I hear you, but it’s no use if you don’t play that bass. You can store the strings if you want to go back to flats later, and put some good rounds on again! Try the GHS Bassics - good allround, warm rounds!
Nah, not going for the T-I’s yet… although, they also make rounds 
I know this has been kicked around the block several times, but I still have to say it…
When I removed the tape wounds and put back the round wounds on my fretted bass a couple weeks ago, I could not detect a noticeable difference in tonal quality or sustain, especially not enough to mitigate the abuse that the rounds afflict on my fingertips. After a couple of days, I put the nice, silky smooth black nylon tape wounds back on, and I’m perfectly content.
As many have said in this thread and in others, it’s all up to personal choice and what kind of sound you wish to produce from your bass.
Thanks for the tip. I saw GHS (IIRC) have a set for BEAD setup. Now that I got a bass primarily to make it BEAD I was looking at strings last night on Amazon. I did order a set of DR Red strings for the Tom Araya Bass, but held off on the BEAD for the Dean MetalMan because I couldn’t make my mind up between using the 5 string Carvin set I have, getting my first thought, DR Coated Neon Orange 5 string set, or trying out the GHS BEAD set. I am still not 100% certain. I wanted to go orange with it, but not sure I want to spend $12 more for a 5 string set when a 4 string set is available.
You have not made up my mind for me, but have given me something to consider.
I think I will wait for the red set to arrive, and see how I like the look on a black bass, and see if it’s bad ass enough to make me want to say F it and get the orange ones…
It’s funny, cuz it’s not really a money thing, you know I am not shy to spend most of the time, but it’s a credit thing. I have Amazon credit, and I may be wanting a certain pedal, and was hoping to get it with the credit, and didn’t want to use it up on strings.
It’s funny what our brain does in different circumstances.
Looks are important, but it’s all about the sound with strings
Anyway, it’s really tough; there are so many strings out there, and we all have a limited budget, so finding your “favorite” strings is a looooong and costly project!
You are correct, maybe I should have added this crucial pc of info to that post.
I have the same strings on my SR300, only they are black instead of red, and I like them a lot. I like the variety I have in strings, and I also like that my SR400 has Round wounds, like all my other Basses, so I am ok to have a variety, and adding more of these strings is ok to me. And in this case, I think looks may prevail.
Both my Tom Araya, and Dean MetalMan Basses GROWL as it is, and I think they would still so so with dental floss for strings. Haha 
Really good video from Mark clearly illustrating the differences. Especially the tonal differences.
Does a good job demonstrating both why old-school styles sound good with flats and why people like me prefer rounds 
Have any of you tried the Labella low tension flats? I’m thinking of trying them out on my medium scale Jaguar.
I have the LaBella flats on my Hofner, not sure if they’re low tension as the description did not mention the degree of tension.
Thanks @JerryP. I’ve used regular Labella’s before and they sound good. They have a separate line called Low Tension Flats that I am considering. They sound a bit brighter on the YouTube videos I’ve seen. I’m hoping someone on here has some personal experience with them.
No,
You should have the Flats on your P Bass
And the Rounds on your J Bass
But its personal preference
it works either way… go with your ear !!!
Well I decided to go ahead and give the Labella Low Tension Flats a try. I ordered them from Strings and Beyond on Tuesday and they arrived today. Tension wise they feel about the same as the round wounds that they replaced. I didn’t have to make any adjustments to neck or intonation. Sound wise they are obviously not as bright as the nickel rounds that were on it, but I don’t think they’re quite as dark as standard Labella’s. Feel wise, well, they’re Labella’s so naturally they are buttery smooth. Overall I am very pleased. 
You’re not alone. I don’t have many (any?) idols other than Steve Harris! LOL!
I might even put it closer to 70% when you consider Jamerson, Babbitt, and Kaye alone!
I’m going to add half rounds to my conversation…
My hatred of round wounds is well known, so there’s no need to rehash that part of the conversation.
I’ve been using flat wounds and tape wounds on my basses for over a year and love them. Reasons: silky smooth for sliding, and there’s no residual noise (such as you get from rounds).
