Flat wounds on LX broadneck for rock/metal

jcburn

jcburn

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Steve Harris uses them. Does anyone use this setup in a rock format? I realise flats have a duller sound than rounds, but with the zing of Warwick MEC pickups and pre and the clarity of woods I thought it might be an option. Will be nice on my fingers and cut out a lot of string noise too I assume.
I also thought I may get a slightly lower action? Who knows!
Any thoughts?
 
Flats and metal are a no go for me. Usually get lost in the mix and lose clarity at high speeds. Maybe you should do a more subtle transition like trying nickels first. I recommend DR sunbeams.
 
Thanks flipper - good idea. I use nickels at the moment but heard good things about sunbeams. I use EB Power Slinkies and I get a fair bit of string noise with Warwick basses that I dont get with my US Fender Deluxe Jazz. Do the Sunbeams have the tapered B? I have heard good stories about them.
Any other suggestions. I have tried Elixirs and they aren't my cup of tea, plus the coating shreds off in two minutes when I use a pick.
 
i really dont think flats can cut it ... unless you are Steve Harris - where you can pretty much do anything you want and still be an institution for metal-bass playing.
 
Steve uses ultra low action and slaps his strings in fingerstyle, playing through guitar cabinets. Talk about unique style/sound. Ding ding. You can try something like that, minus the cabinets perhaps. Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse plays something like that as well I think, but CC is kinda rough on the ears and brain, so I am not very familiar with his approach. :)
 
It was just a thought but I think I will give Sunbeams a crack, or maybe even go back to Fender strings that I quite like. I think nickel strings will do it but I like strings without wrap and the Warwick will need a set with at least a tapered B.
 




I bleeb if you want a tapered B-string
from DR you go with their Low Riders.
Thaz what the name means, cuz then
the string 'rides' lower in the saddle.
​


 
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jester said:
Steve uses ultra low action and slaps his strings in fingerstyle, playing through guitar cabinets. Talk about unique style/sound. Ding ding. You can try something like that, minus the cabinets perhaps. Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse plays something like that as well I think, but CC is kinda rough on the ears and brain, so I am not very familiar with his approach. :)
Click to expand...

Webster uses an SVT 4 and an Ampeg 8x10

I'm not sure what he uses for strings though.
 
golem said:




I bleeb if you want a tapered B-string
from DR you go with their Low Riders.
Thaz what the name means, cuz then
the string 'rides' lower in the saddle.
​
Click to expand...

I have purchased at least 10 sets of Low Riders (45-130), a few High Beams and one Fat Beam set and they were always NON-tapered. The only tapered set I purchased was Long Necks. All at Guitar Center.
 
krkozbassman said:
I have purchased at least 10 sets of
Low Riders ... and they were always
NON-tapered. The only tapered set I
purchased was Long Necks. ....
Click to expand...
Thank you.

My Bad.


I knew it was some kinda descriptive
name that made a mental picture of
the nekkid cores at the end ..... but I
obviously musta been into too much
Cheech and Chong !

"Long Necks". Would definitely want
those on a Vampire bass ....

Vampires are afeared of Sunbeams,
so that much remains: If you want a
taper core it ain't the Sunbeams, it's
the Vampires. Now I'll never forget:
Looong Necks.


Acoarst now I'm left wondering how
Low Riders got named "Low Riders".​



 
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golem said:

Thank you.

My Bad.


I knew it was some kinda descriptive
name that made a mental picture of
the nekkid cores at the end ..... but I
obviously musta been into too much
Cheech and Chong !

"Long Necks". Would definitely want
those on a Vampire bass ....

Vampires are afeared of Sunbeams,
so that much remains: If you want a
taper core it ain't the Sunbeams, it's
the Vampires. Now I'll never forget:
Looong Necks.


Acoarst now I'm left wondering how
Low Riders got named "Low Riders".​
Click to expand...

Ya know if it wasn't for "C and C" I'd probably be a rocket scientist!
 




Non-scientists.

I was gonna say "non-rocket non-scientists .... "

but "non-rocket" seems like selling them short !
​

 
I have recently fitted one of my Stage 1s with flatwound strings and I have to say the results are great. I'm using it for both hip hop and rock, I'm digging the extra low mids I am getting and am rid of a lot of fret noise and clicks that I don't like. To me the sound is much rounder, and still present in the mix.

I'm using Thomastik Infelds by the way... have a listen here:
 





I've been getting the impression that Lex
plays in a musically together band, so it's
easy enuf for me to believe that he faces
no huge challenge of 'cutting thru'. Thus
he can appreciate and enjoy flats.

OTOH, I equally get the impression that
many of our brotheren suffer a mix thaz
less like soup and more like sewer sludge
and see no way to purify it, thus they are
always looking for a means to 'cut thru'.

Unfortunately, this pursuit tarnishes the
'public' reputation of flats, as concerns
their ability to rock out.
​



 
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Cool info thanks Lex. I was sure with the right settings I could get a sound I liked out of flats. I'm sure I will try them at some stage now. By coincidence I have just had a week off and paid the guys at the Bass Centre in Melbourne a visit. Great shop and great guys by the way. Tried a Steve Harris P bass. Really surprised me how good it played (made in Japan) and also the sound was great with 'Arry's sig rotosound flats on it. With tone rolled of it was definitely boomy and thumpy as you'd expect but with the tone pushed up full and straight into a Markbass 4x10 rig there was Steves tone - robust, round and well definied. I realize a Fender is a totally different beast to a Warwick but I think now my minds made up! Will repost when I can get a decent set of flats to try.
 
golem said:
Acoarst now I'm left wondering how
Low Riders got named "Low Riders".​
Click to expand...

I recently purchased a set of Nickel Low Riders (.045 - .135). My understanding is DR calls em low riders due to the alleged increase in articulation of the B and E strings. They are hex core so are supposed to be stiffer than round core and produce clearer low notes. At least thats the propaganda from DR.

I can say that compared to the DR Highbeams I had on my Thumb previous to switching to Low Riders, my B and E are now noticeably more articulate. Though probably not a totally fair comparison since the B I had on before was a .125 and pretty floppy....
 
Yes - Thomastik flats are very nice. For round wounds, I really like the Thomastik Power Bass strings, too. Thick but more flexible than the others.
 
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