Flats versus Roundwounds, again.

[henry5]

In my opinion the argument is entirely pointless. Flats are great if you like flats, rounds are great if you like rounds, both are great when used in the correct context. If I was trying to recreate a Motown track or play Reggae I would use flats. However my taste is for the sound of roundwounds; it's what my ear prefers for the situations I play in, and it suits my music better (and seeing as I write it I feel fairly safe in saying what sort of bass sound I should have!) Ultimately, why is there an argument? I like certain bands, certain tv shows, certain foods, visiting certain countries. I would never expect anyone else to share my tastes; I don't believe anyone is "right" in a general sense, only with respect to their personal preferences. If it works for them, fine. I can't understand why some people can't deal with the fact that others disagree with them, and that other people's opinions may be just as valid as their own. Do I care if someone else doesn't like Chinese food as much as I do? At the point where you start to imply that your opinion is the only one that matters I think you need to grow up. To be honest this issue has been grinding on through thread after thread and it's really starting to cheese me off. I'm happy to hear someone say "I like flats" or "I like rounds" or whatever; I am NOT interested in "rounds/flats/anything else sucks". I want to hear positive, interesting comments on this Forum, not petty bickering and negativity. It appears we all have a good idea what we like, and I'd be grateful if we could just learn to live with it and move on.

[jmh]

Thanks Peter. I'll give it about 20 hours of play time and see if it improves. If not, I'll use a rattail file and widen it a bit. Do Pyramids eventually sound and feel any different after using them for awhile? I've been using light guage rounds for the past two years, so I'm used to lesser tension.

[jmh]

Steve, thanks for your reply on the E opening up after awhile, I didn't see that before I posted. I appreciate the wealth of information being shared on this subject by all. Regarding this argument being pointless (shaun), I haven't seen it as an argument at all. If someone feels strongly about something, and always expresses himself that way, I've just come to expect that, and accept it as a valid opinion. To me, it's not really important how an opinion is stated, but what I can learn from what that person is saying. It is true though that just saying something sucks without a reason isn't very helpful, but it often is followed by intelligent conversation. I suspect it's often said tongue-in-cheek, and take it lightly as such.

[greg_mitchell]

I think each type of string has its place and function.

[admin]

I'm with you Jack on this one.

I typically use flats, but am going to try rounds in the near future for a change so that I can reassess them. It has been through the discussions here that I have decided to do this. I may switch back but I at least I will be more informed as a result of trying.

Now what brand of roundwounds?

[bob_atherton]

FWIW I use RW on my 2 Rics and Fender Jazz, and FW on my Musicman. The FW on the MM give me a really good 'old school' funk/Motown sound.

[henry5]

Jack, I don't mind so much where it's obviously tongue-in-cheek, but I suspect some of this is starting to go ever so slightly beyond that. And it's where it's NOT followed by intelligent conversation that worries me. As I said,I'm happy to hear people's opinions, but to rubbish other people's is NOT helpful, either way. The problem for me is not just this thread, it's that the same "discussion" has been drawn out through countless others. If you read back historically, there's a wealth of info on string types, and whilst I would certainly encourage discussion as long as it's in a positive way, I feel (rightly or wrongly) that there's a negative undercurrent running through too much of this, which I for one would be happy to see us move away from.

[admin]

Shaun: Let's see what happens in the practical sense when we try something different.

As I mentioned, while I prefer flats on my bass, I for one am going to take the round wound challenge and play them for the next month or two. Who will go from flat to round with me to discuss our findings in some detail?

Also who will go from round to flat?

[1rr3l3v4n7]

I would!

But hey, seriously I love both... just depends on the mood...

Can someone explain something to me? Why isn`t it possible to find basses made for sound suckers nowadays???

As we can see on this thread, there is still a lot people who love them. Why is the market closed to this possibility (except, of course, uprights, 4003fl, and macca's hofner re-issue)... even Ric doesn`t sell flats...


By the way... Did you knew this one?

"Late one day a local pub saw six guys walk in, obviously in pairs of two, sit down and order their favourite after-work drinks.
The first two to seat themselves and be served by the bartender were two guys working at a major university whose I.Q’s were so high they could hardly be measured! They began discussing from Quantum Mechanics to the fine points of Particle Physics, either one as brilliantly as the other.

