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why don't music stores put flats on their basses?

#84
If your over 50, you may remember that at one point some company's did offer basses with flats.
1- rounds are cheaper that flats. 2- Through the 80's & 90's most consumers played round-wounds.
The Fender CS Pino-Palladino P-Bass now, comes stock with TI-JF344-Flats. And the Steve Harris P-Bass comes with Roto-Flats.
 
#85
og61pbass said:
Wow really,I'll bet you I can play any genre of music with flats,I can even slap with flats and if you lose the bet ,which you will,you will need to put flats on all your basses...:wacky::rolleyes:
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I really don't like round or tweeters that much for what I need now
Makatak said:
Haha, no need to hide from me at least, I`m with you. Nothing like the responsiveness of a nice new zingy set of rounds through a cab with HF horn, you can always turn the highs down but you can`t go the other way. Why stop there and I`ll chuck in a " boring `ol P Bass " comment as well. Me hiding now too lol.
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Hah! Lol.
I have a boring old oly white Precision with a tort guard with flats
(LaBella low tension) as my main and the Warwick wears pressure rounds.
I don't play metal currently, BUT when I was.. Rotosound 775ld on some Dr Nickel low riders on the rest.
Not a slapper but do play "at it"
Reality is IF you local music store even HAS a set of flats I'd be surprised..
Also keep in mind flats last YEARS OR DECADES
Rounds weeks. So at 60ish dollars per month....
Rounds are like wonderful ways to keep you and your cash flowing through the doors...
Many still do not bulk buy online they run to the store when they need strings...
And once you are through the door chances are high that you will buy something else while you're "there already"
 
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#87
Heh. The amount of old guy outrage on this thread is amusing. Sure, you think I'm some young(ish) punk. Sure, I'm a rank beginner. Sure, I don't know what I'm talking about. Now that we've covered that... When I made the decision to switch from guitar to bass (another sin, I'm sure) a few months ago, I went into Guitar Center and played a lot of basses, all of which, as we have ascertained, had rounds. I found a bass I really liked, then ordered the same model used for half the price. Now, I'd heard of flats before, but never played them, and had no idea how they felt or what they sounded like. When my bass arrived, I ripped open the box and plugged it right in... And thought something was wrong. The strings felt slick and greasy, and sounded incredibly dead. I looked closely at them, and immediately guessed from the shape that these must be the flats I'd heard about. I couldn't get new strings fast enough. As soon as I put on a set of rounds, I discovered the bright, punchy attack which made me choose this particular bass to begin with was back. That was my first and only experience with flats, and probably my last.
 
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#88
Fingerpickingood said:
Heh. The amount of old guy outrage on this thread is amusing.
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Your comment raises my ire, young man!

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#93
RichSnyder said:
I've never seen flats on a bass at *any* store with the exception of the occasional used bass. Most of those knobs and batteries are stolen by customers.
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Warwick fretlesses are regularly sold with flats.Mainly because the bass won't sell as quickly with winding marks on the fingerboard.
Unfortunately for them,I like the sound of rounds on a fretless.
Which is why I have never bought a demo fretless Warwick.
I want to hear it with rounds!Not flats!
But they won't do that.
 
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#95
In general, they stock the basses with whatever is shipped on them. It's actually been an improvement that bass manufacturers have started to put decent strings like D'Addarios on them.
Not to editorialize too much, but sometimes TB becomes Bizarro World where Jaco Sucks, nothing worthwhile has been played on bass since Motown, the only real bass is a P Bass with Flats, Slap is an Abomination, 5 and 6 string basses are heresy and reading Music is irrelevant. Not always, but sometimes.....
I have one set of 22 year old Flatwounds on an old Fender Mustang and a set of flats on my EBO for my Cream tribute band, but that's it. Great in it's place, but a steady diet of it would be like eating an entire jar of mayonnaise.
 
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#99
I'
Mojo-Man said:
If your over 50, you may remember that at one point some company's did offer basses with flats.
1- rounds are cheaper that flats. 2- Through the 80's & 90's most consumers played round-wounds.
The Fender CS Pino-Palladino P-Bass now, comes stock with TI-JF344-Flats. And the Steve Harris P-Bass comes with Roto-Flats.
Click to expand...
I can remember when you couldn't get a bass without flats and putting Rotosounds on a Rickenbacker would void your warranty. I guess I'm a Certified Bass Geezer! :D
 
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