Flat wound vs round wound strings

[Gloucestre]

Just to revisit this, I have 2 sets of these and I think they are very good strings.

Cheap Flatwounds from Aliexpress

Update on the strings. They arrived today and are surprisingly good so far [20231122_175414] [20231122_175425] They came in individual sealed plastic bags, numbered 1st-4th [20231122_175438] Sexy black silks, I didn’t bother trimming them [20231122_183140] They look nice and solid, feel smooth and not at all sticky or grabby [20231122_183148] How do they sound? On this bass were what I presume were the cheap rounds it came with-the guy I got this bass from sadly neglected it. The…

[sshoihet]

@Wombat-metal

Strings are a deep, twisty rabbit hole

Strings are at least one thing that barely interests me. I still haven’t gotten around to putting on the strings i bought a year ago . Pickups too, i bought pickups for my strat Feb 2020 and haven’t installed them yet

[sshoihet]

@Al1885

Sometimes it’s easier to choose a bass than to choose a set of string.

That’s actually HOW i get almost all my strings

[ronnielyons]

Just went through this yesterday. Not sure if you know this but the Mustang basses had two different styles of bridge. LaBella builds a specific flat string for both, give them a call to make sure you get the right string for your application if you choose LaBella’s.

[AZBob1960]

I’ve never tried flats, but I think I should. Tell me more about the FEEL.

[Barney]

@AZBob1960

I’ve never tried flats, but I think I should. Tell me more about the FEEL.

Like emotionally or tactile?

They feel smooth to me, quieter when fretting / sliding etc and after 3 years on flats I won’t go back to rounds. YMMV.

You can buy a cheap set for $30 or so to give it a go.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/073-9050-405--fender-9050ml-stainless-steel-flatwound-bass-strings-050-100-medium-light

I like GHS Precision flats. Had the same set on my P bass for 3 years

GHS 3025 Precision Flats Stainless Steel Light Bass Strings 45-95

Lots of options out there.

[joergkutter]

@AZBob1960

Tell me more about the FEEL.

I have tried flats two times in the last five or so years, and couldn’t come to terms with the feel of them (not a sound issue!!). Despite what would seem intuitive, to me they feel more grippy than rounds. I know that a few here (e.g., @howard) share that sentiment, while others don’t. So, yeah, YMMV, as they say!

I find the tactile sensation of touching and plucking rounds just more “pleasant”, for lack of a better word. It’s more a feel thing than a sound thing, really…

Somewhere in between flats and rounds are “half rounds”, but they feel neither here nor there to me and I have only tried them once.

[howard]

Yeah flats feel grippy and borderline unpleasant to me. Don’t like the ones I played.

[AZBob1960]

Thanks for that feedback guys. Definitely tactile feel I’m interested in @Barney. I’m not deep!

The luthier who made my SS recommends D’Addario Chromes flats ECB-82 50-105. Guess I’ll just have to try them and see for myself!

[Al1885]

@AZBob1960

Thanks for that feedback guys. Definitely tactile feel I’m interested in @Barney. I’m not deep!

The luthier who made my SS recommends D’Addario Chromes flats ECB-82 50-105. Guess I’ll just have to try them and see for myself!

The upside of flats is the deadened tone and reduced finger noise. The immediate downside of flats to me is the deadened tone and reduced finger noise. I like brightness in my tone.

I like flats on some songs but in general I’d stick with rounds.

The curve ball is the Tapewound /Nylon wound strings. 2 big favorite brands are the La Bella and D’Addario they offer excellent tone in a bit different feel. The La Bella tapewound feels like and upgrade or shall I say hybrid between flats and round tone and feel. You still get the firm plasticky feel.

The D’Addario Tapewound to me feels like a smooth rubberized string, so awesome. Slightly more mid but awesome.

Here’s the sample of the La Bella Tapewound White gold.

Forgiveness

And here’s the mix of the D’Addario Tapewound on both basses on 34” scale and another 30” scale on short scale. The electric Upright has flats on.

- YouTube

[soulman]

Smoother feel and less fret and finger noise but not dead sounding?

Try GHS Pressurewounds.

Products - PRESSUREWOUND™ - GHS Strings

[AZBob1960]

Just saw this in the When To Change Your Strings thread:

@Gio

I’m with @PamPurrs on this one. Flats pretty much last forever, as do the tapewounds.

Which also works great for me!

[howard]

@AZBob1960

@Gio

I’m with @PamPurrs on this one. Flats pretty much last forever, as do the tapewounds.

Which also works great for me!

Yeah, they already sound kind of dead out of the box in comparison to rounds, so there’s no urgent need to change them like there is with rounds as they deaden. Flats just ease more in to their flats niche over time.

[MikeC]

Flats are different than rounds, by design. However, not all flats are created equal.

I had D’A Chrome flats and they didn’t do it for me. They sounded much brighter than traditional flats, such as La Bellas. But they just didn’t have much character to my taste; just kinda meh.

I got some TI Jazz Flats and then things were right. They’re definitely not vintage-y, but I wasn’t after that sound. They are bright for flats, and by no stretch of the imagination do they remotely sound like dead rounds.

Their tone is round and punchy, more of a modern tone than Jameson’s, for sure. I’d classify them as Contemporary Flats, if you will.

[howard]

Yeah those sound like they are really good and if I ever try flats again I might splurge for them.

[Al1885]

Here’s the example of expensive strings.
TI jazz flats $130
TI Jazz rounds $90
Dogsl 23” scale 5 string $140
All with tax included

I love the extra bite that Thomastik Infeld offers on both flats and rounds. And, No they don’t sound like regular flats.

I also love the Fender strings that came with the Mustang.

You are free cover

[howard]

Yeah. The reason I would consider the splurge on the T-I flats is that these (in my limited research) seem to the the ones closest to what I would like, and if I DID like them, would keep them more or less permanently so it’s kind of one-and-done.

I would never, under any circumstances, UNLESS it was for a live show that paid a lot, consider going with $90 rounds. Three packs of my $30 NYXL rounds favorites would be a far better investment.

[sshoihet]

@MikeC

I had D’A Chrome flats and they didn’t do it for me. They sounded much brighter than traditional flats, such as La Bellas. But they just didn’t have much character to my taste; just kinda meh.

I have Chromes on my TRBX174, when i put them on, they were brighter than the rounds that I took off. They’re about 3 years old now, i don’t play that bass much but it’s not a really inspiring sound, they’re pretty 1 dimensional.

[sshoihet]

@howard

Yeah flats feel grippy and borderline unpleasant to me. Don’t like the ones I played.

I think it depends on how moist you are… i have pretty dry skin and it’s never been a problem for me but i also don’t get bothered by a lot of things that others do

[howard]

@sshoihet

@MikeC

I had D’A Chrome flats and they didn’t do it for me. They sounded much brighter than traditional flats, such as La Bellas. But they just didn’t have much character to my taste; just kinda meh.

I have Chromes on my TRBX174, when i put them on, they were brighter than the rounds that I took off. They’re about 3 years old now, i don’t play that bass much but it’s not a really inspiring sound, they’re pretty 1 dimensional.

Hmm. Now I might try these too. Brighter than dead rounds is a good start for flats.