Gasp, I've just ordered a set of roundwound strings!

[ossyrocks]

I've been a die hard flats kind of chap, and currently my Fender Precision  basses are strung with LaBella Low Tension Flats.

 

80% of the time I love them, but on sweaty summer festival stages, and hot pub/club gigs, they can really get sticky and grabby, and feel the opposite of smooth and glidey. Also, on some of those gigs, the amps provided are a bit hit and miss, and at our latest gig this weekend, I was far from impressed by an Ampeg SVT-3, which in the hurried set up I just couldn't dial in to my satisfaction despite starting from a flat EQ. The resulting tone was "wooly" at best, and bear in mind, I do like an old school tone!. Think Sean Hurley and Pino with John Mayer and that's my target.

 

So, I've decided to carry a bass strung with rounds. I may even use that bass over the others at first to give them a fair go, and see what I think.

 

For the more nerdy among us, the strings I've ordered are LaBella RX-N4D 45-65-85-105

 

I would like to know if you play both, and in what situations you choose one over the other.

 

Anyway, thanks for listening.

 

Rob,

Edited 21 hours ago by ossyrocks

[Steve Browning]

I have rounds on one of my basses. The band leader wants that sound. I'm ok with it, but I use the lowest value bass. 

 

I recognise the occasional stickiness of flats that you describe. I just lick my fingers a lot!!

[ossyrocks]

10 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

I have rounds on one of my basses. The band leader wants that sound. I'm ok with it, but I use the lowest value bass. 

 

I recognise the occasional stickiness of flats that you describe. I just lick my fingers a lot!!

 

I'm using D'Addario XLR8 for lube....ooo err, but sometimes it's just not enough. I have three early 70's P basses, so I figured it's no big deal to string one of them up with rounds. 

Given that you seem to prefer flats, how do you deal with the rounds?

[itu]

For me rounds are the thing, but finding the right set took quite a lot of time.

 

1) The right one here means that I use two brands, but similar gauge sets (SS RW) in every bass I have.

 

2) This helps to carry an extra set in a bass case, because that one suits, yes, every bass.

 

3) It's cheaper to order 10 sets at one time than 1 set 10 times.

 

4) The feel is nearly the same through all instruments, although scale lengths (33.8 - 36") have some effect on it. 

 

Maybe I am a fanboi of the string sets I use now, but there was a long and pricey trial and error period. Someone asks why I do not list the sets? Only because I believe that everyone should test different sets and find the right types, brands, and gauges that go together with the instruments and playing styles people have. My choice most probably isn't suitable for you. 

 

How I see strings: 

- tapewound: short sustain, lousy sound (which isn't automatically a bad one) 

- flatwound: a bit more of everything to TWs 

- groundwound: see previous 

 

Every set mentioned so far can be held in a bass until a fret cuts the surface of the string. 

 

- Ni RW: flat, pretty full response, good for rock, and fretless 

- SS RW: enhances highs and lows, thin sets can be really twangy (Miller and King obviously change their strings after few hours of playing) 

 

Specialities like a piccolo set can be fun for some time. 

[Steve Browning]

33 minutes ago, ossyrocks said:

 

I'm using D'Addario XLR8 for lube....ooo err, but sometimes it's just not enough. I have three early 70's P basses, so I figured it's no big deal to string one of them up with rounds. 

Given that you seem to prefer flats, how do you deal with the rounds?

To be honest, they do a job and little more. They play fine and don't have any of the sticking but I don't really like the sound much.

 

Old rounds are ok, but you have to endure the twang to get there!

[AlexDelores]

I’ve put a very cheap set of flats on my Jazz last night in one last attempt to like flats. For me, they play/feel great, I just can’t seem to enjoy the sound. 
 

I very much like the sound of old Rounds, but not the brightness of new rounds, but dislike the feel of old rounds under finger.

 

So, I’m trying these cheaper flats as they seem to have decent reviews and if no joy I’ll be trying the IMA super polished or some half rounds. 
 

