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What's your take on flats?

#101
_allen_09 said:
Bruno Mars’ bassist my target tone, such warm tone and I really love it. You mentioned he plays flats, I used to wonder if it’s hard to play fast and do funky stuff with flats, guess not.
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just consider that most "funk" you hear is still played with flats, and the sound until the 80's was flatwound's.

I never understood the topic about flats harder to play: yes, they are a bit tighter than the "same" rounds, but this allows a lower setup with almost zero buzz.

My jazz strung with 52-110 has the lowest action possible, and I used to have the same strings on a Stingray and a Precision Bass (plus a Thunderbird, but just for a few days), and the action was the lowest I could, so my left hand didn't have any issue.
also, a tighter string allows more dynamics, a wider dynamic range with the right hand, less fatigue when playing harder, because the string stays firm and doesn't bend under the finger.

I can fly on the fretboard with 52-110 flats, I can't with 45-100 rounds.

also, a 50-105 set of Ernie Ball Slinky (nickel rounds) has more tension than the Labella Jamerson 52-110 set; I can say that because siwtching from EB's to Labella I had to loose the truss rod, and not tighten it, on three different basses.
 
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#103
jamro217 said:
I prefer the feel of rounds. Flats are usually too stiff and stout. I haven't tried TI flats yet, so that may be an option, but so far there have been no problems with finger noise or tone using relatively inexpensive rounds.
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I call BS on the 'excess finger/pick noise' with rounds. That's down to technique. I use notoriously bright strings, I smash high mids and bash my strings HARD and with a little limiting, I get zero to no 'byproducts'. It ain't a strang thang..
 
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#104
Wulfensteiner said:
I call BS on the 'excess finger/pick noise' with rounds. That's down to technique. I use notoriously bright strings, I smash high mids and bash my strings HARD and with a little limiting, I get zero to no 'byproducts'. It ain't a strang thang..
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I agree. There hasn't been any issues with finger noise or unsatisfactory tone with round wound strings on any of my basses, fretless or fretted. All of them are strung with light or medium guage nickel rounds. Steels are too bright and stiff for my taste, too.
 
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#105
Pier_ said:
may I ask you what you're missing with flats in a live set?

I'm asking because I feel kind of opposite: I LOVE flats in the live setting, the sound guy is always happy and does nothing to the sound, and I always clearly hear myself even if I only have the monitor in front of me and no amp.

while recording, I usually prefer worn rounds instead of flats (if I'm not looking exactly for the flatwound sound) because I can feel a wider spectrum of frequencies (99% the recording is directly in a DI, rarely with an amp, here) on which we can work.
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For me- it seems that when I use flat in a live setting, I seem to lose some of the overtones or undertones that let me be heard in the mix the way that I want to be heard. I'm not saying that I can't be heard or that flats get lost in the mix. It's just that it doesn't sound the way that I want. When I'm recording- it seems that the subtle tones from flats are more audible- or it is to say that I have more control over making them audible. I love the thumpy, woody tones of flats on my pbass or my stingray when I'm playing at home by myself or recording. But when I play live- all those little subtleties seem to get lost in the swirl of sound and what I can still hear is a little bit bland. Playing rounds seems to rectify this for me in a live setting. ymmv.
 
#106
Flats have a certain sound, and they're very good at producing that kind of sound if that's the sound you're after.

As do rounds, and tapes, and pressurewounds.

None are better or worse. I like them all in different contexts.

Now if you were to describe the kind of sound you're after, or the context you want your strings to really shine in, then we could have an interesting discussion about specific types of rounds and flats, their various tonal qualities, what contexts they might work well in, etc.
 
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#108
jamro217 said:
I agree. There hasn't been any issues with finger noise or unsatisfactory tone with round wound strings on any of my basses, fretless or fretted. All of them are strung with light or medium guage nickel rounds. Steels are too bright and stiff for my taste, too.
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I guess we're doing that whole 'apples and oranges' thing again. Haha. Personally, that brightness and 'zing' is what makes me, me. I wanna keep it forever :D
 
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#109
The flatwound trend is "The Talkbass Effect". People on TalkBass talk each other into how great things are, and then it just grows like a weed. LoL that's not a knock on TB really, just an observation after 14 years on this forum. It only takes a handful of influential discussions about something to make it the "new" thing everyone has to get into. Don't beat yourself up if you're not into it, or if you don't "get" it. In a while, everyone will be on to the next thing.
 
