Steve Bailey on flats vs rounds on a Fretless

[Bar Band Bassman]

Flats on my Diva. Took a while to get there but Slinky Cobalt 45-100 is it for me. Makes my ears happy!

BBB

 

[Carl Hillman]

Besides tone, it all comes down to sustain, and round wounds are the way to go for that.

 

[Gorilla Monsoon]

Besides tone, it all comes down to sustain, and round wounds are the way to go for that.

^^^THAT^^^ is something that really interests me.

 

[Brad Maestas]

I've tried flats and tapes over the years but have always preferred rounds because of the sustain and the texture. I am a light-touch type of player so the wear to the board is quite minimal, especially on Ebony.

 

[thabassmon]

When he said name your top 5 fretless player, the only one I could think of that I liked their fretless playing is Bakithi Kumalo.

I have Thomastik Jazz Flats on my fretless, I prefer flats.

I had various rounds on that bass for around 20 years, really could not stand the roundwound sound, I tried Tapes, they were a ok but it's much better now with flats.

 

[Abner]

Having a complete stranger who doesn't know me at all telling me what kind of strings I have to use is about as useful as having him tell me what colour pants I have to wear for sitting around the house.

Did not watch.

 

[berticus]

I have three fretlesses, all with flats - and it's not because I'm afraid of marking up the fretboards. I watched this video this morning - and it got me thinking I should try rounds again on a fretless. What roundwounds would you suggest I try that don't feel awful under the fingers, don't sound horribly trebbly and clanky, and don't need changing on a monthly basis? (can you tell I'm not a fan of rounds? LOL)

 

[shirojiro]

I've got EB Cobalt flats on one fretless and Nickel RW on another.

I have to say that the Cobalt flats sound amazing and the glissandos are pretty killer.
To my ear, the bloom of the note as the string swells after plucking and the vibration of the string against the fretboard sound a little more organic with the flats.

 

[Geogio]

LaBella flats
It was a journey to get here and it wasn’t a conscience decision, trial and error, blood, sweat, and tears, and very pleased over the long haul. I tried most everything out there during that period of time. I should get an endorsement.

 

[nonohmic]

LaBella flats
It was a journey to get here and it wasn’t a conscience decision, trial and error, blood, sweat, and tears, and very pleased over the long haul. I tried most everything out there during that period of time. I should get an endorsement.

Yeah but did you try DR Blues tho

 

[nonohmic]

I have three fretlesses, all with flats - and it's not because I'm afraid of marking up the fretboards. I watched this video this morning - and it got me thinking I should try rounds again on a fretless. What roundwounds would you suggest I try that don't feel awful under the fingers, don't sound horribly trebbly and clanky, and don't need changing on a monthly basis? (can you tell I'm not a fan of rounds? LOL)

TI Jazz rounds sound fresh for months. Then sound great after that for more months.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Copy/pasted from my post in a several-year-old thread where the question of rounds vs flats on a fretless came up:

This question comes up on TB fairly regularly, and the general consensus -- not the only consensus, but the one that seems to be shared by the majority (including myself) -- is that you use whatever string gets you the sound you want, and don't worry about them chewing up your fingerboard ...because A) that happens far less often (or far less egregiously) than folks fear, and B) ultimately the fingerboard on a fretless instrument is a consumable: like strings, batteries, and other wear&tear items, it will need to be replaced or at least serviced from time to time.

fwiw I attended a webinar on Fretless Bass Pioneers hosted by the Berklee College of Music's bass department just a few weeks ago. The participants included
- Steve Bailey
- Victor Wooten
- Michael Manring
- Percy Jones
- Bakhiti Kumalo
- Tony Franklin
- Gary Willis
- Alain Caron
- Steve DiGiorgio
and out of all those esteemed players, only one of them didn't use roundwound strings on their fretless basses! (And I can't remember which one it was!)

 

[Jeff Scott]

I have three fretlesses, all with flats - and it's not because I'm afraid of marking up the fretboards. I watched this video this morning - and it got me thinking I should try rounds again on a fretless. What roundwounds would you suggest I try that don't feel awful under the fingers, don't sound horribly trebbly and clanky, and don't need changing on a monthly basis? (can you tell I'm not a fan of rounds? LOL)

Easy. TI Jazz Rounds.

