Using rounds like flats

[Pier_]

I have had this happen with Roto 77s and my guess is that it could happen with other flats

I have a 4 years old set of Chromes, heavily used (they were for two years on the only bass I had those days), still sounding great and with any intnation or tuning problems.
3 years old Thomastik, switched lots of times from bass to bass, or just to try other strings, and they sound like this today: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4md9hmtw73u458o/P50 Thomastik.zip

these samples are from three days ago, switched to the Classic 50's Pbass from my assembled P (their "main" bass).

Rotos are probably the only flats with an actual short life-span... I've tried them years ago, and they lasted me for a month or less more.

 

[fishdreams]

The intonaton issues, due to out of tune overtones bother me the most; if the 5-7th fret harmonics are OK around the 5th fret, they are terribly out of tune up the neck past the twelfth fret (it definitely spoilt it for me in a close-listening piano-bass duet situation I was in)
On the other hand, IME old rounds with these out of tune overtones sound fantastic (better than new ones) when overdriving the tone and as long as I dont venture to far over the 7th fret and roll back the highs.

It seems to me round core strings (both flats and rounds) hold up intonation better than hexacores; TIs and Cicle Ks do well for me, while aging Chromes for example suffer from this noticeably.

 

[nshuman]

I have a 4 years old set of Chromes, heavily used (they were for two years on the only bass I had those days), still sounding great and with any intnation or tuning problems.
3 years old Thomastik, switched lots of times from bass to bass, or just to try other strings, and they sound like this today: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4md9hmtw73u458o/P50 Thomastik.zip

these samples are from three days ago, switched to the Classic 50's Pbass from my assembled P (their "main" bass).

Rotos are probably the only flats with an actual short life-span... I've tried them years ago, and they lasted me for a month or less more.

So far, the Roto 77s are the only ones that this has happened with for me. I use TI Flats now. However, I have not used all the types of flats out there so I really don't know if others share the short life span of Rotos.

 

[west al]

D'addario ETB92 Nylon Tapewounds are round strings with a flat sound. They don't corrode, and have a long life span. They also string through the body well on Fender Am. Std basses. ETB92S (short scale) work just as well also.

 

[petrus61]

Ed Friedland has a bass with 15 year old Labella steel rounds on it. I don't really dig the sound but it doesn't seem too abnormal to me.

If they are Deep Talkin Rounds, they aren't just any other RW string. They are constructed differently, with a smaller core and multiple layered outer wraps. Probably my second favorite, if not favorite rounds.

 

[trothwell]

I use mostly flats now, but used mostly rounds for years, and did not change them often. I did though wipe them with GHS Fast Fret fairly often, which, from what I could tell, helped prolong the original sound and made the strings easier on the fingers.

 

[Pier_]

If they are Deep Talkin Rounds, they aren't just any other RW string. They are constructed differently, with a smaller core and multiple layered outer wraps. Probably my second favorite, if not favorite rounds.

in that video he playes the Hard Rocking Steel (now just "Stainless Steel"), or at least it seems because of the black silk at the headstock.