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#110
Depends what music you're playing and what you're playing it on. I got flats on some basses, rounds on others, and tapewounds on another. Whatever sounds/feels right for the tunes.
 
#112
In general i am a rounds kinda guy but do have flats on one bass and tapes on another that seem to work better on those particular basses and the styles i use them for. The unknown old flats are on a Franken PJ with the J in the 60's spot and the P wound to a 60's spec with a series parallel switch and an old spec tone cap, jack and wiring and all shielded for the studio. The RotoSoiund TruBass tapes are on my Washburn AB20 and do a nice job of taming the fret clatter.
 
#114
I read the thread title and I was like... "Well, you have to be able to play in flat keys, even if it can be a bit of a PITA...'

Then I was like, "oh."

Regarding flatwounds, I've never enjoyed them when I've played other people's basses with them, but it's been a while, and my tastes have been changing.

I've had problems with B string and flats, but maybe I need to try again.
 
#115
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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I’ve been performing and recording with roundwound strings exclusively since the mid 70s. In all of this time, I have never had a sound engineer, producer, or fellow musician ever say to me, “You know, that would sound a whole lot better if you had flat wound strings on your bass.” I have had the same , sound engineers, producers, fellow musicians on occasions too numerous count, complain and or bemoan a bassist with (ahem) “vintage” flatwound strings. Yep, I change my strings often, about every hundred hours of play. I would assume there is a life expectancy on flats as well, as strings do wear on the frets and I can’t think of any reason flats would wear any less.

Another common comment I hear from producers and sound engineers is that flats don’t sing like roundwounds, they thunk, and if they wanted a more percussive sound in their product, they’d rather use a percussion instrument. As for the case the bassist was trying to get more of an upright sound by using flats, they would much rather them use an actual upright.

All that said, who am I to tell anybody what to put on their own instrument? The deal is each individual needs to be happy with their gear, and if that includes the use of flatwounds for them to make their art, I am totally in favor of it. The use of rounds or flats is a personal choice just like toothpaste. Colgate or Crest? I’m not in favor of either, but I am in favor of brushing teeth. So rock on flat wound users! Make your art!
 
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#117
I prefer the sound and especially the feel of flats. They're a huge part of the sound I've been trying to cultivate for years.

Which makes it all the worse that in one of my bands, the conductor regularly asks for my sound to be "more snappy". Sorry man, I'm neither willing nor able to emulate a Jazz with rounds on the bridge pickup when I'm playing a P with flats.

Guess I'll be buying another bass soon... :bag:
 
#119
I have 22 basses, last time I counted. So, "Versatile" isn't a word you'll hear very often in my house. Except for a handful that are being repaired/customized, they all get played. And, most of them wear either flats or tapes. Why?
1) For some of them, flats are just what they're "Supposed" to have. Beatle bass? Gotta wear flats. One of mine does; the other wears tapes. A P-Bass? Flats - low down, funky flats on a P - is the sound of R&B, and Classic Rock. Which is what my '78 P wears. Hollow body basses, like my Gretsch Broadkaster? Flats, baby, flats...
2) For what I like to play? If it wasn't originally played on an upright bass, it was played on an electric bass with flats. That's the sound I hear in my head, so... flats or tapes. "Bright", as far as basses are concerned, is also not a word heard around in my house much, either. Unless it's prefaced by "Too"...;)
3) Simple cost and logistics. I'm not rich, but I ain't exactly poor, either. I would be pretty soon, though, if I had to replace the strings on 22 basses every month or so. And, gotta tell ya - replacing strings all the time ain't my idea of fun. Playing the snot out of a bass wearing 10 year old flats that still sound great? That's fun..:thumbsup:

Please don't think I hate rounds; I don't. Almost all of my long scale basses have started out with EB Hybrid Slinkys. They're my "benchmark string"; usually I move to something else, depending on what I want from that bass. But, a couple of them sound like I want them to with the Slinkys; so, that's what they wear. The other basses with rounds? GHS Boomers on one of my T-Birds ( kind of de rigueur on a T-Bird, anyway) and my Kramer Duke. They sound like I want them to (especially the Kramer), so.. Boomers it is. And I'm honestly torn between leaving the DR Sunbeams on the Warmoth, or trying other strings. Depends on how long they last, probably... Pressure wounds, maybe...? My Alembic will continue to wear rounds - If I can find some I really like. Still looking... But, for what I like to play - and I don't have to play what I don't like any more - the majority of the time, flats and tapes just work the best...:whistle:
 
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