1963 flatwounds - put em on my p ?

[spiker]

Hi,

I have a student who rocked up to my house with an old beat up 1963 model hofner copy he made himself. Nothing special, BUT it had flatwound strings from 1963 still on it. They are in great condition too.

Would it be advisable to put these on my USA standard P?
Would i be getting close to the epitomy of 'vintage tone' by doing so, considering most pro's still have their old flats on their basses from the 60's and only boil them every now and then to keep em fresh ?

[jasper383]

I would keep them on the Hofner, and just put new flats on your Precision. In 3 months, they'll be broken in enough that no one will be able to tell them from really old flats.

Don't boil your flats; leave them on and play them.

[waynobass]

You're going to steal your student's strings?

[VitalSigns]

Originally Posted by waynobass

You're going to steal your student's strings?

Hahaha! I was thinking this too.

[Matvei]

...your _student's_ short scale or 32" strings on your 34" scale pbass?

[spiker]

No of course I wouldn't steal them! I would make him an offer. It seems as though new flats worn in 3 months from now would be just as good as 48 yr old strings though, anyone care to comment if the 48 yo stings would provide elements of 48yo tone???

[Pilgrim]

If the student gave them to you, sure, try them.

The flats on my '63 P were installed in 1972.

[spiker]

Labellas get a bit of a hammering round these waters, what flats would you recommend?

[spiker]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

If the student gave them to you, sure, try them.

The flats on my '63 P were installed in 1972.

Do u notice a difference in one when compared to a bass with modern day flats?

[jumbodbassman]

check the length especially the g string.... not that one, the one on the bass. I personally love labella strings but there customer service is lousy..

[Turock]

Besides being a different scale length, those are probably cut for a 2+2 headstock.

[TheGreatSealof]

I have Jamerson flats (LaBella) on my pbass. Love them. Short scale can be a problem.

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by spiker

Do u notice a difference in one when compared to a bass with modern day flats?

Well, yes, but I have about 13 basses and every one sounds different.

If 40 year old strings didn't sound a bit different from new ones, that would be pretty odd...but what I like might not be what someone else would like.

I tend to never change strings - so I have other basses with flats up to 8 years old, and a couple of basses with rounds up to 11 years old.

Each bass sounds good as is, and I don't worry too much about whether they are similar or not. I simply enjoy what they sound like. As soon as strings get rid of that obnoxious brightness that comes with new strings, I'm usually good with them indefinitely.