Flatwound vs Roundwound Bass Strings – 5 Tone Tests – Which Sounds Best? – YT164

Paolo Bass Guitar Technique, Bass Lab PLUS Membership, blog

Hey, James here…

Well it’s that time of year again - it’s my birthday weekend...

… and to mix things up a little I thought let’s make a video on something slightly different and to answer a fun question I get through a lot:

It seems like about once a week a question asking me ‘which strings should I use?’.

Quite a difficult question to answer.. But ultimately there's one choice you need to make from the outset.

In one of the core reasons why bass players can sound so different.

The first thing any player needs to decide is if they want to string up their axe with flatwound or roundwound strings.

The sound James Jamerson makes is completely different to the sound Marcus Miller makes.

It’s crucial to pick the right type of string.

That’s because stylistically the slap thing is quite a different animal to an old school Motown vibe… and it’s much harder to get out of the starting blocks with the wrong string.

In today’s lesson I’m going to share 5 tone tests or comparisons which help you decide if flatwound or roundwound strings are right for you.

I’d love to hear in the comments which you prefer… and of course why.

Keep groovin’ hard,

James

P.S. Don’t forget… I’ve just released my brand book “The Essential Guide To Blues Bass”.

Get the Essential Guide To Blues Bass


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