The CONFUSING world of STRINGS - Part 2 | EP121 | The SBL Podcast
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ย. 2023
- The CONFUSING world of STRINGS - Part 2 | EP121 | The SBL Podcast #121
With so much attention put on our instruments and amps, and even pedals, many bass players are quick to underestimate the importance of their strings. But your strings are the only thing between you and your bass guitar, so make them count! In today’s episode Ian focuses on the finer points of all things flatwound.
In this episode
Are there advantages to using flatwound strings?
When did they become cool?
What are tapewound strings? And what are they for?
Some of the more famous players who use flats.
And much more!
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Ian you sweet sweet soul. Never change
.... your flatwound strings
Hahaha
Speaking of gratitude... thank you Ian. This podcast was especially awesome because it came from a place of genuine reflection, authenticity, and a good heart. I'm currently in the gratitude cycle, but it is tough to not feel some guilt with all of the suffering in the world. Any hoot... Your embellishments on "I Want You Back", "Good Vibrations", and the other examples were awesome! I love Fender's flatwounds but got the Thomastik-Infelds about a month ago. They have far less tension on my Jazz bass and seem to be louder. I don't know if that is due to a heavier gauge core or the type of metal they use. Great sounding stings but the lighter tension definitely took some getting used to. Anyway, thanks for being an awesome role model and bass teacher!
A big ditto Dave, and Ian you're the best....you vocalized what a lot of us feel!
Ian, if you ever read this, I just want to say you’re an awesome person. It takes courage to be as open, honest and vulnerable as you often are in these pods. I’d listen to you talk about anything really (except Star Wars). Thanks for another great pod man!
That starfire blew me away!
This is your Job & your Profession... It's how you feed your family. Feeling guilt about exploring the best tools is the equivalent of a Carpenter feeling guilt about buying a new hammer.
Thanks for sharing your feelings, Ian! But: don’t let the trouble of the world way down on you! You won’t help anyone by feeling down. The key is to take all your beautiful gear and use your incredible talent and make beautiful music with it! Inspire people to play bass and to make music. We can be thankful indeed, that we can be the messengers to show people, music, and the art of bass playing!
Take those sad feelings and turn them into positive energy! ❤🎶
Don’t be a Sad Boi, Ian…sharing your passion is bringing joy to others. There’s no better purpose in life than that brother! Keep up the great work!
Ian awesome job man. For whatever it’s worth, you are the “A” squad.
I've never been SO interested in strings as I have become over the last two podcasts. I, of course, have experimented with different types - flats/rounds/half rounds - really just on how much I could afford to invest in my interest at the time, but now I am thinking about strings in much more detail with the knowledge I have gained here. I am grateful and thankful.
+1 for Rotosound Jazz Bass 77s.
I listen to this episode repeatedly instead of doing mindfulness.
Great episode Ian! I love flats and hate the feeling and string noise of rounds. I just got a Dingwall and put a set of TI flats on it immediately. The B string is a nice juicy .136 gauge. Sounds savage.
“Reframe Your Brain”, a new book by Scott Adams, has a lot of different reframes that may help with “guilt into gratitude”. Read the reframe in the book, the idea is in your mind and starts working in your life. Living in gratitude is the best attitude for helping people who need help. Thanks for the discussion.
Also, I’m fairly new to acoustic bass guitar so I’m learning a lot with your podcast. I think my teacher put shaved Labellas on it. I love the feel and sound. I’ll find out what I’m playing!
Flatwounds on a jazz bass is the sound for me! I use a Sandberg California TT4 HCA with LaBella 45-105 flatwounds
The so called ‘renaissance’ of the flatwound actually started a little bit earlier: late ‘80’s / early ‘90’s.
I (‘72) was playing bass back than and reading all the (bass)magazines I could get a hold of. Bassplayer Magazine had become huge at that time!!
The ‘back to vintage’ (bass)gear thing really got going because of one artist in particular back in ‘91: Lenny Kravitz with his first two albums (especially ‘Mama Said’). He used only vintage gear both in the studio and live, and all the magazines were all over that!
