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Round wounds vs flat wounds

Round wounds vs flat wounds. Which do you prefer?

  • Round wounds

    Votes: 156 46.7%

  • Flat wounds

    Votes: 178 53.3%
  • Total voters
    334
#163
Doug Bright said:
Nice playing and nice tone. Don't you just love the AO 60s P?
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Oh thanks .. the AO ‘60s P? I’m playing it almost exclusively now; very nice, massive and straight neck; strings vibrate loud over it at a nice low action.
The pickup is a cannon ! Super PUNCHY and ultra-vintage in combination with flats !
What’s not to like about such a P ?
 
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#164
FLAT WOUNDS. Why? Well...
1. I learned to play bass in 1968 - on a friend's left handed, blue '68 Rick 4001. With it's factory Maxima Flats. And, every other bass I played until I bought my first bass in 1988, had some kind of flats on it. When I bought that '78 A-necked Fender P-Bass, the Roto 66's that were on it, were immediately replaced with a set of Roto 77LDs. Same goes with the 25 other basses I've acquired since. The rounds they came with get :poop:-canned about 5 minutes after the function check, and they get a set of (usually) Fender 9050Ls, until I decide on the flats they will wear forever...
2. Two exceptions to the rule; my MIK Rogue VB-100 wears Roto TruBass 88 Tapes, and the '94 Gretsch Broadkaster wears TI Jazz Rounds. Why? the Roto Tapes are the only strings - out of... several... that I tried - that not only intonated perfectly on that bass, but did so with no fuss at all. Which, for those with no experience with basses with floating bridges/trapeze tailpieces, is a small miracle. The fact that Sir Paul also uses them on his violin bass, and that they sound killer on the thing, might have a little to do with it, too. The TI Jazz Rounds are the end result of trying so many different strings on the Gretsch over 12 years, that I've lost count of them. They're the only strings that I tried, that didn't sound like a hippo fart in deep mud - or, at best, a baritone guitar. I reached the point where I didn't give a tinker's damn what kind of strings they were, as long as they made the big orange monster sound like a bass. Fortunately, the TIJR's (which I bought by mistake) are really nice strings - and, hardly feel like rounds at all...
3. Almost all of the music I like to play was originally recorded by a band with flats on the bass - or an upright bass. So, I see no reason whatsoever to play that music on a bass with rounds...
4. At my age (71), I don't think I have the time anymore, to be replacing 26 bass' worth of strings every other time I pick one of them up to play. And, my old fingers really, really don't like trying to play strings that feel like a wood rasp... And,
5. I can think of loads of other things to spend my fixed income on, besides endless packs of round wound bass strings. Like, for instance, the white Gretsch Electromatic guitar I bought yesterday. And who's nasty D'addario roundwound strings will get replaced by a set of Dogal Carbonsteel Flats sometime tomorrow morning. 'Cause, yes; even my guitars wear flats...:whistle:
 
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#165
The DO NOT DO LIST:
1 - DO NOT Hammer square pegs in round holes
2 - DO NOT Use metric box wrenches on standard nuts
3 - DO NOT Pee on electric cattle fences
4 - DO NOT Take the wrong string winding to the wrong session!

Follow these 4 points and you will likely survive for at least the next 117 days of 2023. No guarantees beyont that.

I have 2 basses I use flats on when I have a session/project/gig that requires it. However, I don't keep them on the basses. I actually wipe them down and put them away and put the rounds back on. With flats, this is something you can get away with due to the different character of their sound.
 
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#166
I originally started with flats because I was coming over from guitar, and I wanted strings that resisted being played like guitar strings, and I liked the immediate, punchy pick attack of flats. I still use flats on my main bass.

Now that I've internalized playing bass, I like to play flats because they're quick and deep and rhythmic, and rounds because they have more of a guitar-playing vibe. If I had to pick one, I'd still say flats.
 
