Flatwounds with overdrive- should I?

[shoulderpet]

Hi all

I know the consensus will probably be just try and see but changing strings is a pain in the A@!  , I love flatwounds but have been using rounds in my current band for a more aggressive tone and been using them with a tonne of treble and a fair bit of overdrive ,  thinking that flats with the overdrive cranked to 11 might actually give me a pretty dirty, nasty tone  , I have some TI's not being used at the moment, should sound huge right?  Anyone use this combo?

[paul_5]

Me!!!

Got EB cobalt flats on my P bass and regularly fire up myDHA VT2, great sound!

[3below]

TI flats on my various basses combined with Sansamp overdrive (either Leeds or VT) seems to do the business for me.   Can range from 'solid thick wall of bass' to surprising amounts of 'roundwoundness'.  They work really well on all of my basses except one - G&L 5 string, just too floppy.  Weirdly they are excellent on my G&L 4 string.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I used to have TI flats on everything but I'm currently using Fender flats on my mustangs & Cobalts on my thunderbirds and I always dial in some grit from the VT Bass

[Lozz196]

I used to use TIs with a trebly/gnarly/driven sound. Ultimately I preferred steel rounds with that same sound but the TIs did sound good like that.

[shoulderpet]

Thanks for the replies, I am now thinking maybe a Big muff (oo-er) Thanks for the replies, I am now thinking maybe a Big muff (oo-er) or something similar, I think a fuzz pedal would sound huge with the rolled off treble that flats offer 

[hooky_lowdown]

35 minutes ago, shoulderpet said:

Thanks for the replies, I am now thinking maybe a Big muff (oo-er) Thanks for the replies, I am now thinking maybe a Big muff (oo-er) or something similar, I think a fuzz pedal would sound huge with the rolled off treble that flats offer.

A big muff is not the same as an overdrive pedal, a big muff will thicken the sound, and with flats is too much low end so you lose articulation and starts to get muddy. You want to get the crunch of an overdrive - this works well with flats.

[Low End Bee]

Do it. I've recently switched back from rounds to Labella flats on my JMJ Mustang and it sounds great when I wind up the wick on the Sansamp or engage the Rat.

Edited October 15, 2019 by Low End Bee

[Cuzzie]

Ti’s will defo do it

[paul_5]

Been playing my P with flats through a BJFE Blueberry o/d too; still a great thing to do!

[Paul S]

TI flats for me, too - I have them on everything.  They cut through just nicely with a bit of drive as shown on this vid.

 

[shoulderpet]

2 hours ago, Paul S said:

TI flats for me, too - I have them on everything.  They cut through just nicely with a bit of drive as shown on this vid.

 

Sounds great, this is me(vid below, not the best recording or performance but there you go) and as you can hear, tone is pretty zingy which I am thinking of moving away from

[adamg67]

TI Flats, Distortion (MarkBass Multiamp) and a pick.

[scrumpymike]

4 hours ago, adamg67 said:

TI Flats, Distortion (MarkBass Multiamp) and a pick.

Nice sounding bass - liked everything else too!

[shoulderpet]

Ok, tried the flats and decided fairly quickly that whilst the darker tone was cool and the flats sounded nice the rounds fitted the songs I play with my band much better.  The rounds could be darkened at my amp if needed whereas the flats sounded amazing on our slower songs and just passable on the more lively songs, add to this the fact that my tone is generally created by me clanking the strings off the fretboard (kind of like a less proficient Steve Harris) with the treble and high mids boosted and a touch of overdrive ,  I felt like I had lost my tone with the flats, strange since until about a year ago flats where all I would play.