UNPLANNED DOWNTIME: 12th Oct 23:45
NBD! Now, roundwounds or flatwounds?
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Got my self a sweet new (to me) Mustang bass today as I’ve been getting into playing bass a lot more recently and wanted a short-scale to go with my small, guitar-accustomed hands.
It needs a good clean up so I’m gonna strip it down and do that.
Now, I could do with some advice on whether round or flatwound strings will get me closer to the sound I’m after when I put it back together.
I really like the bass sounds on the album ‘Tranquility Bass Hotel + Casino’ by Arctic Monkeys. More specifically, this is the kind of sound I want to get near:
https://youtu.be/1XoWqoKOjz4Thanks in advance
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It is unclear whether you have a Mustang Bass with the small, split coils pickup, a Mudbucker or a PJ pair via a three-way selector switch.
Squier briefly made the Mikey Way signature model. It had an EMG35-sized soapbar pickup, making it ripe for modification.
It’s a Squier VM bass with the Duncan Design split coil.
I’ve been looking at short scale specific strings this evening. There is still a lot of choice and I really want to get this right first time, but the main thing I want to decide on is between rounds or flats
Plus, if it's your only bass, you can get a least into the same ballpark as the flats sound using roundwounds and the tone control, but you can't do the other way round. And since I see your Mustang has the mute foam, even closer.
That Arctic Monkeys bass sound is heavily limited (effect) by the sound of it too, if that helps.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson
I like Rotosound Flats on my 34" and D'Addario Rounds on my 36".
I fall out with Flats occasionally and then all D'Addario Rounds.
Cheers for the replies everyone. I've ended up getting some rounds for now because 1. What ICBM said makes sense to me and 2. They're a lot cheaper.
That said, I use flats myself but you have to be 100% sure that's the sound you want.
Before and during the fret polishing:
And a little tip for polishing screw heads - chuck them up in a drill, stick a bit of polish on the head and spin them into a cloth, easy as:
I use bass or recording and I have to say I could not do without both. Having the option is just geat.
The feel and tone are quite different at least in the way I play.
I just play for the track whatever it is and roundwounds with a plectrum for rockier stuff and fingers with flats for anything like soul.
I'd rather have eg 2 squiers one with round one with flats than 1 Fender with one string type. Of course you can take the strings off and replace each time but that's a bit of a pain
Anyway, they're all here: https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/MARUSZCZYK_Strings.html
(Regular flats £24 and the short/medium scale set are £26, plus £2 shipping.)