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What's your take on flats?

#61
I personally think we've moved beyond a "Flats" vs. "Rounds" discussion. Both string types come in such a variety of gauges, flexability, brightness, etc, identifying them by their outer winding is a bit like asking if you prefer red cars or blue cars. There's important stuff under the paint of a vehicle & under the outer wrap of a bass string......
 
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#62
Happy Jack said:
Well ... up to a point. It costs more to buy your first set of flats, that's true, but then you'll still be playing the same set of flats 30 years later while your evil twin will be on his 43rd set of rounds.

It always pays to buy quality.

I'm also surprised that no one has mentioned how flats can "bring some basses alive". It's not an across-the-board thing of course, but some basses just sound WAY better with flats on.

A friend of mine in London originally turned me on to Mike Lull basses. I adored his P5 so much that I went and bought one. He came around to A/B it and was simply blown away at how much better mine sounded than his did.

He spent weeks trying to work it out, and got involved with an email correspondence with Mike in his efforts to work out what was different between the two basses.

Eventually he tried stringing his bass with flats. Job done.
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True but since the manufacturers only care about the set they supply stock they'll chose an inexpensive set of roundwounds which many of us will replace with our own preference. That's what I was referring to as far as what's generally supplied on a new bass.

IMHO my PBass sounds much better with the LaBella flats that are on it now than the D'Addario made rounds it came with. Now it sounds like I want a PBass to sound. As for the others I tend to prefer GHS Pressurewounds. They're a nice compromise in a very mellow roundwound type, are easier on the frets, last longer than rounds but still give me some growl and piano like clarity. If I could only use one type of string those would be my choice.
 
#63
Flats are just another tone color available to you. Strings and the method used to make them vibrate are the first stage of EQing your instrument. Flats tend to have fewer overtones and bright transients, which can help them sit in a mix more easily, and make editing easier too, since there won’t be any pick or finger scrapes to clean up. They also keep their tone character longer than rounds. Flats start out pretty dead sounding, get a little deader, then stay there for pretty much as long as you can tolerate their intonation. Rounds have drastically different character from beginning to end of their lives.

The down sides are, flats sound more “plunky” than “edgy,” so if you like crisp attack, a bit of ring, and longer, clearer sustain, you’re better off with rounds. Flats are also much stiffer feeling than rounds, although I’m really liking the feel of the Slinky Cobalts on my Jaguar right now, they are more flexible than, say, D’Addario Chromes. Still nowhere near similarly gauged rounds.
 
#64
Chromes are like Frank's red hot sauce. I put that s**t on everything. I play in an original band though so I only need as much versatility as I want. Generally I can just get the tones I want by rolling tone and volume on my pickups to suit the song. The thing I find with the chromes is that they give me the sound I want. I don't want my bass to growl but instead to purr. I dont want it to be fuzzy, but warm and fluffy. It cuts back some of the sharpness of the sound and leaves me with a warmer sound that fits in the mix well. But that's what works for me. While my tone works for my americana band, might not work so well for gloom metal.
 
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#67
I’ve only tried 2. My wife’s P bass has D’addario Chromes and they’re quite nice. My retired Ibanez ATK305 has a set of TI Jazz Flats on and they’re amazeballz. Tried Chromes and TIJFs on the fretless and, not my cup o tea. Can’t imagine EVER puting flats on my newest fretted slap machine.
 
#68
Gremson said:
It seems to me that a great majority of TB'ers love flatwound strings. In the basses forum, a lot of folks seem to comment how much better a bass would be if it were strung with flats. Yet, it seems like just about every bass found in the wild has roundwounds on it.
I'm not biased in any direction. I think either type has their merit, but I'm curious if you feel flats or roundwound strings are superior to another and why.
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In my 52 years experience, rounds sound great if you're in the studio, or in the practice room, or in the music store. And you can chain a bunch of effects on it and it sounds like the bass of God. Again in my experience, that sound is very difficult and/or expensive to translate to live stage. As soon as cymbals and guitars start up, all those glorious harmonics and overtones disappear. The only time I have ever been completely happy with (my) roundwound sound live was the couple of bands I've been in that had our own sound guy who knew how to dial it in properly for FOH, which I'll go out o a limb and say most club/bar-level FOH engineers don't. But otherwise for stage give me flats hands down anytime. They may sound boring and thumpy in the practice room, but they will cut and punch through onstage even with simple rigs, and in my experience at a lower overall volume than required with rounds. Your mileage may vary.
 
