Discussion: "I can make my rounds sound like flats"

#21
I was just thinking earlier on how many kids and teens, or any age for that matter, get on here and repeat things they’ve heard before without any actual experience in what they are talking about. I’d say not many, but sometimes I wonder.

Anyway, I think the key word to look at is “like”. When people say they can make their rounds sound like flats, what they probably mean is they can get in the ballpark. I’d agree that I can make rounds sound like flats, but they are not flats and are not going to sound exactly as flats sound. If the English language were sound we’d not have spelling b’s. And, sitting in an ELA class is my nightmare.
 
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#22
With so many bassists being wank happy with their tone knobs in the “up” positions at all times, I find it quite easy to discern. There’s really nothing more obnoxious than someone doing their best to sound like Geddy Lee on a Motown song...heck, even when you hear these tributes performed by top musicians to old school hits on TV, they’re diming that preamp to sizzle. I understand that from a performance perspective that people generally “don’t care or notice”, but as a fan, it annoys the crap out of me. You even see it with smaller acts at bars and clubs...the flatwound to some is like a demon from the past that they’re not willing to face in the midst of their musical progression. They left that old hag long ago and aren’t looking back. To each their own, but they don’t sound the same. Both can do things the other simply can’t.
 
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#23
I don't see how it would be possible to get there 100% strictly from a physics point of view. I think you can move towards that acoustic territory, but the string design will define its timbre and IME you simply can't eliminate/mask all the artifacts or create those that are missing using technique or EQ/effects alone.

I can certainly dull down a bright string with some techniques and EQ, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't fool a recording engineer or most bassists. I would say that you can probably dull down a round wound enough to fool most audiences who are listening to you in a busy mix.
 
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#26
CapnSev said:
Rolling off treble on rounds will never sound like flats with the treble/tone up.
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Exactly! Well said, Powdered Toast Man. Rolling off the tone on roundwounds makes them sound similar to flats with the tone rolled off, but rolling off the tone for roundwound strings can never duplicate the sound of flatwounds with the tone rolled up. And that's why I play flatwounds. I love the sound of flats with the tone rolled all the way up! There is no substitute.

Hey! You live in CDA too?!
 
#28
superheavyfunk said:
I've read many people on here saying, in some way or another, that they can make their rounds sound like flats. It's often phrased as "I can take away treble but I can't add it."

This has never been my experience. I've tried everything from using my tone knob, to changing pickups, to using pedals and the EQ on my amps. Sure, I can take away treble content in the signal but it sure don't sounds like flatwound strings, regardless of what I do.

*To be clear* I'm NOT interested in actually trying to make my rounds sound like flats. I have basses with rounds and ones with flats so that I can have the sounds I need when I need them. I just find myself wondering how many of the folks who believe this mantra have actually tried to make their rounds sound like flats, and how many just say this for the sake of saying it.

If you've actually accomplished this feat, how did you get there? What gear did you use (bass, pickups, strings, effects, etc), and how close was the sound, both solo and in the mix?
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Flats sound unique period. That said, the closest I've come to getting a flat like sound is by using a set of rounds that are well broken in.
 
#29
I think that some people are confused. When you play flats there is some treble. That's where the finger sound is, and the attack transient. If you take away all the treble to try to make rounds sound like flats all you get is mush. No transients, no finger sound. Unless your tone control knows how to take away the scroinng and leave the finger sound, and change the dynamic envelope.
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#30
For me, there is no "close enough". I guess I am particular enough about my sound and aware enough of the differences in strings that I can say rounds will not get a typical flat sound. The percussive attack is just not there.
 
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#31
I took lessons from Chuck Rainey in the early 90's. He used nickel-plated steel roundwounds 45-100 on all his basses and he adamantly said, "I don't use flatwound strings" including half-rounds. He said he could get a flat wound-like sound with a foam mute and tone controls. Of course, he had some high-end basses, tons of studio and live experience, many years of playing flatwounds "back in the day", a versatile right-hand technique, plus, he's Chuck Rainey! Personally, I have never gotten a good facsimile of a flatwound string sound with either nickel or stainless-steel rounds. I am using well-played-in Chromes on my Mustang PJ. They sound thick and present with little or no treble roll-off on the bass, and they sit well in the mix pretty much anywhere.
 
#33
I may be a heretic, but I've put flats on my P bass 3 times now, and it currently sports D'Addario NYXL nickel rounds.

So I don't really want my rounds to sound entirely like flats.

The reason is that when I'm playing flats, I tend to lose a lot of harmonic overtones that give a richness to the sound. In an ensemble situation - which most bassists are in - the flats sound fantastic and really blend into the mix. However, when I'm at home practicing, there are certain things that just sound "off" when I'm playing.

With the rounds on, I have all the richness of tone I'm looking for when I'm working on a solo piece, or playing harmonics. But when I'm in an ensemble, I roll the tone all the way off and it has a tremendous thump and a presence that I normally don't feel with the flats.

Lots of people use flats and love them, but for me I find that I get more for my money out of the nickel roundwounds.
 
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#34
Alivefor5 said:
I started playing in the early 60's when Fender basses came only with LaBella flatwounds on them. A set very similar to what they sell as the Jamerson set today. When RotoSound came out with the first round wounds in the late 60's it was nirvana for me. I get as close as I want to flats with my tone control today.
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I understand what you are saying. I started in the 60’s as well. At the time I didnt even know that bass players changed strings...ever. One detail though...I really believe early Fender basses came with VC Squier strings, at some time bought out by Fender. There is an anecdote about James Jamerson pulling off the Fender strings from his basses and installing Labella...the model later known as “Original 1954”, or now known popularly as “the Jamerson set”. I’ve used those strings a few times, and while they can punch like Muhammad Ali, they feel like steel bars to me.
 
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