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Zero stick for me, but I use fast fret always.
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I had the same problem with the rounds on my p-bass. It was like shredding through my skin. The strings on the current models are a lot better. Maybe they had a batch of strings supplied by Hellraiser.
The only strings that really felt different to my fingers were the ones from DR. It feels like they have more density. Felt really nice for slides but I might prefer the cheaper ones.
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You may have just uncovered the mystery of why different people have such vastly different opinions of flats. I’ve been playing flats or tapes almost from my first day of bass playing, and my fingertips are still as pristine and sensitive as they ever were. The callouses you and (@howard ?) have developed may be why they feel so “sticky”.
The ultra sensitivity of my fingers is also the reason I dislike rounds so much.
Am I on to something?
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I don’t find them sticky, I find them to slippery.
Probably in most cases, but there are those that like to use both, but I would bet that most people that prefer flats do so because of finger sensitivity.
That said, my fingers were not roughed up when I started, but I had played guitar in the past and knew what would be involved to get my fingers into playing condition.
Just with Guitar, you play on razor wire.
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That’s funny because @howard and some others state they are sticky. Personally, they feel perfect for me, not sticky and not too slick, but just slick enough to do nice, smooth slides without feeling like I’m shearing the skin off my fingers lol.
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Yeah, I don’t find this, but I know others claim it. I also have seen some agree with me about them being too slippery, I just don’t remember who.
So the slick / sticky is 50/50 like the Flat / Rounds are (or close too)
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@T_dub I think I’ve figured out why you find flats to be too slippery.
wait for it…
wait for it…
because you pre-stretch them.
(runs and hides)
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Nope, I didn’t even install them. Came back from when it got PLEK’d.
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The thing about stretching is probably more about how you play.
Do you do lots of full string bends while playing? I know you don’t slap or pop.
A more aggressive playing style will certainly benefit from string stretching, because they WILL go out of tune, until settled if you are constantly bending the strings up 2 strings over, and popping them.
If you are playing a softer, less attacking style, then you probably won’t run into this, and they will settle over time so you don’t quite notice.
I know if I don’t stretch them, and I play a few heavy riffs, and check tuning on those strings, they will be out of tune, and can be up to almost a full tone.
It doesn’t happen constantly, but for the first 3-4 times it does, for me, for sure.
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My guess would be that I think the stickiness is because I am usually lightly touching the strings for muting and so on; with flats, since they are flat, your fingers come into contact with much more surface area of the string, because with rounds you only really touch the round tops. And so it feels less frictiony to glide fingers over rounds to me.
Good nickel rounds are not rough, rather they are nice and smooth feeling; you can feel the windings of course, but they aren’t so rough as some of the stainless rounds I have used.
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That makes sense, and also why I feel they are heavy in in comparison, and go clackety clack a bit more.
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All of this!!! (Which is why it deserves a repetition 
)
I tried to express the same thing in the “Flat/round…” thread.
But, really, folks: these are mostly observations! It is not about being right or wrong or more right or more wrong than others… Some people respond to aspirin, some don’t; some people taste umami, some don’t; and so on… 
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That email was most likely 99% CYA. From a liability standpoint, of course the manufacturer is going to recommend you don’t put a metal wire under any more tension that what it’s designed to be used at. It’s probably just fine if you stretch most of the time, but if one snaps and someone loses an eye, LaBella wants to be able to say they warned against doing it. Simple as that.
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A fascinating topic I play rounds. The Fender rounds that came with my bass when I bought it didn’t chew up my fingers but they are rougher than the rounds I play now which are Rotosound’s Swing 66 Standard 45, 65, 80, 105 (stainless steel) I am curious about trying flats now, however…such controversy 
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Ugh - muzzle sweep and trigger finger control - how did these guys take over a Burger King much less the galaxy?
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The string should still snap before the ball comes off. Still seems like a defective string IMO
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