For my ‘working’ bass (which is short scale) I just use EB rounds and change them every 6 weeks or so. I’ve never enjoyed the sound of flats on a shortie in the past.

 

Look forward to hearing how you get on live with the rounds! 

 

 

[police squad]

I have basses strung with both.

This Friday I'm depping with a new wave/ska/punk band. Taking the HW 4003 with rounds for the tangy grindy stuff and a P bass with flats for the Madness/ska stuff

Last Sunday I did a rock/blues gig with my JMJ Mustang with Fender flats on it. The perfect thuddery thump for the said gig

 

My Hofner CT500/1 is strung with La Bella deep talking flats, slightly heavier gauage (can't remember what but they are too high tension for a whole gig. That said it's tuned to E flat atm and it's fine

Edited 11 hours ago by police squad

[Cat Burrito]

I was rounds for the first ten years of my playing as I didn't know any other way. In the late 90s, I moved to flats. I stayed with them until 2019 and currently have a mix. I surprise myself in mainly having rounds these days but have Labella flats on my bass IV and an acoustic bass. I guess it depends on the song and the style, as well as the bass. 

[BigRedX]

There is no right answer regarding types of string. Choose the ones that produce the sound and playing experience that you like. Don't make a big deal about it. Unless you aren't able to produce the correct bass tone for the type of music the band is playing no one will care apart from you.

[ossyrocks]

2 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

There is no right answer regarding types of string. Choose the ones that produce the sound and playing experience that you like. Don't make a big deal about it. Unless you aren't able to produce the correct bass tone for the type of music the band is playing no one will care apart from you.

That's just it, I love the sound of LaBella flats, and most of the time I love playing them. It's just occasionally they get sticky the experience gets difficult. Rounds just may not work for me tonally, I'll just have to see.

[bassbiscuits]

I use both. For covers bands I tend to use round wounds and a modern active bass to cover the wide range of sounds needed. 
 

For tribute / original bands I use mostly a passive bass with flats. I sometimes use the active bass with rounds for that too tho depending on how I’m feeling.  
 

I like both and I tend to favour one over the other at different times. Been playing rounds/active bass loads lately but took P with flats to last rehearsal and fell in love with the sound again. 

[Grahambythesea]

2 basses with flats, 2 with rounds and an EUB which only can have flats. How do I choose? What ever the fancy takes me 🤣

[chris_b]

13 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

To be honest, they do a job and little more. They play fine and don't have any of the sticking but I don't really like the sound much.

 

Old rounds are ok, but you have to endure the twang to get there!

 

I have a 6 year old set of D'Addario NYXL's on my Sadowsky Jazz. They have just enough top end to help the definition and the rest is a nice warm thump.

[fretmeister]

I find La Bella's sticky in the heat too. It's one of the reasons I mostly use EB Group flats and let them get really old - and using the handcream trick to age them fast. They are nowhere near as grabby.

 

I did experiment with some La Bellas in a different way. I think the super smoothness is the problem. There's nowhere for the sweat to go. Other flats with a bit of a gap between the windings don't really suffer from the problem.

 

So I used some Wet and Dry paper to slightly rough up the string along the entire speaking length and it actually worked and made them noticeably less grabby when the hands are sweaty. No tone change that I can detect.

 

Just go slow to start - you can always sand a bit more but you can't put any metal back. I think I used 1500 grit.

 

Don't do it on the bass of course - the tiny, mostly invisible shavings will stick to your pickups forever.

 

 

[ossyrocks]

1 minute ago, fretmeister said:

I find La Bella's sticky in the heat too. It's one of the reasons I mostly use EB Group flats and let them get really old - and using the handcream trick to age them fast. They are nowhere near as grabby.

 

I did experiment with some La Bellas in a different way. I think the super smoothness is the problem. There's nowhere for the sweat to go. Other flats with a bit of a gap between the windings don't really suffer from the problem.

