Why do so many players love flats?

[jmarcus2]

I’m interested in why so many bassists love using flats as a posed to rounds.

For me personally, I have never really enjoyed using flats on any of basses. I could never get used to the feel or find a decent tone with them.

So, do you use flats, rounds, both, something else?

It's cyclical. Flats give you an old school vibe appropriate in some situations. To me it seems that younger players gravitate towards flats. Us older players remember when flats were the only option, and were delighted to have a choice of rounds and half wounds.
I made a somewhat snarky reply in a similar thread that ruffled some.
Flats sound dull to me, and not my preference. But if it's your choice, cool!

 

[Phillip J Weiss]

I’m interested in why so many bassists love using flats as a posed to rounds.

For me personally, I have never really enjoyed using flats on any of basses. I could never get used to the feel or find a decent tone with them.

So, do you use flats, rounds, both, something else?

I like the fundamentals of flats but for me they don't seem to cut through the mix as well as rounds.

 

[_B_E_A_D_G_]

It's the sound.

My Mike Lull PJ5 was strung with rounds when I bought it and I was very happy with the tone. Then a friend, who had also bought a Lull PJ5, came over and his sounded better than mine! After a lot of investigation, I discovered the difference was in the strings. His bass had flats and mine had rounds.

I restrung my bass with GHS Precision flats and the sound improved. . . a lot! A few years later I put TI flats on and the sound improved, again. Flats on a Precision every time for me now. If I don't want the sound of a Precision with flats I break out the Jazz bass. That's strung with NYXL's. Tweeter heaven.

That's interesting. I have tried the GHS flats on my Lull P5 and I hated how they sounded. So I went to the NYXL and the bass sounded exactly like I thought it should - and the tone control adds the versatility I need.

 

[Weet]

I have a fretless and when I bought it in 81, I could see the grooves starting on the fretboard from the roundwounds that came with it. Switched to flatwounds and loved the feel (I also play viola, which are definitely flat wound) and the sound. Now my 3 guitars have flatwounds and would never go back to the feel and scritch scritch of the round wounds.

 

[StevenkB]

I use the the 77 Jazz and Steve Harris signature flats.
I started out with rounds but the day I switched to flats was the day I found the nature of bass for me.
I love and play a lot of old stuff and a lot of metal and the rounds to me were more punch than boom.
Personally I'm only playing flats now, I love that thunderous booming with crisp mids little to no highs and when I run the bass through my pedal board the growls and that beefy attack.

 

[Mindovermatt]

I first tried flats a year or so ago and I'm a convert. I love the thumpy tone, and I love the way they feel. I also love the added tension, but as to why, I cannot really say.

 

[534N]

I’m interested in why so many bassists love using flats as a posed to rounds.

For me personally, I have never really enjoyed using flats on any of basses. I could never get used to the feel or find a decent tone with them.

So, do you use flats, rounds, both, something else?

No one successfully uses a flanger or a tremolo effect outside of its usefulness in certain contexts. Just the same, flats are amazing in certain styles and settings. It compliments some styles really well. It's not going to grind and cut through for rock music though (usually) so forget it (in most cases).

Flats are awesome if you explore their place in music genres. Get a bass that you keep flats on permanently if you have extra basses and explore other types of music and techniques. Flats 1000% have their place. I just wouldn't recommend them for rock music usually. Usually slap bass doesn't sound so great on them either (in my opinion) but to each their own.

I have a Mustang bass that I keep Labella flats on for more groovy stuff and I have a Stingray that I keep rounds on for more elevated or aggressive vibes.

Do your thing and have fun. It's a good idea to keep trying new things.

 

[Blue Swede]

I’m interested in why so many bassists love using flats as a posed to rounds.

For me personally, I have never really enjoyed using flats on any of basses. I could never get used to the feel or find a decent tone with them.

So, do you use flats, rounds, both, something else?

