Roundwounds or flats?

[Phil O'Keefe]

So what strings do you prefer - roundwound or flatwound?

 

If you use something else, please tell us about it in a post.

 

I use both flatwound and roundwound strings. I keep at least one bass strung up with each at all times. I like having the tonal versatility. How about you? What are your preferences when it comes to string types?

[Pine Apple Slim]

Both mine have flats. I like the feel and the sound and they fit with the stuff I play.

 

i would put on rounds if the gig called for em.

[DeepEnd]

I have flats on my bass because A: I like the feel and B: I found a set on sale when I bought my bass. I'd like to try the d'Addario halfrounds but I don't play bass enough to spend the money on new strings.

[isaac42]

Roundwounds, though I do have halfrounds on one bass. The halfrounds replaced flats on that bass. I do have another bass with flats, but it doesn't get played. It's just too heavy. I had nylon wrapped strings on one bass, too, but they seems to lack low end, particularly on the E string. Two different basses, and neither seems lacking with rounds, so I figure it must be the strings.

[lug]

Rounds on all my basses except haldrounds on my fretless

[Klatuu]

I think somewhere in the book of Genesis, is says Rounds on Js and Flats on Ps.

[Anderton]

Rounds, I like the zing

[Phil O'Keefe]

Both mine have flats. I like the feel and the sound and they fit with the stuff I play.

 

i would put on rounds if the gig called for em.

 

Cool. I really like the smooth feel of flats too.

 

What kind of stuff do you play?

[Phil O'Keefe]

I think somewhere in the book of Genesis' date=' is says Rounds on Js and Flats on Ps.[/quote']

 

If it doesn't, it probably should.

 

I wish I could play P-Basses, but they're just too chunky of neck for my little snausage fingers.

[WRGKMC]

I like both for different purposes. To me its all about the core sizes and balanced tension for playability then getting the best tone match possible.

 

I have a little tool I picked up back when I had a job repairing calculators (pre pc computer days) The company was throwing away all their obsolete tools used to repair all the old mechanical calculators and I snatched them up. In the batch

 

I got a couple of cool spring tension meters. They were used for balancing tension on springs and measuring the lbs they would pull. I adapted these meters to measure string tension and I'm able to get a decent ball park reading on strings tensions. I do this by either depressing the string down to the fret board at the last fret or using a hook attachment to pull the string sideways using a hook attachment and measuring the tension at the point where one string touches another.

 

It gives me and idea how well matched the strings are for flex and tension when they're tuned to pitch. Over a long period of time (you don't change bass strings too often so it takes time) of trying all the common strings in the gauges I like, I found at least 70% of them had uneven tensions. The thin strings seem to produce higher tensions then the thicker strings do. I suppose this doesn't matter to most players but it does for me.

 

I like sets that have nearly identical tension when depressed. Guess it comes from playing thin guitar strings and bending strings allot. I use a couple of sets that come fairly close and I'm able to get around on the fretboard much more efficiently, especially on a shorter medium or short scale neck.

 

The tension differences have much less impact on a long scale neck. I've compared that two because I often by 3 packs and put the same strings on the short and long scale guitars. The high strings feel much stiffer (or the low strings are flabbier) on a short scale.

 

I've narrowed it down to a couple of options and for the best feel, Boomers rate high followed by the D'Addarios in the 45/50~105/110 ranges. Long scale I like the Labella for playing live. They have a little more flex and snap than most strings.

 

On the other extreme I find DR strings the flabbiest. They use some really thin cores and the string recoil is horrible.

 

That's one thing about bass. You find something that works well and get the bass set up for them its tough switching to something else. By the time you get the bass set up for them, break them in, discover their strengths and weaknesses you could have done better just sticking with the old brand and getting your different tones electronically.

[Mikeo]

 

If it doesn't, it probably should.

 

I wish I could play P-Basses, but they're just too chunky of neck for my little snausage fingers.

 

I had a American made P Bass for along 2 decades, and somewhere along the line I bought a American made Jazz Bass. I stopped playing the P Bass cause the neck was so comfy on the Jazz.

 

Then about 10 or so years ago, maybe long, I bought an American made Jazz Deluxe. The neck is even smaller than a standard Jazz bass and the body is a bit smaller too. It has active electronics in it, so it has the thunder of the P Bass and the pop of a Jazz plus more.

 

Don't know what you're using now for a bass, but check out the Jazz Deluxe.

 

http://www.fender.com/basses/jazz-bass/american-deluxe-jazz-bass/0194580700.html#start=1

 

They make a non American version too.

