Hey guys ..day two of enjoying my new MIM jazz.I am mostly doing finger work and scales and have found out i think the fretless will make me a better player in the long run....although it will be more work;) Ouestion: what strings do you think will give my jazz a bit more punch? I have the factory flats on it now and can you use semi-rounds on it or will it groove the neck? Is there a better set of strings and if so how much are they u.s.you guys rock thanks!:bassist:

The Thomastik Jazz Flats are thumpy and last for ever.

I use them on my Pfretless and a couple other basses.

http://www.my-smileys.de/Grinsi.gif
Treena

You can purchase them online at THE DUDE PIT (http://pub206.ezboard.com/fthedudepitfrm18)

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Treena

this would be better served in the strings forum, so away it goes :)

My all time Favorite String...
Change 'em every couple of years of so...
Oh, Look there's a picture of a Fender Jazz on the Label!

http://bassforum.pointbeing.com/users/subsonicbass/images/Thomastik-Infeld%20JF-344%20Jazz%20Flat%20Strings.jpg

When I experimented with flats, I found TI's to be too floppy for my tastes. Fender Stainless Steel Flats, on the other hand, had more tension, felt just right somehow, and kept me happy for a long time...

Fenbull, unfortunately any type of string must be tried by yourself. What I like you might not. There are a lot of flats out there, I've used the TI Jazz, loved the tone, but they were too floppy for me. I have a set of Pyramid Gold Flats on my G&L LB100 and I love the tone and thump, IMHO they ARE the string for a P bass. I also use Rotosound 77 flats and D'Addario Chromes. I like the way the Roto's and Chromes sound on a Jazz, good thump and still has the growl (more so with the Roto's). The only way you'll know is to try them yourself. Good luck

Edit: the Roto's and Chromes are WAY to bright out of the box, you need to break them in for a few weeks before they begin to settle in.


George

(1)Thomastik-Infeld Flats on my Skaja fretless-5.
(2)Rotosound Jazz flats on my MIM Jazz-4.
(3)Rotosound Swing Rounds on American Jazz four..all have been real sweet.

I've found to the Thomastick-Infeld's to cost a small fortune but well worth the expense.
I've just gotten into the Roto's...a couple of local places have them as cheap as $19.00 a pack.

LenG

My fretless J has D'Addario Chromes (flats). Nice feel and a very rich harmonic content. Lot's of folks like the Thomastik JF's. I found them to be a little 'loose' feeling which for my right hand is not a good thing ... great tone when I was concentrating on not yanking them too hard. Strings are pretty subjective. I've probably dumped a couple of hundred bux into strings that went on and came off this year.

Fortunately, lot's of us are looking so getting some of your coin back is easier than it used to be. One thing I'm pretty sure of is that while there are probably some expensive dud's out there, the more you spend, the better they sound.

fenbull:

A few resources, courtesy of the BASS GEAR REVIEW ARCHIVES, you might want to check out in addition to TalkBass so as to make more informed decisions on your experimental string purchases:

BGRA STRING REVIEWS
http://www.bgra.net/reviews/string-index.html

MATT'S STRING REVIEWS
http://www.bgra.net/features/strings.html

MARK WIKHOLM ON FLATWOUNDS
http://www.bgra.net/features/flats.html

As several others have said, it's all about experimenting and finding what works for you...

Good luck!