Flats versus Roundwounds, again.

[rictified]

Flats are not necessarily smooth and jazzy, that is a bum rap they have been getting for years. I get a very aggressive sound when I want it, flats force you to wrench the sound out of your bass because they are much more neutral in their sound than RW's, more even from bottom to top. I make them sound the way I want them to. I like to fool around with my RW'ed bass in my room when I'm playing alone but on the job it just doesn't cut it the way the flats do, doesn't have the bottom. Remember that early Entwistle was all flats including My Generation, in fact those were tape wound flats he used on that song. Flats make you work the amp and bass much more, that is one of the reasons I insist on using SVT's, they work with me, my sound is a combo of a Ric with flats (usually) and my SVT which I play pretty loud, I get a lot of bite out of this set up. 'Look sharp' Joe Jackson's first album that everyone thought was a RW'ed Ric was actually done with a flat wounded Ibinez. Strings are just tools for the player, they do have inherant differences but they aren't as different as you think. The major difference to me is that flats have a naturally much stronger fundamental and less overtones and RW's have more overtones and less fundamental. I believe it is easier to add bite by playing aggressively than to add fundamental that isn't there in the first place, rounds get muddy if you try to add too much bottom, flats don't need the added bottom. If any of you here are fans of late 60's early 70's bass players like Bruce, Cassidy, Bogert, etc, they were all flat wound players and there was nothing subtle about the way they played, they were right in your face upfront wildman virtuosos, who pulled the sound out of their basses, used tube amps and all used distortion boxes.

[admin]

Bob: Interesting points. My questions for you, after reading your comments are as follows.

Do you approach your playing any differently when using rounds versus flats?

Could you do a respectable job of playing any music regardless of the string type?

[jwr2]

Entwistle could not have got the Who Live at Leeds sound with flats ... I have gone into a music store and picked up a bass with flats ... I don't get my sound ... not even close ...

I want a string that sound good acoustically before I plug it in ... flats don't sound good acoustically ...

I saw Bogert in the 70's live ... he was using rounds ...

[atomic_punk]

Nate, the 12 has a "shimmer" to it, nice bottom end, but THICK with the overtones of the octave strings. A lot like a 12 string guitar. When I play it with my band, we don't have a rhythm guitarist, and don't need it with the space the 12 takes up. Jared, I might consider a trade for an 8, since you seem to be stockpiling all of them....

[basshawk]

Peter, as I was telling the guys at the confluence - when I went from rounds to flats I was surprised by the fact that it was my right fingers that were affected most. The flats made my finger tips very sore until they developed calluses (which I thought I already had plenty of). I think you do use a different attack between the two. And like Bob said, you can get a good bright sound out of flats just like rounds - Jeffrey can demonstrate that. When I first tried flats back in the 70's I didn't like them. I wasn't real sure if I was going to like them now, but have grown to appreciate them. But --- they make both for a reason --- we don't all like the same things in life and strings are no exception.

[johnashfield]

Ultimately you use a bass to make music. And in reality most people never ever notice if you have flats or rounds on your bass. They just notice if the music is good.

"You say poe-tay-toe, and I say Pohh-tahhh-tohhh".......

Or something like that.

[rictified]

I try not to approach my playing differently but sometimes I would have to because I like a strong fundamental along with good mid and top, with rounds I miss the fundamental. With flats I probably stick more with the groove. As for doing a respectable job with either type yes, but each has it's strengths and weakensses. I think flats are much more solid sounding and rounds are sometimes more pliable and lend themselves to more facile lead-type playing. But to be honest with you I believe that flats are better for 99% of bass playing situations. When I played rounds all the time they were many times and places where I was not satisfied with my sound, since I've switched to flats I have never had a problem getting a clear cut-through solid bass sound.

[jwr2]

If I owned 100 basses none of them would be strung with flats ... the sound of a flat wound string is unpleasant to my ears ... the reduced ring, the reduced sustain, the reduced overtones, the reduced fret buzz, the reduced finger noise, the reduced complexity of the sound, the less aggressive sound, the reduced treble response, and I just don't like the thud ...

[jwr2]

you know there is a reason why 99% of the basses in a music store are strung with round wound strings ...

[86kubicki]

My flatwounds don't "thud". They ring out nice and long...
Once again guys, it's a matter of personal sonic taste. Use what gives you the sound you prefer. As much as each side pontificates, you'll never convi

[dean712]

I have a set of flats on the way... will install them on a 4003 when I get back from the business trip I am on. I will chime in here again when I get some hours under my fingers on the flats.

[jwr2]

everybody should make up their own mind ... each person can try round wounds and they can try the strings that sound bad .... it is subjective ... but nobody will ever have doubt which side I take ... I remember back in the early 70's a friend of my who played a jazz bass had only ever used flats ... he tried round wound strings and didn't like them ... he had one spot on his neck that had fret buzz so he switched back to flats ... that was about the same time I tried round wound strings and loved them ...

[jwr2]

like I have said before ... If I showed up at a gig with my band with just a 4 string bass and flatwound strings and no bass pod my band would probably fire me ...

[dean712]

Just to twist this thread another half turn, I am going to try my new flats thru my Bass PODxt, too....

Jeff, I agree that "everybody should make up their own mind" - that's why I'm trying the flats. I've never touched a bass with flats before, and there is probably a young generation of bassists brewing for which that is common.

Currently, my favorite setup is a 4003 with RW's through a tube Ampeg V-4bh. However, I'll try anything once, and especially for recording purposes... if it works, I will use it.

[jwr2]

I played in a band recently ... they were a few years younger than me ... but none of them had ever even heard of flat wound strings ...