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roundwound strings question
- Thread starter Johntheson
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- roundwound strings
True! I don't mince words. State your position; take a stand, and don't waffle.@Linnin, one thing you're not - ambiguous in your opinions. And I like that.
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I used to feel the same way, then I played a set that weren't newly installed and everything I hated about them was replaced with smoothness and growl.
In 1985 I was fresh out of university. I had no money to toss off. That is precisely why I bought the D'Addario halfround/groundwounds. I was supremely angry with the result. Never again.
The crap sticky rough feeling goes away though, if that was your protest. My mistake was not waiting for it to happen.
A note back to the OP. I have only played flats for the last several years. Last night I threw on GHS pressurewounds (like you I crave a more modern bright tone sometimes, in addition the flats felt too grippy depending on heat and humidity. If I was smart I would have only played them for 20 minutes not to risk irritating my finger tips. However, I ended up playing them for well over an hour and I have to report they were very easy on the finger tips (granted I was not doing any trills or real aggressive slides but still). I can see that after just a few more practices with them I won't have to worry about cuts on finger tips like with alot of other rounds.
For some reason the GHS pressurewounds did not have the fret buzz that would be expected with rounds (I had the action fairly low, but not crazy crazy low). I am pretty happy with these strings so I would recommend give them a try but the first time you play them play for only 20 minutes and go easy and then after that spray them down with finger ease spray. Then the next day play them again for maybe 30 minutes (no crazy slides yet though). I bet doing this for just a few days you can play them almost 100% as you would with flats.
For some reason the GHS pressurewounds did not have the fret buzz that would be expected with rounds (I had the action fairly low, but not crazy crazy low). I am pretty happy with these strings so I would recommend give them a try but the first time you play them play for only 20 minutes and go easy and then after that spray them down with finger ease spray. Then the next day play them again for maybe 30 minutes (no crazy slides yet though). I bet doing this for just a few days you can play them almost 100% as you would with flats.
OP, my guess is that the tapewounds you order will feel fantastic to your fingers BUT you will not get the roundwound tone you are looking for from them. If this occurs then I would recommend the GHS pressurewounds but ease into them as suggested above. Again I played them over an hour last night and no problem and that was only the second time I played this particular pair of strings. I am planning to play them in my next band practice which is only in two days and will probably play them over an hour then and will then switch back to my other bass which has the chrome flats (which are tied for first place with the GHS pressures in terms of my overall happiness level).
Someone named "flatwoundround" now getting into "pressurewound"! This only makes sense because pressurewounds are basically flattened rounds.
The PWs are slightly stiffer than typical rounds, although they're not "flatwound stiff" as such. As far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong), this is due to a larger core wire used for them to compensate for the fact the outer wrap is flattened to an oval shape. Being stiff means less excursion when they vibrate, which translates to less fret buzz. Makes sense?
Ernie Ball Cobalt flats are like roundwounds but without the roundwound feel.
Try DR's. They are inherently smoother due the smaller, but higher in number outer wraps and make for a very fast feel on the fingers. I know of no other company whose outer wraps are similar and I think it's one of their special ingredients.
I ordered the white tapewounds made by LaBella. I'll check them out, and if they lack what I want, I'm going to try a set of the GHS pressurewounds. I hate to throw money away but let's face it; "if we're going to play; it's all about the tone/feel". Thanks to you all for chiming in. I'll be back to post my opinion of the tapes when they arrive.
John Sr.
John Sr.