One year later ‘Grunge’ started big time! Their love and respect for music from the ‘60’s and ‘70’s (not so much the gear, but the tones and songwriting and energy).
At the same time, because of rap and R&B and even early ‘urban jazz’ (New York scene), a thing very much like it happened in all those styles too.
From that year on, you weren’t cool anymore with your Ibanez, Kubicky or Riverhead bass. It needed to be Fender or Gibson like.
That was exactly the reason I was able to buy my yellow Kubicky back than. 🤣 Nobody wanted those anymore... That sudden ‘revolution’ only took a few months, mostly because of Kravitz’ second album and all the hits on it (and the videos!).
Even I swapped my brand new Kubicky late ‘91 for a really bad ‘78 Fender P bass...
I think Pixies’ Kim Deal used flats on het Aria and Fender P even before that: late ‘80’s (‘88/‘89?).
Just a few years later (‘94/‘95) I started to use flats for the first time, like many of my peers.
And, boy they were expensive. There were only two brands widely available in Europe back than that had flatwounds: Rotosound Jazz and Ernie Ball Group II flats.
Somebody like Tony Sales (Tin Machine) always used flats, but on way more modern active basses (BC Rich first, Vigier later): ‘88.
The great Fernando Saunders! Same thing: modern bass (Modulus 5 fretless) strung with flats, mostly played with a pick. Amongst many others, he played this bass and those strings in Marianne Faithfull’s live band and Lou Reed’s band around 1990.
😄
🖖
All I know is, when I first looked for flatwounds back in 1991, they were hard to find. This was in the Los Angeles area, so it's not like I lived in the middle of nowhere. The music store that I was taking lessons at didn't even carry them at all. I went to Guitar Center and they had one set of flatwounds. I don't mean one brand or one gauge--I mean they had one set of flatwounds. It was a really heavy gauge set of Rotosounds. The packaging did not look anything like their current packaging and it looked like it had been sitting on the shelf for years.
Ian! Could you do a video on the mid-80s era Fender basses that were made in Japan? I recently fell in love with a vintage 1965 P bass but cant afford it. I started looking for a P bass from my birth year (1986!) as a more affordable option. WHAT SAY YOU?!
Ian ............ So much admire your playing and style but your ethic at 45:35 sets the scene ! 100% respect mate ! Music is an art .... and art is for all whatever and whoever you are ... its for all to enjoy ... that's the beauty of it :o) Cheers mate !!!
On fretted, I'm a stainless steel roundwound guy. I love the Billy Sheehan Rotosounds, that gauge is dialed in. On fretless, flats for sure. This has been super helpful. I also love a P-Bass with tapewounds, so much fun. One of my favorite "deadening" a new string stories comes by the way of the one and only Mike Watt. He was on a session and had borrowed a bass from Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth.Watt broke a string. To deaden it, he took the bagel that he had with lox and cream cheese and rubbed it on the fresh string and says "I hate new strings man!". The recording engineer wondered how the bad the bass smelled when he returned it to Kim. And, love you Ian! Your positivity is uplifting and infectious my man!
When I started playing bass in 1992 I didn't even know you got any other strings other than roundwound. I bought black nylon tape wounds by accident and I have fallen in love with the sound. I have them on my Squier mustang bass.
Great podcast Ian! I own a dozen various basses . 10 have flat wounds and the other two have tape wound flat wounds, Flatwounds are the only strings I will use.
I’m extremely grateful for you Mr. IMA!
Love this video Ian. Please can you do another on on Half Rounds / Groundwounds?
these string deep dive are magical and so insightful, i relate so much to your approach to strings and how the string journey can genuinely bring you a sense of panic at times. i personally prefer the daddario chromes and then the fender 90-50's out of all as i feel they are the most versatile flats out there. keep this stuff coming ian you are a wonderful human to follow and we are all grateful for you.
as a student of SBL, You, Ian , with your sensitiveness also bring me a lot of stuff to progress, not only as a bass player, but with the "corpus spiritius" it involves, as it belongs to the path, you contribute to make my mind think...beyond I would have done it alone .so I agree with your view of community.
