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Roundwounds for a flats player

jefff100

jefff100

Supporting Member
Jan 23, 2010
3,938
13,623
Jersey Pine Barrens
#1
OK so the past several 6-8 years all my basses have been strung with flats. It wasn’t intentional- it’s just the sound I gravitated to I suppose & one by one they all got converted. My go to default string is DR Legend Flatwound. That’s on both of my G&L and a few others although my StingRay has Chromes & my fretless Carvin has Labella black tapes.

a couple years ago I bought a Hog G&L L2k thinking I would keep it set up with rounds but noooo - love the bass but it’s got Legends. Last month I bought an Ibanez 5 string SR655, initially thinking I would defret it as I’ve been wanting a fretless 5 and I prefer narrow spacing. It came with EBMM slinky’s. I’ve been enjoying the bass as is and now I believe I will leave it fretted & set up for rounds. But the strings aren’t for me. Good tone for the most part but they are a bit too flexible. the B string looses definition & could be much better.

I do like DR strings and have DR pure blues on my ES-335 and DR Rares on several acoustic guitars- with a couple exceptions.

Musically I’m not a flashy player. I play primarily finger style with some palm muting. I like to stay simple & lock in with a good drummer. I play regularly at a local church for weekly services & looking forward to getting back to doing some rock / blues / country type stuff locally now that things are starting to get quasi-normal again.

So fire away with your suggestions.
and one of them may be that I need to leave the Slinkies on for 6 months and adapt to them- which I have considered.

Thanks!
 
#3
Coincidentally, I was just saying in another thread how nice the round-off of Roto 66s is once they break in, which for my 40-95 set took three days (and maybe hasn't finished yet). And because I like how this sounds much better than broken-in flats, I'm quitting flats (except possibly La Bellas for that niche tone or Cobalts for maximum clarity (but I don't know how long that will last)).

If you need smoother than Roto 66, SS Lo-Riders sound about the same but take longer to round off or won't round off as much (I don't know yet). They still have some textured feel.

I tested Slinkys side-by-side with Sunbeams (E,D vs A,G) and for me Sunbeams won easily for clarity.
 
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#7
jefff100 said:
Last month I bought an Ibanez 5 string SR655, initially thinking I would defret it as I’ve been wanting a fretless 5 and I prefer narrow spacing. It came with EBMM slinky’s. I’ve been enjoying the bass as is and now I believe I will leave it fretted & set up for rounds. But the strings aren’t for me. Good tone for the most part but they are a bit too flexible. the B string looses definition & could be much better.
Click to expand...

If you want to stick with DR, I would suggest the Nickel Lo-Riders. Not overly zingy up top (once broken in), but they provide a nice low-mid punch and clear mids, and a firmer feel than most other DR's due to the hex core. I did try the SS Lo-Riders on my son's Ibanez SR1205E and liked the low B for punch and definition.
 
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#9
Yes, TI Jazz Rounds are certainly the 2nd greatest strings in the universe. :)

Ok, ok, the greatest, if you can adjust to the roughness of the E and A, especially the E, are Dogal Hellborg Rounds.
They're on my #1 bass now, since I adjusted to the roughness easily.

EDIT: And they're great in the same direction as TIJR, but even more so (except for the roughness).
 
Last edited:
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#11
Several people have suggested Sunbeams and TI Jazz Rounds, which are both really great strings, but if the OP finds Slinkys to be too flexible I don’t really see the logic in suggesting other really flexible strings.

bassdude51 said:
I play flats and pretty much exclusively. (TIs) Bought a set of GHS Pressure Wounds, 40 - 96. They are excellent. A little bit smoother than rounds. And have a conservative round wound sound. I think that they are an excellent choice. IMHO YMMV
Click to expand...
This is what I was going to suggest. Pressure Wounds have a tone very similar to broken-in rounds and feel smoother and tighter, which I think would appeal to a flats player. They’re available in a bunch of gauges as either GHS Pressure Wounds or Ken Smith Compressors (same strings, different gauged sets).
 
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#13
LetItGrowTone said:
Ok, ok, the greatest, if you can adjust to the roughness of the E and A, especially the E, are Dogal Hellborg Rounds.
They're on my #1 bass now, since I adjusted to the roughness easily.
Click to expand...
This reminds me how I wanted to try these upon your recommendation. But finances are tight, I'm moving to another city in a few weeks. I'm expecting great things from that set!
 
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#14
michael_t said:
The OP mentioned the EB Slinkies are "too flexible". And you're recommending TI Jazz Rounds? Really?
Click to expand...
Yep. Better is better. Some people say Y rated tires are too grippy.

And the real answer is if you want a set of rounds that are sonically a brighter profile with a solid low TI is your answer.
If you don't gel with Slinkies you might not love the DR rounds either.
That’s why TI is the answer.

Also FWIW my favorite bright round set is DR Hi Beams, it’s all I use on my MM basses. But they feel like Slinkys exactly which is why I didn’t recommend them to OP.

Everyone has different preference. Try a bunch of sets.
 
#16
Dunlop super bright nickel’s.. they are my favorite rounds. Soft feel but sit in the pocket nicely when broken in. I play GHS Precision flats (light gauge) on most of my basses but one jazz has the Dunlops for edgy rock tone and I also have them on my PJ fretless to give it a more gritty tone.
 
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#17
GHS Pressurewounds are one of my gotos. Sound like a set of well broken in rounds. Smooth texture.

If you want a brighter sound and aren’t afraid to think outside the box, I’d suggest trying some LaBella White Nylons. They’re tapewounds. But sound nothing like the more common black nylon variety everyone else does. They come in three flavors: white, gold, and copper. White is the brightest. Copper the most mellow. Gold is in between.

Of the three, their light gauge copper set is my favorite. Really nice mids with this set and just enough top. Probably my all time favorite string too. Especially on a PB or similarly voiced bass…although I’ve got a high-C set on my Spector fiver as well. And this is coming from someone who never once liked any tapewound I tried before I found these nylons.

Highly recommended. :)
 
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#18
bassdude51 said:
I play flats and pretty much exclusively. (TIs) Bought a set of GHS Pressure Wounds, 40 - 96. They are excellent. A little bit smoother than rounds. And have a conservative round wound sound. I think that they are an excellent choice. IMHO YMMV
Click to expand...

I’ll third this suggestion. The hex core makes them a bit stiffer, which will address the issue with flexibility. And as another poster mentioned, they’re like well broken in rounds on the top end, with great midrange/fundamental to them.
 
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#20
LetItGrowTone said:
Coincidentally, I was just saying in another thread how nice the round-off of Roto 66s is once they break in, which for my 40-95 set took three days (and maybe hasn't finished yet). And because I like how this sounds much better than broken-in flats, I'm quitting flats (except possibly La Bellas for that niche tone or Cobalts for maximum clarity (but I don't know how long that will last)).

If you need smoother than Roto 66, SS Lo-Riders sound about the same but take longer to round off or won't round off as much (I don't know yet). They still have some textured feel.

I tested Slinkys side-by-side with Sunbeams (E,D vs A,G) and for me Sunbeams won easily for clarity.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm someone who primarily plays flats but I'm finding the Rotosounds on my new bass very pleasant.
 
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