
I used to use ghs pressurewounds for that worn in rounds kinda sound. Though that sound didn’t seem to last very long with those stringsPicked hard, so it growls like ongoing thunder.But yes, I like the thumbed sound, a lot. But picking with tunes that make strong transitions with open E and the B a fifth higher, I love those.. I never learned to drive but I think it would take a good engine to get the same buzz out of it.
I like mileage on mine. Not too much, but 'new piano', though interesting, makes it hard to get a good damped sound when I want it. Roundwounds, played hard, but with a little settling already done, have a raw bite rather than a zing. Much more versatile too.
It might not, on anything.
I found that increasing the brightness parameter in my GM-400's compressor was vital for compensating for age. I still hadn't used up the headroom there before practising Toiler On The Sea snapped my E string. A presence control, like the one on a Hiwatt amp, also goes a long way in helping to balance that detail in tone. (Although playing hard with a pick might also help shake the coil loose too, or at least help stop gunk from settling into it too much.)EDIT:
Interesting voting pattern. It's like trying to determine whether the universe will contract again, or expand forever. Or be something that does neither while appearing to do either. I mean, some bias is to be expected, but there is barely any! An earlier poll got similar results after a while. Perhaps the next one should be a total blind, results revealed to all only after six weeks...
If the roundwound universe made perfect contact with the flatwound universe, would the result be near-perfect annihilation, I wonder...
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I believe in a round earth and round wounds. I have tried flats, but when I have, I'd darn near sprain my fingers trying to dig the sound I want out of them. They sound good when some other people play them, but me? Not happening.
Universe != Earth. Just so you know... >
I always wondered why for so long early physicists could not accept what any sailor or cliff-dweller could see for themselves. On calm water, departing ships vanished hull-first, not all at once in a blur of distance. The sea was always curved.
Normal service may now be resumed.
26866049[/URL], member: 153634"]Universe != Earth. Just so you know... >
I always wondered why for so long early physicists could not accept what any sailor or cliff-dweller could see for themselves. On calm water, departing ships vanished hull-first, not all at once in a blur of distance.
The first Physicist (using math to describe reality) was born in 1544. The fact that the Earth was spherical was known by the Greeks about 500 BC - they even came up with a decent measurement of the diameter. There weren’t ever flat Earth Physicists.
Pedant.
Fair enough though. My point was just that the flat earth orthodoxy should never have persisted as it did.
I hated to vote because I love both...
...that said, I had to vote for rounds because it's my favorite and only one of my 10 basses is strung with flats.
Oh.... as for why: the tone, man! No disrespect to Jamerson or Jack Bruce, but I originally fell in love with Entwistle's live tones; Squire too of course. And then Geddy, Sheehan, dUg Pinnick....
I also prefer the feel of rounds, but have no problem playing either.
Round wounds!!
For me it brings out the True Tone of the bass.
IMHO I hate the sound of dead strings, but I respect those who love them.
For me it brings out the True Tone of the bass.
IMHO I hate the sound of dead strings, but I respect those who love them.
Easier to approximate the sound of flats with rw's than vice versa. Playing in variety rock bands makes that a plus for me. I've got basses strung with both, as well as tapewounds. Just bought a set of pressurewounds 'cause I've heard good things about them but haven't picked a bass to use them.
that's all there was when i started playing. circa '67. i played tapewounds for years. i'm a huge fan of joe osborn, so...imagine mccartney's beatles lines w/ rounds. he did use them, i guess, on the wal and yamaha, but listen to the boing boing sound. they say it's all about tone, so the standard answer used to be is they're easier on hands, frets, and sound more like an upright...
regards, have great day!
regards, have great day!