The bartender then went over to the next pair who were "regular guys" with ordinary jobs, with average I.Q’s, schmoozing about how hard it was today to keep up with bill payments, how high taxes were, how corrupt politicians were and all the day-to-day struggles most everyone has.

The last two the bartender served were two very badly educated, ill-mannered dolts with very low I.Q’s that could barely be measured on any I.Q. test. As soon as they'd ordered the bartender overheard one say to the other, "Oh, hey, I meant to ask ya, d'you use flatwound or roundwound on your bass?""

NOT MINE! I found it at http://www.users.bigpond.com/prodigalson/bass.htm

[dean712]

Peter, I plan on going from roundwounds to flats for a few weeks. Never tried flats. I'll give it an honest try and post results at some point in the future. I like the discussions here and am learning something new almost every day from the various points of view. Thanks, guys!

[jwr2]

shaun ... you are right the is a negative current ... and a lot of bitterness ... some people are making it personal ... as per the original title of this thread ... it was directed more as an insult to me than a discussion on strings ... it was thinly veiled as a discussion on strings ...

[admin]

Thanks Dean, I will be most interested to hear your comments. I can think of no better way to see both sides of the string issue than to switch for a period of time. I am going to try it for a month to give it a fair go.

I have, this evening put roundwound bass strings in place of my flats. I am comparing Pyramid flat wounds to SIT Power Wound Nickel bass strings. They are .45 .65 .85 and .105. I am using these strings as they were readily available to me and while they may not be the top of the line I do find them to be of very nice quality.

Without a detailed description, they are a nicke-plated steel cover wrap wound over a Swedish Steel hex core. I am playing through a Bassman 100 head and I have a new Traynor cabinet with a 15 inch, two 10s and a tweeter. A rock solid Canadian cabinet that suits my purpose fine.

From the beginning these strings seem foreign and very different in texture to the flatwound Pyramids. They are not so smooth of course but after about an hour I am quite used to them. My fingers have been given a little bit harder workout but nothing serious. Give me a break, I am a guitar wimp.

In stringing up the bass, I found that it took a little bit longer for the round wounds to settle and stay in tune than the flats, however, they intonated beautifully.

I have chosen a bass passage that I did not know before putting these strings on. It is Oh Darling by The Beatles. Some very nice bass runs here with some interesting hammer ons that I just love.

Well after only an hour, and I reserve the right to change my mind as I gain more experience with these strings. I am, however, quite surprised. The sustain is very nice on these strings and the tonality is close to the McCartney sound and this on roundwounds. The very trebly tonality that I was expecting has not been a problem so far. Also, I expected that they would be much noisier than they have turned out to be.

Over the next few days I will turn things up a notch. My honest first impression is, however, that they are much better sounding and feeling than I expected them to be. I like the sustain somewhat better than the Pyramids which have been on my bass for perhaps two years at this point.

[jps]

Sorry we forgot to do the count, but I did play most of the basses there and it was probably a 50-50 split!

[beatlefan]

I agree , Jeff....they were about half and half...

I'm about 50/50 on my basses....this is only recently , though.....as I've been pretty much flats only....but I DO like rounds and have been playing them more and more....

[jwr2]

Sometimes I feel really out of place on this forum ... for me playing most Beatle songs would be like a form of punishment ... and using flats would make it unbearable ... and this is coming from a guy who used to play Beatle music with a Hofner strung with flats ... I have One by the Beatles ... I find it hard to listen to ... I like Come together and a couple others but a lot of it is not stuff I can relate to anymore ... I have really moved on to modern music ... I was a classic rocker in the 60's and 70's ... But I didn't like Disco ... then in the 80's all the bands wearing makeup and spandex turned me off so I went retro and played blues ... then about 1990 grunge came along and guys could wear flannel shirts and blue jeans and just play music ... the music was more important than the video ... I got interested in modern music ... some of the old stuff still sounds good to me but a lot of it I can't relate to ... most people find music they like in their teen years and continue to listen to it their whole lives ... as a gigging musician I don't really want to play for senior citizens ... so playing modern music gets me in front of a younger crowd ... and for me flats is going back to the old music, old amps, old instruments, old sounds, old songs, ... yawn ... gimme rounds and a low b and modern songs ...