It s a great job you all make within SBL, top! thank you,
Andparo
A humble suggestion.;
DONNY BENET would be the perfect guest for the podcast! Super into his gear and has an amazing outlook on music and creativity in general.
DONNY BENET LEZZ GO
Love Donny!
Thanks Ian, great podcast ! Apart from all the great string explanations, I totally get what you're saying about gratitude, guilt & the state of our world & I'm so glad you shared your feelings (similar reflections I'm sure a lot of of us may share, but find difficult to acknowledge, myself certainly). Thanks again & always a joy to watch & listen to this channel !
Another epic ep. Thanks. Love you!
I put LaBella black tapes n my Ibanez (active SR1305) and I love the sound of them, don't understand why they aren't more popular, apart from their price in the UK. They have a very unique and interesting sound and as you say are pretty cool. Makes me feel like experimenting with Arabic or Far Eastern scales every time I pick the thing up. They are also black and have purple silk which is a perfect match for my bass. Ha ha!..Lower tension is very easy on the hands for playing for long periods too. I have flats on my Squire Jazz, also LaBellas, and they just sound...late night, smoky bar - something down-tempo and layed back, also very understated, tasteful and cool. Roundwounds are great for rocking out with a band and defeating that deafening ride cymbal that I can't get far away enough from.
I didn’t know about flatwounds until I was in my 20s. I really fell in love with bass after putting on a pair of labellas.
Great video. I liked the philosophical sidetrack too.
Thank you so much - I am very grateful for this podcast. Having the need for a new set of flats and not having a clue where to start, this is at least giving me some idea 😊 Certainly grateful for the roof over my head - I mean I turn on a tap and hot water comes out!! How amazing is that?!
“Come on Ian”, love that to get in the groove!!!
Great stuff Ian-very enjoyable and informative.
I really appreciate the video. Amen on the gratitude! (I live close to Willie’s in STP, MN!). I first tried LaBella, then Fender 9050s, then Dunlops, then DAdarrio Chromes. All great, but LaBella seemed a little too muddy on top to me and the E string didn’t seem to have the same tone as the higher 3 strings. Dunlops were my favorite overall, with a nice feel and slightly lighter string tension, which sounds great on Mustangs and my Guild Starfire 1 bass.
Thank you for all of the deep dives inward! You do help some of the suffering in the world by inspiring us to put our best foot forward. That's one thing you can make the world a better place. Keep up the good work at Scott, Ian, and SBL team members.
Great, informative and down to earth video! Loving the inner groove hype man coming out too..."How about that? Come on Ian!"
I've had TIs on my JMJ for 5 years and they still sound perfect for that bass. But I've not had intonation issues either. However I have Dunlops on my Acinonyx and have no intention of changing those anytime soon.
One of most pleasent and genuine talks I heard so far...as I were sitting next to you Ian and just feel...human!
Thank you
Great Pod Ian, so cool Dudeee, Glad you finally like the bb3000 ,
I bought a set of strings because of this video!!! I just put a set of the Labella White Nylons on my USA Sterling, which I have had since new in 2000 and while it feels perfect in my hands, I've been a little uninspired by it lately. Enter the nylon flats!!! Loving the tone I am getting . The aggressive and bright nature of the bass is a great compliment to the pillow like attack of the Labellas. Very string light attack and you get huge note bloom that fills out the mix. Thanks Ian!!!!!
4:30 such a fun perspective! :)
I know they're cheap, but Ernie Ball strings break in so well. And their gages feel like perfect sets
I really dig ernie ball super slinky lights for my round wounds. They sound great.
Just ordered my first flat wounds to try. ❤ also we appreciate you! I appreciate your humanity and keeping us all grounded in gratitude!
Good string sessions.
