Flats Con - vert!

[AnthonyD]

Ok, I am suddenly diggin' flats...

I've always played and liked the punch of roundwounds. Recently, I've been paying close attention to string commentary, in preparation for putting flats on my upcoming fretless Bongo - my short list is Labella, TIs or Chromes. I was not considering a change for my Sterling.

The few times a year I play out (church and the occassional casual event) I've played direct through the PA. We've begun to gear up (literally) to play out more often, expecting to play mostly local outdoor picnic/festival stuff, so I picked up a new Hartke HA5500 with a 4x10XL cabinet. Punchy is not the word - there's edge here that should be illegal.

Rather than go with dramatic eq'ing, I decided to give a set of flats a try. I went with a set of Chromes based on their gauge and some folks giving them high-marks for rock (thanks Aussie Mark!).

Wow! Suddenly the bridge position is usable again! I was also kicking around the idea of adding a 1x15 or 2x15 cabinet to further round out the sound, but either way I think the flats are staying. I like the feel and they quiet down my fret-snap just a bit. Awesome!

Flats on a Sterling... With frets, no less! Who knew!?

 

[phatduckk]

kik ass! the hunt for the "right string" is a pain in the ass. its always awesome when you try something and say "yup, that rules"

and congrats on the new rig dude. adding anotehr cab would probably be amazing but dont forget that you gotta lug it all around too.

glad to hear youre stoked on your setup

 

[maddog]

Jolly good showing! Glad to hear you found strings to suite you. Now I'm starting to consider getting some flats.

 

[bovinehost]

Flats on a Sterling... With frets, no less! Who knew!?

Me. I did. I knew.

 

[AnthonyD]

Arin: I agree, there's more to lug around and I'll need to coordinate "vehicle allocation" to ensure I can transport them, but there's something about getting that 4x10 up at chest height that I cannot resist! The other problem is convincing my three guitarists to invest in some beefier equipment as well, otherwise I'm the geek with the stack surrounded by a bunch of teeny combos!

Maddog: I've always considered them a "fretless string" myself, but hey, this is working!

Jack: Just knew that you did!

I'm dying here - it's way past midnight and everyone's been asleep for hours. I so want to play at VOLUME...

Need - to - resist - for - 16 - hours... Friday night's rehersal is at my house!

 

[Psychicpet]

way cool!! I'm totally digging the flats on my Bongo and NO I've never considered them a fretless string hehehehehehe
way to go with the amp set-up! I'm again in flux with that but I've heard today that my MarkBass 410 is in and I'm just awaiting the arrival of the Little Mark head.
have a blast tomorrow night man!!!


pd.

ps, btw, what's the set list look like?? I'm a Vineyard guy myself, any Doerksen or Ruis tunes??

 

[Psychicpet]

PS. Jack , those are some amazing Sterlings

 

[Psychicpet]

PPS. Jack, something went out in the mail for ya a day or two ago, keep your eyes peeled and be sure to read the liner notes

 

[bovinehost]

I tell you, my brother, I frequently play my flats-equipped basses through 1200 watts of warm Sunn power and into two run-of-the mill Ampeg "Classic" cabs, a 4-10 and a 1-15. You just can't convince me that there is a better sound available.

Once, many years ago, I purchased one of the newer "high tech" Ampeg cabs, a 4-10 and the nomenclature now escapes me, but it even LOOKED cooler than the classic cabs so I figured it had to be good. I kept it two days before taking it back and asking them to order me a 'classic' 4-10. Cheaper is sometimes better, I guess.

Being relatively lazy and terminally creaky, I don't often take both cabs with me when we gig, but I do use them both here when we rehearse. Hah! But we're not overly loud, so it's just about the big fat tone. I don't give up much by just using the 4-10 live, but....I wouldn't mind having the 1-15 with me - just lazy.

 

[bovinehost]

Jack, something went out in the mail for ya a day or two ago, keep your eyes peeled and be sure to read the liner notes

This whole "eyes peeled" concept really scares the bejeezus out of me, but I shall watch carefully the mail person.

Can I get a hint?

 

[peterd79]

One of my Best friends (whom is a girl) has a Sterling in a sick blue... ( i don't know exact color) but she has a SWR 115 head with a SWR 4x12 Cab and i play with a Line 6 112 Combo and we can get good balance between the two.

 

[Psychicpet]

This whole "eyes peeled" concept really scares the bejeezus out of me, but I shall watch carefully the mail person.

