Trend towards flats is Driving me mad!

[socialleper]

Tried them, hated them, moved on.
Other people can do whatever they what, but I ain't interested.

 

[JJR58]

speaking of flats, i hear the new Ernie Ball Cobalts flats are really great.
That said, i like both flats and rounds, they have their place, and as many have said here, lots of variables as to why it may not sound right to someone who is use to rounds.
flats have been around a while, and played by many greats.

 

[Fergie Fulton]

"I don't like the sound of flats"......now is that a statement of mis-understanding.

Flats do not really have a sound, they do have a feel, and their feel will influence how you play.
Your amp has more influence on "your sound" than your strings, as will your choice of pick-up, or the model of bass you use....your cab choice may also be a factor.....but blaming in on strings is only prt of the story.

Now i use heavy flat-wound strings (120-E, 100-A, 80-D, 60-G) with a high action. They are P basses with Seymour Duncan quarter pounders these days, but in day gone by i uses various humbuckers, (OBL were a great option).
The sound i got was part technique, part guitar, part rig.....yes there are those that define a flatwound sound as......., but that is a clichè of what was expected from a player using flatwounds, such as using a foam mute with them.

Today there are many great string companies making many varieties of strings, so if you find one you like then use them, but i gaurantee you this, a player will drop string brands because they do not feel right faster than the will if they do not sound right....also i have never met a player who has bought strings that feel bad.....but i do know many players, myself included, who bought strings that felt right but sounded OK, knowing our own gear will sort out issues.......or should that have been "hoping our own gear with sort out issues!"

I have used Flats for over 40 years on many basses, using many brands, and using many weights for playability, but for me it is about the feel, any tone comes from a combination of factors and for me the string is just part of it.

 

[TMARK]

I just like the way flats stay out of the way of the other instruments better. Just my opinion. Some call it muddy; I call it bassy. I don't like the bass in your face tone except for a quick bass-highlight for a song. I like the low, low bass that works well with a bass drum and gets folks dancing. I feel flats add life to a performance. Not necessarily to a bass player critiquing a band, but to the whole band. The total picture.

Yup.

I play flats (Deep Talkin' bass) when I need a solid, un-muddied fundamental for Motown and RAWK. I play DR Sunbeams for everything else, and I EQ to fit the music. The goal is to support the song. If that means root - fifth with flats that is what I do. If it means slap with rounds I do that. It is all about the song.

 

[Doner Designs]

"I don't like the sound of flats"......now is that a statement of mis-understanding.

Flats do not really have a sound,

That statement surprises me. I am a die hard flats lover but definitely would say that there is a certain kind of growl that only roundwound strings can produce. Sometimes I wish I could play them. I love the sound of flats too but it's the string noise that makes rounds a nonstarter for me. I have small old decrepit hands and therefore have a very shifty style (can only cover 3 frets at most). I just can't tolerate the string noise. If I could, I MIGHT have rounds on one bass.

 

[Doner Designs]

I bought my son a set of flatwound guitar strings a thumbrest and a Fender decal for his Squier Strat just to give him a hard time.

 

[Ric5]

Why why why why why why are the some bass players in bands I have been watching for years now following the trend towards using Flats? I find myself walking away mid show when the bass sounds dull and thuddy or worse....like I have an ear full of water. Why are you using flats? In a jazz set-up I get it, anything else and they just sucks the life out of the performance.

I used to hate flats ... now I have mellowed ... now I just don't like them.

 

[Mockyngbyrd]

Tried TI flats on my Ric for a couple of months.....didn't like it. The best thing I did was change to Rotosound swing 66. As mentioned by Mr. Fulton, you can pretty much dial your tone, to a point, but the feel and sound is not for me. And the reality is the audience doesn't care or notice a difference.

Different strokes, plucks & picks......

 

[MJ_Sotti]

I don't like the feel. Feels like my fingers meld with the strings. Much like the feeling I used to get digging around in my pockets for a hour and a half looking for my keys after doing a couple purple micro dots and a line of tick while my they were in there.