 

[devnulljp]

Takeaway: Jaco only needed 4 round wounds.

And look at what happened to him.

Did Pino really use roundwounds in the 80s? I always wanted to know.
I have flats on a defretted 64 PBass, I like the sound and I don't want to chew up that fingerboard too much (it's very pretty) but Roto 66 RWs on my Tony Franklin (with the tough ebony board). They both sound great. Different but great.

 

[tindrum]

Having a complete stranger who doesn't know me at all telling me what kind of strings I have to use is about as useful as having him tell me what colour pants I have to wear for sitting around the house.

Did not watch.

What made you think he was going to lecture you? He simply discussed the pros and cons of both and explained why he likes rounds. A player of his stature is always worth listening to as sometimes they’ll say something you didn’t expect and it may be valuable.

 

[Lo-E]

This is exactly why I have more than one fretless bass. Well, that and I just like basses!

I string most of my fretless basses with nickel rounds but I do keep a couple strung with flats for a different flavor.

In my case, wear has never been a significant problem. I know there are some people who dig in really hard and end up with a lot of wear on their fingerboards so I’m not going to make a blanket statement like “fingerboard wear is a myth” or some such nonsense but I will say that people who dig in really hard are likely to wear their fingerboards with flats, too. Keep in mind that fingerboards wear out on upright basses! If you play hard enough for long enough that board’s gonna wear no matter what strings you use. I have basses I’ve played rounds on for decades with no issues other than some light dressing very occasionally.

….but have a set of Ken’s compression wound rounds that I picked up a few years ago, just sitting there. Worth a try-

I played these on a fretless Stingray for a number of years. Very nice strings. They sound more like rounds than flats but the feel is kinda right in between flats and rounds; the texture of very smooth rounds but the tension of flats…. sort of. I guess that’s a long way to say yes, you should try them!

 

[Lo-E]

Having a complete stranger who doesn't know me at all telling me what kind of strings I have to use is about as useful as having him tell me what colour pants I have to wear for sitting around the house.

Orange.

What roundwounds would you suggest I try that don't feel awful under the fingers, don't sound horribly trebbly and clanky, and don't need changing on a monthly basis?

DR Sunbeams.

Did Pino really use roundwounds in the 80s?

Yes.

 

[Geogio]

Yeah but did you try DR Blues tho

Not on my basses. But I have on OP's basses. I did have Cobalts on a Godin that I consigned, they were okay. I keep flats cleaned up with a bit of mineral oil on those rough cotton red shop rags pinch it and dig in. I heard denim works good too. On top loads I use .110 gauge and on a through body ampro I use the .105 "through body" set from LaBella... I prefer a .110 but the wrap will kink going through the body and over the rollers because of the angle. Through body strings have exposed cores and silks on both ends.
High tension doesn't bother me I played an upright plywood beast all through public school and those strings were cables compared to the electric Fender Flats that I could afford. A few bassists I knew used roto-sound rounds, I was so used to double-bass flats they seemed floppy and the tactile feeling wasn’t what I was used to.

 

[Les Fret]

I agree with him. I prefer rounds on fretless. But there are no rules. If you like flats on your fretless do it. It gives less sustain and a more upright like sound, but if that’s what you’re after that’s just fine.

 

[Abner]

What made you think he was going to lecture you? He simply discussed the pros and cons of both and explained why he likes rounds. A player of his stature is always worth listening to as sometimes they’ll say something you didn’t expect and it may be valuable.

That was the impression I got from reading the first few posts in this thread, somebody even mentioned the phrase "clickbait".

I used roundwounds for the longest time, on both fretted and fretless basses. I switched back to flats about ten or 15 years ago (started playing in the early-mid '70s — flats were still very common on all basses back then). All that mwah is very nice, I like it — for certain songs. But it's not a sound that fits very many songs.

Plus I no longer wish to sound like one of the guitar players but an octave lower. Nor like the piano player. We already have guitar and keyboard players, I have no need to try and punch my way through the mix, I have my own sonic space and tone that fits in the mix quite nicely.

Plus I've never been one to follow the crowd just because that is what the crowd is doing, I'm not afraid to make up my own mind. (Heck, I've never even owned a single Fender... )