 

 

http://www.fender.com/jazz-bass/deluxe/

 

Your little snausage fingers will love it.

 

I traded out the P Bass for another Martin guitar.

[lug]

Work out on the P, play on the J. If I've gone a while w/o playing, this gets me back into shape quick, fast and in a hurry!

[WRGKMC]

I've has a Squier II Precision since around the mid 90's. The neck isn't overly large. I have played many other that were.

The build for a squire II is much better then any Squier you'd buy today. Its akin to a normal Fender bass in build quality and has been rock solid with zero issues. I can pick it up after not haven't played it for months and it retains its tune.

 

The only thing I don't like about it is its weight. I cant weal it playing live any more and its pretty heavy sitting down playing it as well.

The original owner put Lace Sensor pickups and a series parallel switch in it and I'm able to get some decent tones from it.

 

I wouldn't mind trading it for a Jazz bass. I think a Jazz fits my hand allot better with its narrow rouned neck and its tonal ranges with two pickups would be more suitable to allot of stuff I play.

 

I did build one that's very close. I Picked up a New Washburn Neck which has the same shape as a Jazz and mounted it on a Lightweight Precision body made of some south American wood. I used it full time for a couple of years playing in a Doors band and the Thinner neck made for much better speed then the precision. When it comes to playing live its hard to be a long scale fender type bass for good tones.

[Phil O'Keefe]

One of my daughters has a MIJ Squier P-Bass that I purchased in the mid-80s that's a bit of an oddball - unlike nearly every other P-Bass variant Squier and Fender have released, this one has a 32" scale length. I used the heck out of that bass for years. It's really the only P-Bass I've ever enjoyed playing. I've got lots of friends who own them, and I've even reviewed the latest AVRI P-Bass from Fender, and while they're great instruments, without exception every single one was too chunky in the neck department for my tastes, although the AVRI wasn't as bad as some of the MIM and other standard MIA models.

 

A good J-Bass, or an Ibanez SoundGear / SR like my '89 SR1100 OTOH... :love:

 

 

 

[DeepEnd]

Nah, it's Leviticus.

[sonicnuance]

It really depends on the bass. For my Fender Precision I like flats. For my 5 string fretted and fretless I prefer roundwounds. On my upright, (not that there is much of a choice) flats.

 

[WRGKMC]

The first P bass I played was a 1957 my buddy owned back in 72. Even then the finish was checking. He was always going up to NYC and visiting pawn shops and would find these terrific instruments. I would constantly be trading instruments with cash with him. I'd play it for a year then trade for something else.

 

This is very similar to what he had. It looks a bit more like a Tele bass then a Precision with the smaller headstock, Two saddle bridge, and tele like control plate. The pickup was a single coil too. I remember the neck had a low radius and its was super easy to play. He always had his instruments set up by Phil Petillo who was the hottest Luthier in NJ back then. He even had a patent on his frets which were triangular shaped for better intonation precision. I owned a couple of guitars he refretted. They played like butter.

 

 

 

http://www.premierguitar.com/article...ntist_Inventor

 

[Pine Apple Slim]

50s &60s Rock and Pop, old school country, Americana, blues, etc.

Reissue Guild Starfire, SX P/J. Labellas on both.

[Chip Stewart]

I use GHS Brite Flats on my short scale bass. I find short scale basses sound better with thicker strings, and the GHS Brite Flat string size is 0.049 to 0.108. Playing in a folk band, I also want a sound with a strong fundamental. The Brite Flats are half rounds with a strong fundamental that don't sound dull either. After about 6 months the Brite Flats start to sound dull, so I change my strings about twice a year. I experimented with many different strings and the GHS Brite Flats are the strings that give me the sound I'm looking for. You can hear what my short scale bass with the Brite Flats sounds like at

.

[Verne Andru]

I have both on different guitars. I like the tone of flats for jazz, etc. while rounds add aggression for rock.

 

One of my basses is a Dano VI. Rounds through lipsticks just scream when pumped through overdrive. Dialed back and picking by the bridge puts me in Tic-Toc heaven.

[isaac42]

Then there are the various permutations of half rounds. I have some kind of ground wounds on my Ric 4004Cii, and like them quite a bit. Unfortunately, I don't know what kind.

[WRGKMC]

Ever tried the nylon tape wound? I bought one set and used them for a couple of weeks and took them off. The tape just deadened the sound more. I suppose if you have an overly bright bass and amp it could tame things. McCartney used them but the music being played, amps used and the ability to record bass well were very different.