At the recommendation of @Lanny I decided to order a set of half rounds. I replaced the tape wounds on my Yamaha fretted bass with the half rounds, just to try them out.
My verdict:
Much smoother than the corduroy surface of rounds, but still not as smooth as flats or tapes. Sliding is just “okay” They have a nice sound, but still create a bit of residual noise (not as bad as rounds). I like them much better than rounds, but not as much as flats or tapes. I’ll keep them on my fretted bass for awhile, but will likely spend more time playing the fretless with tape wounds.
Needless to say, my EUB will ALWAYS have flats.
Just my $0.02 worth. YMMV
i just ordered a pair yesterday. i’m curious.
I haven’t got a set as yet, I think I will wait till everything opens up here and see if I can get a set for “sally”
I have yet to try flats, tape or 1/2 rounds. I have tried coated strings, the DR colored ones, and they are pretty cool. More finger friendly and a little less noisy then the round wounds on most of my basses.
My fingers have gotten just fine with rounds, I could probably play barbed, or even razor wire strings and not notice on my finger tips, but as far as sound goes, I have not gotten to playing around too much with strings.
Part of me wants to be able to correct the string noise issues thru technique and not have it minimized by string style, the other part of me just has not wanted to get into replacing every bass of mine with new flat wound strings, and if I love them, then I am going to spend the money to do so.
The last part of me just has not gotten around to it.
I want to change the strings on my Stingray Ray 4HH, so maybe I will just make the jump.
hmm… ya know, i must be the only person on earth that actually likes finger squeaks.
Nope, you’re not
Love the bright, sharp round wound tone. They feel fine to me. I find sliding sounds are neat little imperfections that add some cool character and are managable with technique. Flats sound like dead rounds to me in comparison.
Sometimes that’s what you want. Flats are a good sound for classic tones. It’s rarely what I want. I don’t play R&B.
I’ve tried flats on other basses. Flats feel nice and smooth and if I had a fretless it would definitely have flats. But I’ve never really been interested in a fretless either - I love frets. Frets are your friend.
Rounds feel fine to me. Flats feel smoother, but that’s only subjectively “better”. I don’t have a problem with how rounds feel. I kind of like their feel TBH, don’t really understand the hate.
Like, as an example, this song has an amazing, bright mixolydian bass lead line that really wants a sharp sound and the kind of sustain you get with rounds. This would not sound nearly as good (to me anyway) with flats:
(@T_dub - the chorus in that track is the one the EHX Bass Clone is based on. @joergkutter might like the bass too, it’s a Shergold Marathon six string in this song)
Wait, I didn’t say anything about not liking finger squeaks. I was saying correcting unwanted noise thru good technique, not eliminate the good stuff.
Hell, I even don’t mind some fret buzz in the right time and way. I like to hear the grit and emotion run a hard played baseline, I wouldn’t have it another way, and as Steve Harris has proved, you can even get it from Flats.
I am a man who appreciates variety, I could never have all the same bass set all the same way.
That said, I could have all stingrays, but all different.
And a Stingray Ray34ca just popped up for sale. I like and am going to try and go look at it this weekend.
Cool, I almost ordered it today, but Amazon doesn’t have any, they are all from 3rd party sellers, so its not Amazon Prime.
I take that back, they do have some for Prime, but at $107 instead of $89
Same for theTC Electronics HOF2 standard size pedal. only 3rd party sellers and for $242 
I don’t want the HOF 1 or the HOF2 mini. without the 3 tone print spots on the HOF2, it is not worth it to me.
So, @howard, I ordered the BOSS reverb pedal, but I think it is different then yours, I think you said you had the RV-2? The one they had was RV-6.
I think it will be the pedal, I won’t be testing against the HOF and not gonna bother with EHX Ocean’s 11 cuz same thing, 3rd party sellers, or pay way more for Amazon prime.
Boss vs Gokko Creepy will be the battle.
Creepy is Creepy good, but I doubt it stands up to the Boss, and the Boss having the delay option (even tho I don’t really care for it) is a plus.
Course, the cheaper way, got Creepy and keep the Zoom on the board for delay if I ever want.
IK I am off topic, so I will stop, but pedals and pedal boards are just too much fun, especially with Amazon Prime, free ship and return…