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Roundwound growl, Flatwound thump...how can I get both?
- Thread starter Jirishman
- Start date
they do…but their thump won't make things pump, unless you have a super-light right-hand touch and can eq your bass and amp to hump the lump.
These are my favorite strings, but I like them because they retain the brightness/zing the longest for me, you probably wouldn't like them
I have pressure wounds in my 5 string and I love them. I wish they make the b string taper because after a year it sounds weird. But they are awesome.
GHS Pressurewounds. Undampened for a controlled, roundish sound, foam muted, for a nice, clicky, deep flatwound sound.
This is going to sound quite counter-intuitive to you at first, but hear me out, as the concept of rounds that can sound like flats too ("flounds" as I call them) is one I've been hoping to find and have never found.
I've not tried every string in the universe, but I've tried a lot, including some of the ground and pressed variety. And rounds sound like rounds, flats sound like flats, and the ground and pressed strings sound like one or the other to me. Live or dead, makes no difference. But dead Dunlop Super Bright nickels are about as close to that concept as I've ever found in a string. When they're live, they're quite zingy but with a nice warmth to them. When they're dead, they do sound like rounds and still have a goodly amount of zing when you use a pick or play harder. But they also darken up in a way that reminds me of flatwounds. Sustain gets reduced, the sound gets a little fatter on the bottom, and if you don't play as hard, they can sound an awful lot like flats. They're one of the lowest tension strings I've ever tried, and I'm no expert on string design but I think that helps with being able to mimic characteristics of flats when they're dead. Not claiming a dead nuts match but they've certainly gotten me closer to the flounds ideal than anything else I've tried. My only problem is I love the sound of them live, too, and I can't make up my mind which I like better.
I've not tried every string in the universe, but I've tried a lot, including some of the ground and pressed variety. And rounds sound like rounds, flats sound like flats, and the ground and pressed strings sound like one or the other to me. Live or dead, makes no difference. But dead Dunlop Super Bright nickels are about as close to that concept as I've ever found in a string. When they're live, they're quite zingy but with a nice warmth to them. When they're dead, they do sound like rounds and still have a goodly amount of zing when you use a pick or play harder. But they also darken up in a way that reminds me of flatwounds. Sustain gets reduced, the sound gets a little fatter on the bottom, and if you don't play as hard, they can sound an awful lot like flats. They're one of the lowest tension strings I've ever tried, and I'm no expert on string design but I think that helps with being able to mimic characteristics of flats when they're dead. Not claiming a dead nuts match but they've certainly gotten me closer to the flounds ideal than anything else I've tried. My only problem is I love the sound of them live, too, and I can't make up my mind which I like better.
How about Steve Harris Roto Flats. They are heavy gauge and pretty bright. I've never used them but I heard they are bright but will lose that brightness after they are broken in.
wintremute
mediocrity at its finest
- Oct 16, 2014
- 6,942
- 29,551
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Langstrom Carrot Farms
Everybody is approaching this from the wrong direction.
THIS is how you get both the Roundwound Growl and the Flatwound Thump.
THIS is how you get both the Roundwound Growl and the Flatwound Thump.
- Sep 9, 2007
- 5,309
- 4,977
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Eventide, GHS Strings, G&L Guitars, NS Design, Tsunami Cables
Everybody is approaching this from the wrong direction.
THIS is how you get both the Roundwound Growl and the Flatwound Thump.
If they were both fretted, yes.
Knowing me, I'd string the fretless with rounds and the fretted with flats.
Everybody is approaching this from the wrong direction.
THIS is how you get both the Roundwound Growl and the Flatwound Thump.
Can you get one of these in P & J combination instead of double-J??
I tend to agree that trying to obtain both will mean that you end up compromising your sound in some way but I also agree that both sounds can be coaxed out of each type of string.
I will say that I have a fretless with GHS Pressure wounds and I don't know that I'd describe them as "growly" at all. They are brighter than flats but I find Chromes and the new EB Cobalt flats to have more "growl." The Pressure wounds actually seem very smooth to me, almost to an off-putting degree...like I compromised the flat wound thump but still didn't get the round wound growl.
I will say that I have a fretless with GHS Pressure wounds and I don't know that I'd describe them as "growly" at all. They are brighter than flats but I find Chromes and the new EB Cobalt flats to have more "growl." The Pressure wounds actually seem very smooth to me, almost to an off-putting degree...like I compromised the flat wound thump but still didn't get the round wound growl.
wintremute
mediocrity at its finest
- Oct 16, 2014
- 6,942
- 29,551
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Langstrom Carrot Farms
We have some FANTASTIC luthiers on TalkBass. You can get almost anything that you imagine.
Everybody is approaching this from the wrong direction.
THIS is how you get both the Roundwound Growl and the Flatwound Thump.
And weekly traction treatments