Top video Ian! I love your sensitivity, you clearly have an infectious passion for the bass!!
Great Video, thanks for humanity and your experience, both as a bass player and a human being.
Thank you for this, was planning on changing my strings today (roundwounds) - going back to the store to get some flatwounds. Can't wait to try them.
I only watched part 1 yesterday and commented that part 2 was required and here it is (I'm so behind the curve). Thanks for doing this, Ian. I missed the banter between you and Scott, but you covered a lot of ground, without being side tracked by the normal, yet highly amusing, shenanigans. I probably liked the Chromes on the 57 P bass the best, but all the tones were very useable and bass like. I've been playing short scales since early 2021 and they are a revelation. Whilst they are OK live, it's when recording that I think they shine the most. They're just so consistent and because of the reduced harmonic overtones, they take effects brilliantly, especially octave boxes.
My favorite flats are Fender 9050Ls. I've tried Chromes as well and I agree, they do not sound or feel the same. As for rounds, I have a nine month old set of Hyper Slinkys on my p bass. They're definitely well broken in, but they mellowed out very nicely. Roll off the tone, and turn the treble on the amp all the way down, and they sound pretty close to flats.
Labella tapes (mostly blacks but also whites) are my best choice for fretless. Not muddy as flats, not agressive as rounds, they don't harsh for the glissandi and have nice sustain for vibrato and a nice feel in the fingers.
(Come on Ian!! 😄✊🏼)
You know what Ian that needed to be said, sometimes you need to just ground yourself and accept life for what it is and then on other days it's nice to explore what life can be. Then, on other days, its life is what you make it.
Thanks Ian, that was an awesome podcast. Very grateful for your explanations and your enthusiasm!
I personally love flatwounds! I have a 3 very different basses but I ended up throwing flats on all of them because they just felt and sounded so good! Great dive into strings, Ian, thanks!
Very good Ian. I think I'm old school. Definetely those flats, aged ones, resonate better for me.
Thank you for that reflection as well. Gratitude, "world awareness", concerns about life for our kids, that bass we couln't find yet, these thoughts storm, plane, wiggle around my head constantly. Musicians feel not only music, right!? we're human beings after all, joy and sadness intertwined.
I tried round wound, they were too rough, I tried nickel plated, okay but too bright and finally I got flat wound praise God. Smooth fat and warm exactly what I was looking for or should I say listing for. Put them on my Warwick 5 Corvette great sound.
Love that Yamaha BB!
More string talk goodness! Fuck yeah!
What a great episode Ian!! You talked a bit about recording with tone up, what’s your opinion on where the Bass knob should sit around when recording ? I find lot keep my bass rolled back
I tend to use daddario lately for both their chromes and their tapes (also their stainless rounds but that’s not the point of this part), but I will say I’ve been meaning to check out those 9050s again. My first experience with flats was putting a set of those on my J, and I agree that they have to be a different thing than chromes, as my chromes don’t age the same way. I also have used tapes and flats on my HH stingray, having flats on an active is definitely a cool vibe.
Speaking to gratitude, your openness with your emotional side and your acceptance of that side of yourself is refreshing to see, genuinely. The SBL pod is some of the most relatable content I’ve experienced (and not just because it’s about bass) and that’s one of the main reasons I keep coming back to listen. Y’all keep being yourselves, you are much appreciated from our side of things.
Thundercat uses a mix of Labella black and white tape wounds on his bass too. I really want to try the black tapes on my 6 string for many of the reasons you mentioned here, I think I'll play it differently and it'll encourage me to try new techniques and tones. Plus the lower tension will help make it a little easier to play. Great video, Ian. Thanks for all your insights.