Its funny, after reading this thread I decided (since getting a new Sandberg a few months back as my main bass) to put flats on my Metroline Japan Sadowsky. Theyre La Bella ones, I guess i bought them to see if they were for me, but then decided I couldn't use them on my main… not enough zing .

I will try again and see if I they'll convert me this time!

 

[SamBassPlayer]

I’m interested in why so many bassists love using flats as a posed to rounds.

For me personally, I have never really enjoyed using flats on any of basses. I could never get used to the feel or find a decent tone with them.

So, do you use flats, rounds, both, something else?

I have a love/hate relationship with flats. I do like the way they feel and I like the way they sound on my P bass but I can't slap on them - way too dull sounding. I also had them on my J bass for a while and liked them as well but couldn't get the brightness I sometimes need out of the J bass. I still have flats on my P but have been thinking about putting on rounds. But I'm sure there'll be times I will wish I had the flats back. Good thing about flats - they last forever. If you're careful when unwinding them off a bass you can always put them back on at a later time.

 

[bassmike2010]

I’m interested in why so many bassists love using flats as a posed to rounds.

For me personally, I have never really enjoyed using flats on any of basses. I could never get used to the feel or find a decent tone with them.

So, do you use flats, rounds, both, something else?

Zero attentions paid to what others use.
For the vintage closet queens:
45-130 Regular Light 5-String, Long Scale, XL Half Rounds Bass Guitar Strings | ENR71-5 | D'Addario
For the Modulus Q5:
Blue Steel™ Bass Strings
For the MMSR5HP:
Slinky Cobalt Electric Bass Strings | Ernie Ball
Just ordered for the Hagstrom H8
EXL1708 Nickel Wound 5String | Bass Guitar Strings | D'Addario

 

[StringThing]

Hi! So I never like flats on 34" basses. too much tension. I got two SX 32' jazz basses and defretted one and put flats on them and they are awesome!

I have pretty much all the variations on bass and it's funny how I'll gravitate and or resist certain basses certain days. Let's me know I wouldn't play nearly as much without variety. I have Stienberg EUBs, Lakland 5s with rounds, Mustangs, 32' scale SX basses, Aria SB neck thru, MM.

SX Basses are inexpensive and easy to mod with J bass parts and are great flat candidates for $200 to $300 with ash or alder bodies.

I also noticed, most people who use rounds also use compression and eq normally to raise the bass and back off some treble, and if they aren't, sound board channel defiantly is LOL. With flats the EQ punch and "compression" are baked right in. Don't EQ like a round.

A famous flats player is steve harris BTW. He likes new ones and thats $$$

Flats with FUZZ. Awesome!!!!

Have fun regardless, we're not brain surgeons.

 

[JohnMarkPainter]

Flats are not a one trick pony.
I got into them early when listening to lots of 70's punk-post punk as well as Motown/Muscle Shoals/Stax
Also Graham Maby used them very well.

I keep Flats on my old PBass, an old Hofner-ish Viola Bass, a Bass VI and black tapewounds on a fake Hofner.

 

[dave64o]

You don't mention what kind of bass(es) you have.
I'm not sure that flats are a good match for an active bass, for example. --Cue internet "experts" to say othewise in 5...4...3...2...
However, flats sound best on passive instruments, particularly on a Precision Bass or a Jazz Bass. Actually, a Ricky sounds good with flats, too (viz, Tom Petty in Mudcrutch).
Flats provide a more focused fundamental because they don't have those high, ringing overtones that rounds have - overtones that mix, and diminish, your bass sound with other instruments, like guitar.
Another advantage is there isn't that little buzzing sound from moving your hand up and down the fretboard that you inevitably have with rounds. That is, they're quieter to play, which is especially useful in a studio setting.
The economical issue with flats is that the older they get, the better they sound. I'll keep a set of flats on my P/J Bass for almost two years. Rounds? Maybe a few months.

"Internet expert" checking in.