Can I get a hint?

sorry, I forgot that the whole desert-heat-eyes-peeled thing would just be a bit too Clive Barker
as for the hint, it's got alot of bass on it but hopefully isn't tooo pretentious, might sound better after a few Martinis AND gives a nod to a few fine folks in the liner notes

 

[AnthonyD]

ps, btw, what's the set list look like?? I'm a Vineyard guy myself, any Doerksen or Ruis tunes??

The church thing is with a rather conservative Catholic church - it's been a challenge just getting away from the organ if you know what I mean.

We try to sprinkle in some contemporary christian music here in there - Geoff Moore, Third Day - well received by the congregation but the politics of the church is another story.

We're currently working on building our pop-rock song list - want to get 20+ tunes down and get out in front of people. It's an eclectic mix - my cousin and I are all for "crowd favorite, sing-along, clap-along stuff" though there are a few personal favorites sprinkled in. Current working list:

Another Saturday Night
Authority Song
Brown Eyed Girl
Brown Sugar
California Dreaming
Good Lovin'
Good Noise
I Saw Her Standing There
In My Room
Long Train Running
Margaritaville
Me & Julio Down by the Schoolyard
Mustang Sally
My Girl
Only the Good Die Young
Rock & Roll Never Forgets
Sweet Home Chicago
Tush
When Will I Be Loved
Wild Night

The "pick-list" keeps getting longer every day. I play "music director" - organizing and charting all the music we play. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!

 

[peterd79]

I totally understand the Church dynamics.

I am very active in my Church and am part of the worship team. Our pastor is very open minded when it comes to worship. There have been a few sundays when we (the team) get rockin and our pastor will just let us go. We went for two hours about 2 weeks ago. We even had the signal to "go to ELEVEN" on our amps. It was sick.

Mind you that it was definately not a "CONCERT" it was true worship and we were moved by the presence of the Holy Spirit and our Pastor let us go with it.

We've also had the times when trying to get the older members of the congregation to accept the new contemporary style of worship. I would not change it for anything though!

 

[Psychicpet]

very cool, but ya know what'll set everything on it's ear?.... learn up one or two old hymns and don't totally "David Crowder" or MxPx it up but do it pretty close to the original arrangment but with a kick-drum, an electric bass, and overdriven guitars THEN get some of the 'old timers' up to sing with you....dude, that's some amazing times bridging those gaps. One that works well for us is "It Is Well" if you want oyu can find that on Brian Doerksen's "You Shine" CD on Integrity, I'm totally not saying to play quieter but sometimes come back to bridge that generational thang, it ain't bad and besdies some of those old hymns have amazing changes and melodies to get all funky over


but definitely keep on keepin' on with what y'all are doing! it's a blast isn't it!

 

[peterd79]

We tend to not do a lot of David Crowder or MXPX (We've never gone with MXPX) but we have taken some older songs like

"LET IT RAIN"
"SPirit of the Soverign Lord" (my favorite... I blues it up on this one)

I'm working on taking some Hymnals (I have one with me now) and i'm re-working some of them to make the generational gap.

This week we pulled out some classic and I totally wanted to "DRIVE" it but i decided to pull back and play acoustic/electirc this week. Mellow it out...

When I play with the Youth Band we light it up every week. We have a full out seperate sound-board/stage/ stage lights/ and full out background videos/ it's like a concert on Sunday nights.

 

[HeavyDuty]

I'm 100% flats on my basses. So far as my EBMMs go, my Sterling wears Fender 9050Ms, Bongo has a new set of EB flats (.130 - .055), and I absolutely can not remember what flats I put on the SR5 - they have brass balls and black silks.

I despise the sound of bass roundwounds!

 

[bovinehost]

I despise the sound of bass roundwounds!

Who are you who are so wise in the ways of science?

 

[HeavyDuty]

The only thing wise about me is my butt. A bass should sound like a bass, not a guitar that's taken too many male hormone supplements.

I figgered out what flats I put on the SR5 - GHS. (Blame the tequila for scrubbing my memory.) I don't much care for them, but at least they're better than rounds! I'll be replacing them with EBs shortly.

 

[stretch80]

HI gang...I put chromes on my sr5, and it didn't have quite enough cut to work with my 7-piece band. Bovine recommended TI flats, which I will try at some point, but in the meantime I put on HEAVIER (.50 g) D'Addario XLs, which seem to be headed in the right direction.

Anyone here play with half rounds/pressurewounds on their MM?