 

So I used some Wet and Dry paper to slightly rough up the string along the entire speaking length and it actually worked and made them noticeably less grabby when the hands are sweaty. No tone change that I can detect.

 

Just go slow to start - you can always sand a bit more but you can't put any metal back. I think I used 1500 grit.

 

Don't do it on the bass of course - the tiny, mostly invisible shavings will stick to your pickups forever.

 

 

 

I've not heard of anyone doing this before!

 

One of the reasons I like the Labellas is for how smooth they feel. I've had a few sets of Thomastiks too, which have a wider gap and feel less smooth, but I don't like the sound of them as much. The LaBellas are just DEEP.

 

I'm going to fit the rounds to the mellowest of my P basses, it really is a very mellow sounding bass, so I'm hoping they will still work for me. We'll see very soon!

 

Rob

[HeadlessBassist]

Welcome to God's clean Earth  

 

No, seriously I can see your thinking. I love the sound of flats for recording, but at the end of the day, 90% of my time is playing live and playing live with flats is like having all your sound sucked into a deep sonic chasm. It's really down to how you comfortably hear your sound.

 

We did a little duo showreel at the weekend and I always think I play too bright, but out front it sounds perfect and audible. I often compare it to when I play in the live tribute show against a digital piano, two Epiphone Acoustics, a Fender Strat and a drum kit, complete with up to four of them singing!

It doesn't matter how lovely my sound is. It's always going to get buried under that lot from my perspective, but it always sounds great out front, which is what matters at the end of the day.

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by HeadlessBassist

[fretmeister]

3 minutes ago, ossyrocks said:

 

I've not heard of anyone doing this before!

 

One of the reasons I like the Labellas is for how smooth they feel. I've had a few sets of Thomastiks too, which have a wider gap and feel less smooth, but I don't like the sound of them as much. The LaBellas are just DEEP.

 

I'm going to fit the rounds to the mellowest of my P basses, it really is a very mellow sounding bass, so I'm hoping they will still work for me. We'll see very soon!

 

Rob

 

I did web searches when I had the idea to see if I could find anyone else trying it - no results at all!

 

This is what happens when I'm left unsupervised!  

 

I've done it on DTF and on the Low Tension ones. After they are still not as easy as others but it's a welcome improvement and as you say, they sound DEEEEEEEEP.

Duck Dunn is still my favourite player and nothing else comes close when I want that sound.

[SumOne]

I tend to play Reggae and Ska (and Funk/Disco with Bernard Edwards as one of my favourite players/tones - and he used old flats) so flats are at least the perceived wisdom thing to go for  - but I then changed to roundwounds for a couple of reasons:

• Flatwounds seem like they would be smoother for your fingers but I found the sticky/grabbyness of them quite uncomfortable, roundwounds are actually more comfortable to play.
• An eye opener was hearing one of the Reggae greats Bass players (I think it was Flabba Holt, but not sure about that) saying he now uses roundwounds as you can EQ out the highs - but you can't increase highs if they aren't there with the flats. I tend to prefer old roundwounds that lose some high end but even with new ones EQ'd and then through an Amp/Cab it seems quite easy to make them sound like flatwounds but not vice versa.

 

Perhaps I'm missing something with flats though, do they actually produce more of a classic motown and Reggae low-mid frequency 'thump' than rounds? I haven't seen graphs that scientifically demonstrate this, my assumption is that actually there is no boost to those low-mid frequencies (if using strings with the same core) but the rounds introduce more higher frequencies (and potential finger noise with sliding), so it seems like the rounds have relatively more of that low-mid, but if you EQ out those highs on the rounds and you get the same thing. 

 

Is some of the perception because flats came before rounds? Rounds weren't widely used until the 1970s so anyone looking up what players used before then for Motown and early Ska and Reggae etc. will see that it was flats and try to emulate that? ...but If rounds were widely available back then those original artists might well have used them and EQ'd the highs out when needed.

 

 

 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by SumOne