I have had the same set of flats (D'Addario Chromes) on my 2007 ceramic pickup Stingray 5HH for over three years and that bass sounds amazing. I've also have had a couple of different flats on my L-2500 before going back to Chromes about a year ago and have loved how that bass sounds, especially in a live band mix, with flats on it.

I get that not everyone likes every flat on every bass (and I'm one of those who doesn't ), but those active basses with famously aggressive characters sound great to me - and to my band mates. Not just at home, but in a live band mix.

I have no problem with someone not liking the sound of flats in general or in a specific application. It's a subjective thing. But I don't agree with the generalization that flats don't work on an active bass. I have personal experience that says otherwise.

I will agree that they sound awesome on a P, though (great personal experience with Chromes and Labelle Deep Talkin' Flats, tried but did not like TI Jazz Flats). Haven't tried flats on a Jazz yet, but I'm planning to do that once the Lo Riders on my Jazz bass finally die. I like my Lo Riders old and I put these on less than a year ago, so it may be a while.

 

[Asher Platts]

Yeah, I don't get it, personally.

A lot of people seem to really like lifeless muddy thumping I guess.

I myself prefer my bass to stand out as an audible counter melody to what the rest of the band is doing, but my bass idols are people like Chris Squire of Yes, Tony Kanal of No Doubt (first 3 albums in particular), Ron Carter, Jaco Pastorious (everyone loves him because he could play hornlike solos, but his actual basslines are super interesting and groovy, just check out his groove on Black Market), and so on.

Krist Novoselic of Nirvana is also a great bass player but you can't really hear what he is doing because he is turned down in the mix to make space for the giant kick drum, which honestly is a travesty. I didn't realize what a good bassist he was until I sat down to really listen to his lines while learning Nevermind and In Utero for a cover band.

Anyways... I like being able to actually hear the bassline. Some people don't I guess?

Besides that, flat wound strings feel sticky to my fingers, roundwounds don't.

 

[TJL]

"As posed"? Let me edumacates you. LOL.
Flats feel amazing. Smooth as silk with very full tone. Flats allow you to have sloppy playing technique without reproducing string noise or overtones from your fingers, thus they are ideal for session work. They are also the strings which were used for so many record albums over the last 60 years, so if you want to sound like the record, you need flats.
I also prefer flats for fretless bass. They don't damage the fretboard, and they 'wah' better. Modern flats have a fairly wide range of tonal character, and unlike the ones from fifty years ago, they can have some decent high end clarity if you need it. Certain basses also really shine with flats on them. There is no better session tool than a vintage Precision Bass with flats on it.

 

[BigBadBen67]

Both. I mean, they are different things that yield different tones and feels. (I love the feel of a set of high tension flats.) Bottom line is if you really want that thumpy tone you get from flats you need flats. Or if you want that brighter, more articulate tone you get from rounds you need rounds.

Best to have a couple of basses for each

 

[Walk The Dogs]

I’m interested in why so many bassists love using flats as a posed to rounds.

It's like asking "why do so many bass players love playing double bass as opposed to electric?" Or fretless vs. fretted. Because they sound different, play different and make us play different so a lot of us use both. Short answer: flats sound better in some musical contexts, and vice versa. IMO, of course.

The type of string influences how and what I play. With flats I tend to play more percussively and simpler. With rounds I tend to take chances and play more melodically and (probably unfortunately) busier. Flats, especially aging flats, have less sustain and less top end than rounds so they blend better with a kick drum. It makes me focus on that syncopation which for some music works better.

I usually default to taking two basses to a playing situation: my 80s Sadowsky J with Smith medium-light rounds and my '60 P bass with La Bella flats. But if I know the music and players it could be two different basses. That's my point.

 

[Ferniff]

I hate the feel and sound of rounds.

 

[Dreamsinger]

Neither. I use compression wound strings. The comfort of flats with the mojo of rounds.

 

[Mark Ellis]

Rounds on my Musicman style bass.
Flats on everything else. Just easier to play. Less string noise.