Ian, this is the best SBL podcast I've seen, to date, IMHO. As a purely flatwound player, the topic was right in my sweet spot and you presented the deep dive in a clear and very thorough way, which taught me a few important details while reinforcing others I had discovered on my own. Based on the demos, I just ordered a set of Labella's Deep Talkin' 760F-MUS for my #2 Mustang. I use the D'Addario Chromes on my #1, which, as you say, can be turned up to sound almost like roundwounds but better! I also use Chromes on my long-scale Sire D5 - which has a custom Fralin P51 pickup - but am thinking of changing those to something a little less bright (even though they're only a couple of years old!). Another tip - I landed on LaBella Low-Tension flats for my Danelectro short-horn short-scale, because the Chromes felt way too stiff and chimey on that bass. The Low-Tension strings feel incredible and provide that wonderful thump. Again, thanks for the doing this one!
I use different picks for different strings. Plastic picks for rounds and a thick wooden pick for flats. Very different attack. When playing flats with a pick I like to add a tiny bit of drive. Love that sound!
Great podcast Ian. Really interesting rabbit hole. I have new-ish Fender 9050s on my '64 P bass that still sound really bright, while the other P-bass that I bought in '82 or '83 is still wearing the same set of Rotosound rounds that I put on then and now sound like flats. Also have Thomastik Infelds on a fretless Jazz bass. It is amazing how much of a difference strings make.
Take a shot every time you hear "C'mon Ian". 😂 Great episode!
This podcast makes me excited to get home from work and play bass! thank you so much! I think Scott promised to share his "embarrassing" reason for not knowing much about strings in part 1!
Not sure if this would work in a podcast but i would love a theory based podcast on songs that use chords outside of the diatonic harmony and why. I know there is a ton of reasons for songwriters to use chords to change moods or set up other sections and I am wondering if you guys have good examples of that and what to do on bass, especially in a coverband situation that attempts requests lol
edit: spelling
Great presentation, thank you very much. Do you mind doing a second one with examples in the mix?
You are beautifully insane.
Great pod.
Love ya man!
Ira in Detroit
I love the sound and perhaps more importantly, the feel of flatwound strings. I have rotosound sm77 flats on my 4 and 6 string basses (40, 60, 80,100 on the 4 string instruments and the addition of a 30 for the high C and a 130 for the low B on my six string).
I play a mix of styles, rock, pop, metal, electronic stuff. You can always tweak your amp or active eq to shape some brighter tones, but that flatwound 'growl' ....the 'bass' without the overtones as Ian described, fits my ear for the sound I like.
String tension is a little bit higher but I think that suits me fine.
I have some coated string on one of my acoustic guitars and they're great and last fairly well, but i wouldn't put coated strings on a bass. Had a go with nylon tapewounds on my fretless for a while and they were ok, but I really prefer ordinary flats over round or tape wound strings.
As for the tangent 😂 just be good to each other 😊
Ian, this podcast you and Scott have put together is SO freakin' awesome and I'm sure I speak for a majority of bass players when I say it becomes a weekly ritual to listen. For me it's Saturday mornings while I'm running errands. Anyway, you mentioned preferring lighter bottoms and heavier tops... have you tried Stringjoy out of Nashville? You can create custom sets of steel or nickel wounds (no flats unfortunately). Anyway, love what you do and how you're doing it!!
Dig the topic of strings. New set of strings can dramatically change the instruments sound. Compared to a new pedal or amp, strings are a cheap upgrade that can be easily changes! Love your thoughts on nylon tape wounds compared to a cloth tape wrapped. Put a pair of LaBella black nylon tape wound on my squire funky vibes fret less Jazz Bass. Fun to play but not sure it was the feel I was going for. Love the conversation play Flat wounds on my Yamaha BB4 and 1/2 rounds on my P Bass.
Awesome. The P Bass with La Bellas sounds perfect. You could do a show just about that bass and just say anything so long as you play a few notes.
“CONDON STRINGS”😂😂😂😂
Yea, Burnis plays Swan and they are amazing basses!!! Nice people to deal with too!!
Nice comparison! My personal favourites are definitely the Jazz Bass and the Guild. Killer sounds from both, although I think I love the Guild even a little bit more. But I’m definitely a flatwound and tapewound guy. Speaking of which, I’d really love to hear you try and hear your opinion on the Rotosound TruBass 88 strings, which are really fat and double bassy tapewounds.
