If You like the tone it's ok, but some differences you will loose with no roundwounds.
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Flats on a fretless?
- Thread starter red7flag
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- flats fretless 5
I ran rounds on my Aussie made Maton JB4 Fretless Pro bass for years. (Bad pic under red stage lights) It had an ebony fingerboard. I found it never marked up the fingerboard any quicker then flats anyway, and every couple years I would use a toothbrush or small piece of rag with a small amopunt of gritty toothpaste to smooth out any of the minor indented winding marks on the fretboard. Worked a treat to remove any of the string markings on the board almost back to new. I know it sounds odd but the gritty toothpaste acts like a gentle cut and polish on the fretboard without any adverse reactions and without causing dips or hollows.
I used flats for a couple years but preferred the sound of rounds which always had that great attack sound I like on my basses..fretless or fretted. I could still get a nice mellow sound from the rounds if required anyway.
Yes, if the bass has sufficient character of tone on its own, the more neutral toned La Bellas would also work well.
Ebony is so much harder than other fingerboard woods, including the various rosewoods, maples, and other alternates, that it can stand up to rounds. But rounds will chew up just about everything else.
You have to choose that flats or roundwounds. I choosed roundwounds and they do more sickness on my fretbourd but the sound is the major point.
I have both, a 4 string Ibanez with an Ebony fingerboard with round nickel strings and a Carvin 5, also Ebony with tape wounds. My thoughts on strings is that I've tried to find the string that best suites each bass so that it sounds the best to me.
My point is that you do not have to chose the same thing for every bass.
I have a TFB. It's my main instrument lately. I tried a bunch of different strings on it. Rounds and flats. Eventually settled on TI flats for the tone and tension. I think the only way to know what you like is to experiment. There are no rules. You just have to work out your relationship with the instrument, whatever that ends up being. Highly recommend the Tony Franklin bass though.
Just last weekend I put a set of flats (GHS Precision Flats) on my fretless and I'm loving them so far compared to the rounds that came on the bass.
Have Chromes on my Warwick Corvette fretless at the moment. Don’t dislike them, but my fretted Franken-P is way to bright and clanky. Gonna put the Chromes on it, and one of the gazillion sets of rounds I’ve recently acquired back on the Vette.
If it works for you then that's all that matters.
I love flats. Love the feel of them. I'll do what I have to with the EQ to get as close to the sound I want whatever the strings.
In saying that, I've struggled over the last few years to get a sound I like out of my fretless. I changed the body from a Fender Blacktop Jazz to a Squier VM jazz as I just didn't like the double P pickups. I then put in some Bill Lawrence J45's which were a small improvement but still didn't really like the sound.
I finally put some black tapewounds on it and they just work! It's the sound i've been looking for. The only problem now is a bit of noise due to the fact that i'm not touching anything metal while playing.
I love flats. Love the feel of them. I'll do what I have to with the EQ to get as close to the sound I want whatever the strings.
In saying that, I've struggled over the last few years to get a sound I like out of my fretless. I changed the body from a Fender Blacktop Jazz to a Squier VM jazz as I just didn't like the double P pickups. I then put in some Bill Lawrence J45's which were a small improvement but still didn't really like the sound.
I finally put some black tapewounds on it and they just work! It's the sound i've been looking for. The only problem now is a bit of noise due to the fact that i'm not touching anything metal while playing.
Same here! I tried TI Jazz flats, and I stopped my search for strings.
My advice: pick flats or rounds based on the sound you like best and don’t worry about the fingerboard.
Does finger friction really slow you down that much? Try opening your hand a bit before you move it up and down the neck.
The last fretless I owned was a 73 P, and I used Chromes on it. Sounded great. Before that was my only other, a Dean Rhapsody. I used the rounds on it that it came strung with. It scratched up the fretboard, but I didn't care.
Flats on my fretless?
Never!
Rotosound RS666LD with a macassar ebony fingerboard.
Never!
Rotosound RS666LD with a macassar ebony fingerboard.
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I am new to flats. Just put my first pair on my G&L LB-190 and love the deep rich rice. Have been considering a Tony Franklin fretless. How would flats sound on the TFB? In addition to tone, I would think Flats would be easier on the fretboard.
Sorry was a terrible typo. Was supposed to say deep rich tone. Auto correct does not even explain that mess.
I want to thank all that have responded. What I seem to glean from all you thumpers is that the style one plays will have a lot to do with what sounds good. I guess I should explain that I am mostly a five fretter (little or no solos). I prefer a deep, dark, and heavy sounding bass. This is why I thought to not only examine fretless, but also flats. I like the PJ approach of the TFB, but I have not yet tried one I really appreciate the feedback.
Sorry was a terrible typo. Was supposed to say deep rich tone. Auto correct does not even explain that mess.
I want to thank all that have responded. What I seem to glean from all you thumpers is that the style one plays will have a lot to do with what sounds good. I guess I should explain that I am mostly a five fretter (little or no solos). I prefer a deep, dark, and heavy sounding bass. This is why I thought to not only examine fretless, but also flats. I like the PJ approach of the TFB, but I have not yet tried one I really appreciate the feedback.