(I can see how this post could go in any of the Basses, Strings, or Recordings forums. Mods - please do your worst!)
Recently I decided to try a set of Chromes on my Valenti 5 string J bass. As a contribution to the ongoing "flatwounds vs. roundwounds" debate, I thought it would be fun to create some comparison soundclips of that bass with the rounds and the flats, so that you could all hear them and argue about which sounds better.
First, the bass. This is a Valenti 5-string Jazz bass with a maple neck and an ash body. It has Nordstrand NJ5 pickups and a Sadowsky preamp. This is an incredible bass. It weighs about 8 pounds, the pickups are very growly, and the bass is rather bright by nature. The neck is relatively shallow and feels great to me. @Nino Valenti
Here's the bass:
Now for the recordings.
I decided to record simple 16-bar loops for Latin, Rock, and Funk styles and playing as close to the very same bass parts as I could, recording them a couple of weeks apart.
All of the recordings are Bass-->Cable-->iRig-->iPad (GarageBand). The VTC on the bass was rolled off about halfway, the preamp bass was very slightly boosted, and the preamp treble was flat. This is how I use this bass 99% of the time on gigs. In GarageBand I used the simple directbox input setting and added some drums to make the part sound more authentic.
The "roundwound" strings are actually GHS Pressurewounds and fairly broken in, so certainly not as sparkly as roundwound strings can be. Again, this bass is bright by nature, and I've found that I have to move one step in the "mellow" string category direction to get the tone I'm after.
The "flatwound" strings are Chromes, pretty much straight out of the box with perhaps an hour of play time on them. The do indeed still have some zing, which I think you can hear more in the room than you can on the recordings. I might return later and do a third take once these have settled in.
Both sets of strings were medium gauge.
To the tracks. Crank it up!
The Funk Track
I did an aggressive funk lick, vaguely Mark King-ish, and tried to hit all of the strings a little, except I didn't play the B ever.
Pressurewounds:
Chromes:
The Rock Track
Straight 8th notes track, I dug in to try to pull some of the growl out of the bass, which it was happy to provide. I played this with a pick and I am NOT a pick player, so please forgive my terrible technique.
Pressurewounds:
Chromes:
The Latin Track
This is a Mozambique pattern, one of my favorites because I heard Patitucci and Weckl kill it on all those Elektric Band records. On this one I tried to keep the tone of the bass a little smoother.
Pressurewounds:
Chromes:
Conclusions
Given that the Chromes were fresh and the Pressurewounds weren't, I expected the tracks to sound more similar than different, and I think they do. To my ears though, the bass takes to the Chromes very well and I could certainly play a convincing set with my horn funk band using this setup. I wonder whether I will still feel that way after ~20 hours of play time.
I think I like the Pressurewounds better on the Rock track. The added sparkle and additional growl really work well in that style.
The Latin track sounds essentially the same to me with either string - which means I would 100% choose the Chromes if that were my normal gig style, for the feel and ease of upkeep alone.
In any case, I think Pressurewounds and Chromes are both fantastic strings, and the Valenti bass is still a winner 11 years after Nino built it for me (it is #51).
Please let me know what you think too. I hope you enjoy!
Recently I decided to try a set of Chromes on my Valenti 5 string J bass. As a contribution to the ongoing "flatwounds vs. roundwounds" debate, I thought it would be fun to create some comparison soundclips of that bass with the rounds and the flats, so that you could all hear them and argue about which sounds better.
First, the bass. This is a Valenti 5-string Jazz bass with a maple neck and an ash body. It has Nordstrand NJ5 pickups and a Sadowsky preamp. This is an incredible bass. It weighs about 8 pounds, the pickups are very growly, and the bass is rather bright by nature. The neck is relatively shallow and feels great to me. @Nino Valenti
Here's the bass:
Now for the recordings.
I decided to record simple 16-bar loops for Latin, Rock, and Funk styles and playing as close to the very same bass parts as I could, recording them a couple of weeks apart.
All of the recordings are Bass-->Cable-->iRig-->iPad (GarageBand). The VTC on the bass was rolled off about halfway, the preamp bass was very slightly boosted, and the preamp treble was flat. This is how I use this bass 99% of the time on gigs. In GarageBand I used the simple directbox input setting and added some drums to make the part sound more authentic.
The "roundwound" strings are actually GHS Pressurewounds and fairly broken in, so certainly not as sparkly as roundwound strings can be. Again, this bass is bright by nature, and I've found that I have to move one step in the "mellow" string category direction to get the tone I'm after.
The "flatwound" strings are Chromes, pretty much straight out of the box with perhaps an hour of play time on them. The do indeed still have some zing, which I think you can hear more in the room than you can on the recordings. I might return later and do a third take once these have settled in.
Both sets of strings were medium gauge.
To the tracks. Crank it up!
The Funk Track
I did an aggressive funk lick, vaguely Mark King-ish, and tried to hit all of the strings a little, except I didn't play the B ever.
Pressurewounds:
Chromes:
The Rock Track
Straight 8th notes track, I dug in to try to pull some of the growl out of the bass, which it was happy to provide. I played this with a pick and I am NOT a pick player, so please forgive my terrible technique.
Pressurewounds:
Chromes:
The Latin Track
This is a Mozambique pattern, one of my favorites because I heard Patitucci and Weckl kill it on all those Elektric Band records. On this one I tried to keep the tone of the bass a little smoother.
Pressurewounds:
Chromes:
Conclusions
Given that the Chromes were fresh and the Pressurewounds weren't, I expected the tracks to sound more similar than different, and I think they do. To my ears though, the bass takes to the Chromes very well and I could certainly play a convincing set with my horn funk band using this setup. I wonder whether I will still feel that way after ~20 hours of play time.
I think I like the Pressurewounds better on the Rock track. The added sparkle and additional growl really work well in that style.
The Latin track sounds essentially the same to me with either string - which means I would 100% choose the Chromes if that were my normal gig style, for the feel and ease of upkeep alone.
In any case, I think Pressurewounds and Chromes are both fantastic strings, and the Valenti bass is still a winner 11 years after Nino built it for me (it is #51).
Please let me know what you think too. I hope you enjoy!
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