I love the ernie ball cobalt flats👌🏻
PART 3!!
I love that you played that Bruno mars me and my girlfriend started singing the song
I got a custom Warmoth this year and as an experiment, put some flats on it. Pleasantly surprised. I'm interested in the D'Addario half-rounds.
More string podcasts please.
I have LaBella tapes on my Aerodyne PJ, such a unique sound and the best of both worlds between rounds and flats in my opinion
My favorite sound was the Yamaha with nylon tapes.
I have a similar experience with chromes vs 9050s. Fresh I think there is a case to be made that they are the same but as soon as they break in they become different beasts
I put la Bella shorts on an Ibanez semi hollow. I absolutely love the sound. I was actually messing around yesterday with compression and hit a sound very much like an upright. But the strings are just slightly too short. The fabric goes just past the nut. It seems to work fine (looks dorky af), but I'm just wondering if it could cause problems
I recently purchased a yamaha bbp34 which like most basses came with rounds. I love the bass, but it wasn't until I put a set of chrome flats that I greatly expanded the *usable* range of tones it could get. I won't go back.
Just put a set of labella copper white nylons on mine, and I’m having fun with them, I like them a lot. Also you forgot to mention how smooth they feel!
The Pbass I bought brand new in 1978 came with flats and a case, $425.
You r the man Ian , prefer the Yamaha bass
Hi Ian have you tried Pyramid golds? A real 60s staple , still being made in the old school way in Germany
I deeply regret having to let my SBL subscription go for a couple of months for financial reasons, but I will be back in a month or so .
I once messaged Sean Hurley about Flatwounds and he said to age them quicker he rubs vaseline into them which recreates the grease and oil of your fingers that gets in the strings and dulls them.
It's not instant but it will add months of ageing in a few days.
Stringjoy has the same idea in their philosophy. Great strings. I use them on my bass and guitars
I put Dunlop short scale flats on my Ibanez Mikro.
When he said he has Fender 9050 flats on the jazz bass what gauge would those have been? There seem to be a couple of options of 9050s. Those were my favorite sounding and I'm trying to get into flats.
I’ve tried a few different round wound strings and always felt like they were way too bright. ever since I invested in the thomastik flats I never looked back. I have them on both my 4string jazz and my 5string double humbucker. I can eq in treble and presence to my taste.
That bass was exactly like my 65 Pbass I bought new in 65. Just like "I want you Back"
I’m listening in my car and the star fire is rattling my windows when Ian goes lower than the 7th fret lol
There’s not too many stringfactory’s in this world anymore (not very cost effective), but there are many brands...
It’s just like with ‘overseas’ guitars and basses.
So, it might be true that both d’Addario and Fender flats are made in the same factory. But, they’re definitely not the same strings. I’ve been using both for years.
When you look at flatwound strings, they always have their own particular colour: from grey to more polished and shiny like silver: look at both the Fender (grey) and d’Addario (more shiny). Exactly..., 😉.
They’re not the same, but might have been growing in the same womb. 😄
🖖
Ian, great video. I have been living in this rabbit hole for a few months... Based on various comments, research, and James Jamerson (to name one of many), I want to look more at LaBella flat wound. The LaBellas are all stainless steel. I think I prefer nickel coated. Any thoughts??
I wonder what happens when you don't play an instrument for some time. you guys mentioned that when you pick it up again it takes time before if sounds as good as it used to. is it the player? is it the bass? I wonder if it is the strings. someone should find a way to solve the puzzle! XD
Ian, how do you feel about the newer Guild Starfire I with the p-style pickup? Or should I spring for the Starfire II with the classic BiSonics?
Um.. leave the chromes on for a few years and they sound like “old school” 😊 but I’m biased, I started on a 72 p with old chromes in 92, and pretty much still use them on most of my basses… I think the set on my 72 p has been on the bass since…. 97