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#167
BE145SUF_1024x1024@2x.png
These are the Magma Stainless Steel Flatwound (they're called Ultra Flat Stainless Steel) Extra Light Gauge 5 string Electric Bass Strings (40-120 which is model BE145SUF) I'll use on my 5 string Electric Bass in the Future. These Flatwound Strings are actually designed to sound the same as Round Wound Strings so they can be called "Recording strings". They actually start out as Round Wound Strings & then they literally Flatten the Wrap Wire all the way so they're more like "Super Groundwounds". I describe the Magma Ultra-Flat Stainless Steel Electric Bass Strings as being a more refined version of the D'addario Half round Bass Strings because they go a step further & flatten the wrap wire all the way for a smooth feel.
 
#170
I prefer rounds about 75% of the time. It used to be more but I’ve been warming up to flats over the past few years - for certain things.

I prefer the versatility of rounds, that is to say I can get a wider variety of tones from rounds than I can from flats. Since I play a wide variety of music, that’s very useful to me.

Also, I play a lot of fretless and I like the upper partials I get from rounds when I forego the speed bumps.

I think flats deliver a really classy, fundamental tone that works great in some contexts but for general-purpose playing I’m a rounds guy.
 
#171
I was always a roundwound guy until about three years ago. Joined a 60s band and decided to try flats, and loved the sound, as my Jazz bass suddenly had more presence and a G string that felt part of the same bass, but not the feel. Now I'm used to the feel and play both types regularly. I'd say flats edge it for me now though.

Why? Listen to Bob Glaub's tone on this live track. To me it's everything a bass should sound like.
 
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#174
I've just been playing rounds on a newly acquired 5-string, and it's the first extended stretch playing rounds I've had in years. There are some things I like about it -- the more open/airy character works nicely for some things -- but mostly I'm just being reminded why I switched to flats in the first place.

One thing about rounds I had almost forgotten, which drives me nuts: the way they seem to accentuate the tonal differences between strings and between fretted and open notes. When I'm playing flats, I don't fuss much about position; I just play the note wherever the fingering is smoothest. With rounds I'm constantly having to think about this. There's a line in the show I'm working on with a repeated C# that should sound consistent. Because of what precedes/follows, however, the line is far more playable if I move from E string 9th fret to A string 4th fret between two of the C#s. With flats, I wouldn't hesitate to do this, because the tonal difference would be too minor to jump out. With rounds it's very obvious, and sounds awkward. I can get around this to some extent with right hand position (playing further toward the neck when I move to the A string) but this is an annoying kludge that wouldn't be necessary with flats.
 
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#176
The new Ti flat has dull sounding E string on my PJ bass, so, I decided remove it and install it on j bass which currently string with EB cobalt flat. After confirm the Ti flat E string are totally dull and lifeless, I took it out then put a set of EXL 170 that laying around.

I can tell you guys the roundwound EXL sound lacking crispy and belling ring like tone. The Cobalt flat just sound meaty juicy along with clear note clarity. The E string also notable outstanding from Cobalt flat.

The EB Cobalt flat aged close to 2 years, but she still sound healthy and retain the crisps!!??
 
#180
HaphAsSard said:
If I've browsed the following article correctly, widespread adoption of 'overspun' (wound) strings dates back to the "last quarter of the 17th century" (their introduction is a little earlier); 'twisted' (braided/rope-like) metal strings were introduced earlier, during the 16th century:

Link Removed
["Strings in the 16th and 17th Centuries" by Djilda Abbott and Ephraim Segerman; The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 27 (May, 1974), pp. 48-73]

See also these other articles confirming a ca 1660 date for the invention:

Wound strings for bowed and plucked instruments from the late 17th century to the early 19th century: what do we know? | Aquila Corde Armoniche

Wire World : Nippon Steel SG Wire Co., Ltd.

According to the latter, a Mr. Hamilton is the inventor of flatwound strings (1874); again, their acceptance among players of violin-family strings was gradual.
All-metal roundwound strings took over in the American acoustic guitar realm around 1920.
IIRC, catgut remained the core material of choice in metal flats for orchestral bowed string instruments until after WWII, when steel-core/steel-wound strings appeared.
Click to expand...
So yeah after WWII hit, they've transitioned over from Gut Strings to Flatwound Strings. Flatwound Strings have enhanced Bowed Stringed instrument playing by allowing for more contact area between the strings & the bow hairs.
 

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