School me on bass guitar strings

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  •  Winny_Pooh said:
    I'd order a set of regular roundwound Daddarios for an alt rock band. Or Fenders if you want a good quality cheaper set to test. I liked halfrounds for a clean deep tone for years but now use rounds. Chromes are good and brightish (have them on a fretless) but they will still not give you the snap or sustain that rounds do. 

    Yeah, but I'm a wimp and I like the comfy feel on my fingertips that flats give you! =)

    I don't hate the sound I currently get or anything, and my bass has active 3-band EQ so I can dial in some more treble/mids if I need to brighten things up a bit as needed. Just fancy getting a little more zing than what I currently have.

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  • bandmaster188bandmaster188 Frets: 390
     Winny_Pooh said:
    I'd order a set of regular roundwound Daddarios for an alt rock band. Or Fenders if you want a good quality cheaper set to test. I liked halfrounds for a clean deep tone for years but now use rounds. Chromes are good and brightish (have them on a fretless) but they will still not give you the snap or sustain that rounds do. 

    Yeah, but I'm a wimp and I like the comfy feel on my fingertips that flats give you! =)

    I don't hate the sound I currently get or anything, and my bass has active 3-band EQ so I can dial in some more treble/mids if I need to brighten things up a bit as needed. Just fancy getting a little more zing than what I currently have.

    Have you looked at the Ernie ball cobalt flats? They are a good halfway house between flats & rounds. Not cheap but seem to be the brightest flats out there and lower tension than chromes if that’s your thing. 
    The Swamp City Shakers
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    I can’t get on with any flatwounds on a fretted solid bass - they just feel, sound and sustain wrong to me. They’re usually OK on a semi-hollow though, although half-rounds are better. I can’t stand roundwounds on a fretless either, even if they didn’t chew up the fingerboard.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • pintspillerpintspiller Frets: 994
    I like the sound of Swing Bass, but they lose their swing after a month or two. Thinking of trying D'Ads as I use them for guitar. Or Fenders (which I assume come as standard on my Squier) as they seem good value for money.
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  • prowlaprowla Frets: 4896
    I like Rotosound 40-100 gauge.
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  • ICBM said:
    I can’t get on with any flatwounds on a fretted solid bass - they just feel, sound and sustain wrong to me. They’re usually OK on a semi-hollow though, although half-rounds are better. I can’t stand roundwounds on a fretless either, even if they didn’t chew up the fingerboard.

    When I got my current bass delivered it already had the Flats on it. I didn't have an amp at the time so could only play it unplugged, and I instantly hated them - sounded totally dead and lifeless. I was convinced I was going to change them ASAP, but then tried it at rehearsals plugged into a nice big amp, and once I'd tweaked the EQ a bit I had it sounding great. The nice silky feel was an added bonus!

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    It’s the combination of the smooth feel of the strings with the frets that feels wrong to me. Perfect on a fretless, terrible on a fretted! I don’t like the attack/sustain either. The sound is the least of the problems...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    ICBM said:
    It’s the combination of the smooth feel of the strings with the frets that feels wrong to me. Perfect on a fretless, terrible on a fretted! I don’t like the attack/sustain either. The sound is the least of the problems...
    Please tell me you didn’t try flatwounds with a pick.....
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    Bridgehouse said:

    Please tell me you didn’t try flatwounds with a pick.....
    Both.

    Some of the most classic bass recordings were done with flats and a pick on fretted basses. I just don't get on with the combination at all - although it's probably still better than roundwounds on a fretless!

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    ICBM said:
    Bridgehouse said:

    Please tell me you didn’t try flatwounds with a pick.....
    Both.

    Some of the most classic bass recordings were done with flats and a pick on fretted basses. I just don't get on with the combination at all - although it's probably still better than roundwounds on a fretless!
    Some of those classic bass tracks were also short scale and done on thumpy semi hollow basses as well (Animals and Harmony bass etc.)

    We’re all different tho. Just when it comes to bass you’re more different than the rest of us ;)
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    edited May 2019

    We’re all different tho. Just when it comes to bass you’re more different than the rest of us
    In my experience anyone who likes flatwounds on anything other than fretless is pretty different, to be honest .

    And don't get me started on bronze roundwounds for "acoustic" basses! Just because acoustic *guitars* use them...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    Flats on a P Bass - probably the most frequently recorded bass guitar sound ... in the world.
    Be seeing you.
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  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7732
    Flats on a P Bass - probably the most frequently recorded bass guitar sound ... in the world.
    In the 60's perhaps. Since then nah.
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  • jpfampsjpfamps Frets: 2723
    Flats on a P Bass - probably the most frequently recorded bass guitar sound ... in the world.
    In the 60's perhaps. Since then nah.
    Steve Harris?
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  • jpfampsjpfamps Frets: 2723
    ICBM said:

    We’re all different tho. Just when it comes to bass you’re more different than the rest of us
    In my experience anyone who likes flatwounds on anything other than fretless is pretty different, to be honest .

    And don't get me started on bronze roundwounds for "acoustic" basses! Just because acoustic *guitars* use them...
    I have flats on my P-bass, as do several (much better) bass players than me.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    jpfamps said:

    I have flats on my P-bass, as do several (much better) bass players than me.
    That may well be so, but it's definitely a minority preference.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7732
    Also re frequently recorded. Gauranteed that Lee Sklar, Tony Levin, Nathan East and other session genuises have played on way more albums than the motown P bass guys. As soon as they could many players ditched flats for rounds on a jazz bass and funked the crap out of the 70's. 
    Even P players in the 80's Like Adam Clayton & Phil Lynott certainly used rounds.
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  • KoaKoa Frets: 120
    +1 in favour of flats...pick, thumb or fingers, but most basses seem to have an inbuilt preference. My Rickenbacker 4001 sounds best with rounds, both it and my Stingray didn’t get on with flats. I believe Bernard Edwards used flats on a Stingray but not for me. Any idea what Gail Ann Dorsey uses anyone?
    .....and of course Precision, Jazz and Fender Mustang basses, it’s got to be flats unless you’re going for that clanky metallic P bass sound. Fenders with rounds sound great only if they’re +10 years old and the tone is backed off by at least half.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    Flatwounds on a Mustang Bass is like playing with rubber bands underwater! 

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23941
    Flats on my P.

    And on my Ray PJ.


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