 

The biggest playback systems back in the 60's was a mono AM car speaker usually mounted in the front dash. You were lucky if you had any response below 200hz. To get good bass tone meant using more secondary string harmonics instead or primary. (no sub harmonics which were bad for cutting LP's too) This meant the strongest bass frequencies occurred above 160hz up to maybe 1K. If rounds were used you may get better high end but you'd be masking guitars and vocals.

 

AM suffered from major high frequency roll off too. I doubt you could hear anything above 10K so all your instruments had to fit between say 200~9K hz and do it all in mono.

 

That's quite a challenge. Using the wimpy bass amps that sounded more like guitar amps for bass produced allot more mids and highs. This is where the tape wound could beef the bass up. The tape rolls off highs and adds mass to the strings. This has an EQing effect that could target the bass ranges on those dashboard speakers quite nicely without having to change anything else in the recording chain. (the technology of the time was likely being pushed to the limits in many cases already)

 

Its funny how things changed. Within 20 years Rotosound strings and Disco music made really bright bass tones super popular. Now its back to normal bass tone ranges on allot of stuff. If you include bass tones used in Rap/Urban stuff you could make the case that "Mole Bass" tones are back in style.

[DeepEnd]

Ever tried the nylon tape wound? . . .

 

. . . The biggest playback systems back in the 60's was a mono AM car speaker usually mounted in the front dash. . . .

 

. . . AM suffered from major high frequency roll off too. I doubt you could hear anything above 10K so all your instruments had to fit between say 200~9K hz and do it all in mono. . . .

A friend had a set on an old Hagstrom bass back in the mid 70's. Unfortunately, he didn't have a decent amp so we never heard it at its best. AM radio frequency response was typically 40 Hz up to maybe 5 KHz but the speakers that were available were another limiting factor. FM was 30Hz-15KHz. Speakers with a peak around 100Hz were common to make listeners think there was a lot of bass. Even today, most systems only reproduce the second harmonic of a bass, from around 80 Hz and up.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Ever tried the nylon tape wound? I bought one set and used them for a couple of weeks and took them off. The tape just deadened the sound more. I suppose if you have an overly bright bass and amp it could tame things. McCartney used them but the music being played' date=' amps used and the ability to record bass well were very different.[/quote']

 

McCartney was never particular about strings, but what he used in various periods is fairly well documented... and it included strings off a piano, flats (Pyramid, and later Rickenbacker/ Maximas), Rotosound TruBass 88's in the Let It Be / Abbey Road era, and then back to Ric strings with Wings... so the type of string he used really is mainly a matter of which bass in which era... He's used a few different things, and not just tapewounds.

 

The biggest playback systems back in the 60's was a mono AM car speaker usually mounted in the front dash.

 

I assume you're referring only to cars here, right? If so, sure - that was what you commonly found in cars back then - I remember when radios in some cars were optional... makes me feel ancient. But even in the 60s I knew people who had nicer systems in their cars than a Delco AM radio and a single 4x10 dash speaker.

 

You were lucky if you had any response below 200hz.

 

True - although a car has never been an ideal playback environment. It certainly was important that recordings sounded good on such systems back then, and engineers mixed with that in mind; bringing out the harmonics instead of focusing entirely on the fundamental of the bass is a good way to do that and to help it to be audible on a bandpassed playback system such as a car AM radio.

 

Sounding good on transistor radios and a portable flip-open turntable was equally important IMO, but those devices had the same kind of limitations as most car radios did. LPs played on a good home HiFi or console system of the same era had much better fidelity though, and those systems weren't completely ignored by engineers either. It's not nice to intentionally tick off the fans who care most about your work, even though as an engineer, I have to say that some of those hifi folks are certifiably nuts. But the point is, you might be surprised by how much there is down low on some records from the 60s... it's not as if they all put a HPF at 160Hz on everything or anything crazy like that.

 

 

[Verne Andru]

One of my first real tech jobs as a teen during the early '70's was installing stereos in cars. So in my own humble way I was at the forefront of the change from car audio being poor AM radio to surround-sound [quadraphonic in those days]. Needless to say the changes were dramatic and business was good for that period.

 

My car, while equipped with an Alpine CD player and 4 way speakers, is far from sound systems in upscale newer cars that continue to blow my mind. Specifically, it doesn't handle thumping lows real well. But that actually gives it purpose. Whenever I'm mixing something for distribution I always make sure it sounds good on the car stereo. It's like my version of the old studio Genelec's engineers used to mix to. Get it sounding good on one of those and the rest is gravy.

 

See, there's a purpose behind even crappy car stereos!