So, Roto rounds. And no more drugs.

 

[mrokern]

Speaking as a bassist who used to be a pro sound guy.

I've mixed in venues from clubs to arenas to festivals. The size of the venue is key to the OP's statement...in a very small venue, the amp may have a large effect on the tone, but once you hit even a moderate size club, the PA can overtake the bass rig with ease.

Too many sound engineers don't seem to understand that part of being a pro is knowing how to place each instrument within the sonic space of a mix. Rock bass lives in the mids, not in the lows. I actually will put a hi-pass filter on the bass and dial the lows back in carefully on the strip eq to keep them from conflicting with the kick drum.

Whenever I see an engineer with the bass channel set low band boosted and the low-mids cut it takes all my will power to not "one-side" the putz and fix the mix.

Reggae is a different animal...I place the bass in a lower spectrum than the kick for that type of music. It's all about knowing the style and how to set up the entire soundscape.

I promise you, I can make flats sound good. ;-)

-Mark

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

...
I promise you, I can make flats sound good. ;-)

-Mark

That may be, but you can't make them feel good - not to many of us, I assure you!

 

[Lobster11]

there is indeed a trend towards flats. We are the largest string distributor in the U.S. and I've seen the trend for the last five years. Flats as a percentage of sales is still growing double digit each year and the overall string market is not growing.

Thanks for this info. Do you have any ideas about what to attribute this to?

 

[mrokern]

That may be, but you can't make them feel good - not to many of us, I assure you!

Don't look at me, I play rounds. ;-)

 

[Thumper19605]

I use both, but even my rounds are mellower.
Live bass sound tips

It explains my reasons for not going with bright sounding strings.

 

[The Bass Clef]

I try to listen to the bassist not the strings. I could say just as easily that I hate Jaco's tone with rounds on a fretless and the bridge pickup soloed on a Jazz Bass.. or Billy Sheehan's zingy roundwound tone that's so grindy and trebley it doesn't even sound like a bass anymore.. but in the end those 2 guys have (or had in Jaco's case) more talent and ability than most of the members on talkbass combined. I see past their tone (which many like) because their playing is what I care about.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Interesting opinions!

Hard to listen to people call flats a "new" trend though as my 1965 Fender Jazz came stock with them and that's all that was available for a loooooong time. Heck, even all the electric guitar strings were flatwound back in the 60's too. I remember I put some Fender black-tape flatwound flats on my 65 for a while. Now I use DR black beauties or Dean Markley Blue Steel on my current Jazz. I like the sound of those on my bass a lot. Might try flats on it, but if I can't get the same sound out of my amp with them, I know at least two different string sets that I like and can switch back to.

Funny to hear folks say they don't like the feel of the flats. They are much easier on the fingers than round-wound strings. I put up with the feel of rounds because I like the sound I get out of them. If I can find flats that will sound the same...I'll buy them.

Dan

 

[sotua]

So many players are using flats these days that i'm confused why almost all bass cabs come with tweeters.

Edit. I know some players claim to get brightness out of them, but ive tried half a dozen brands in over 20 years of playing and never got anything but "thud".

(apologies for the crap performance, but the idea was to play a bit of slap/finger/pick with both rounds and flats. Interface direct to recording - no processing whatsoever)

 

[nerkoids]

Why are you using flats? In a jazz set-up I get it, anything else and they just sucks the life out of the performance.

With very few exceptions, I hate the springy zing of rounds, especially rounds where the highs are so artificially boosted, it sounds like two metal weasels making out.

This so-called 'trend' towards flats most likely due to some musicians probably getting fed up with the same old roundwound sound.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

So many players are using flats these days that i'm confused why almost all bass cabs come with tweeters.

Edit. I know some players claim to get brightness out of them, but ive tried half a dozen brands in over 20 years of playing and never got anything but "thud".

Ever try Chromes, Fender 9050s, EB Cobalts, Roto 77s?

 

[peledog]

That's because there's a lot of bands trying to sound retro. Flats serve their purpose. To me, they aren't better than rounds...just different.