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#70
If I had two of any kind of bass, I'd have flats on one of them. They are cool, thumpy, and mellow and you can't quite get that tone without them. I get it.

Otherwise, rounds are more versatile so I use those.
 
#75
my take on flats:

--- a lot of experienced/knowledgeable players prefer them for all kinds of reasons (reasons which would be associated with the experience and knowledge of the player). if you know what you're doing and have chops = who cares what string you use? you deliver the goods, time after time...it's a non-issue.

--- a lot of players with less experience/knowledge prefer them because they 'don't hurt the fingers' so much and they produce less string noise... "squeaks." if you haven't practiced/played enough to have 'legitimate' chops (yet!) = you really care about what the string is doing to your fingers and you are overly obsessed with noises you can't control (yet!).

also, related to flats: this one gets me every time --- "i just got my new/first fretless and i will be stringing it up with flats to save the fingerboard." or on a fretted "...to prevent fret wear." :laugh:

images2b3.png


if you don't have adequate fingers/calluses/muscles --- on both hands! --- you aren't capable of doing any damage to fb's and frets --- with any string type! it's all in your head...you don't yet 'have it' in your fingers! ;)


in summary: some folks prefer flats. some folks are just avoiding rounds. practicing a lot will actually give you more choices!



disclosure: i prefer rounds because i play fretless. i don't know what i'd prefer if i could handle a fretted.

 
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#76
JRA said:
my take on flats:

--- a lot of experienced/knowledgeable players prefer them for all kinds of reasons (reasons which would be associated with the experience and knowledge of the player). if you know what you're doing and have chops = who cares what string you use? you deliver the goods, time after time...it's a non-issue.

--- a lot of players with less experience/knowledge prefer them because they 'don't hurt the fingers' so much and they produce less string noise... "squeaks." if you haven't practiced/played enough to have 'legitimate' chops (yet!) = you really care about what the string is doing to your fingers and you are overly obsessed with noises you can't control (yet!).

also, related to flats: this one gets me every time --- "i just got my new/first fretless and i will be stringing it up with flats to save the fingerboard." or on a fretted "...to prevent fret wear." :laugh:

View attachment 3023037

if you don't have adequate fingers/calluses/muscles --- on both hands! --- you aren't capable of doing any damage to fb's and frets --- with any string type! it's all in your head...you don't yet 'have it' in your fingers! ;)


in summary: some folks prefer flats. some folks are just avoiding rounds. practicing a lot will actually give you more choices!



disclosure: i prefer rounds because i play fretless. i don't know what i'd prefer if i could handle a fretted.
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Excellent and very true post across the board dude!!

However one thing got me thinking. How does one avoid rounds?? They're on everything. New, second hand, found in the pool cleaning up after a house party? It's running rounds.
In fact, I dare say it's easier to avoid flats. I go out of my way to do so. I'm a master of it.
 
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#77
Wulfensteiner said:
Excellent and very true post across the board dude!!

However one thing got me thinking. How does one avoid rounds?? They're on everything. New, second hand, found in the pool cleaning up after a house party? It's running rounds.
In fact, I dare say it's easier to avoid flats. I go out of my way to do so. I'm a master of it.
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Engage Rounds. Engage Rounds with extreme prejudice... :)
 
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#80
JRA said:
ha! it was an attempt at 'in a manner of speaking', but maybe hyperbolic (?). my guess is that many players switch to flats for comfort before they develop adequate calluses/muscles/yada yada.
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I am guilty of youth and possible misinformation, but I am of the impression that if you don't want calluses, you shouldn't play a stringed instrument? And all strings cause them?
 
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