Fender 9050 - Through body or bridge?

[sigmafloyd]

Title says it all. thanks

[mccartneyman]

Never found there to be much of a differnce in tone or feel with flats whether thru body or bridge. But I think the prevailing logic with Fenders and other brands of stiffer flats is to go through bridge.

[jasper383]

It likely depends on the angle the strings take passing through the bass and up over the bridge saddles.

I had a 51 Reissue P Bass, and there were two quite sharp turns the strings had to take before the bridge. I could see the core of the flats I had on there, so I went to rounds.

[Jeb]

But didn't Jamerson string those fat LaBella flatwounds through body on his PBass?

[SLaPiNFuNK]

Originally Posted by Jeb

But didn't Jamerson string those fat LaBella flatwounds through body on his PBass?

Not sure the actual spec's of his P-Bass but I have a 1962 all original Fender P that is top-load only string with the La Bella 1954 Originals which is what Jamerson is said to have used.

La Bella now makes Flat Wounds with flexible tail pieces that are specifically made for Thru-Body instruments. These are available for all Deep Talkin' Flat and 1954 original models.

[Jeb]

I always wondered about that. The stb bridge could present some problems with thick, stiff strings. I assumed that JJs bass was stb.

[JTE]

I had a set of 9050ML on my Sting, which is through-body only. They worked fine for that, but I thought they were the worst, most obnoxious, and horrid flats I've ever used.

BTW, my experience is also that STB vs. top-load is utterly pointless. I once strung my two Laklands with alternating strings TL vs. STB. That is, on one bass the E and D were top-loaded while the A and G were through-body; the opposite on the other bass. When I restrung them I reversed the order. After that real and true side-by-side test on the exact same chunks of wood and metal at the exact same time, for a long period of playing, I had to admit (despite my previous belief that STB gave a subtle but noticeable increase in sustain and feel) that there's simply no difference at all.

John

[Jeb]

But what do you use to hold your ferrules in then?

[JTE]

Originally Posted by Jeb

But what do you use to hold your ferrules in then?

I use the strings! Sure it doesn't make any difference unless I'm using D'Addario strings, but I string all my Laklands through body. Musicians are flakes, so we can blithely ho against logic and fact any time we want!



John

[sigmafloyd]

Why would daddario make a difference?

[JTE]

Originally Posted by sigmafloyd

Why would daddario make a difference?

D'Addario's regular long scale strings do not fit a 34" scale if strung through the body, and haven't since about 1990. They did before that, but suddenly changed. To use D'Addarios on a 34" through body, you have to get the extra long ones.

John

[sigmafloyd]

Are you talking just chromes or all of them?

[JTE]

Originally Posted by sigmafloyd

Are you talking just chromes or all of them?

All of them. D'Addario uses a standard winding length for all their regular long-scale strings, and they don't work on most (well, actually all I've ever seen) STB 34" basses. If you want to string through the body, make sure you get their extra-long scale strings. Do NOT confuse extra-long with the "XL" prefix they use for all their nickle round wounds.



John

[sigmafloyd]

Interesting, thanks for the info. I have Long Scale XLs strung through my 2008 P bass now and the seem fine. I bought them randomly at Best Buy though, so they may have been on the shelves for awhile. Do you know how long ago this changed?

Originally Posted by JTE

All of them. D'Addario uses a standard winding length for all their regular long-scale strings, and they don't work on most (well, actually all I've ever seen) STB 34" basses. If you want to string through the body, make sure you get their extra-long scale strings. Do NOT confuse extra-long with the "XL" prefix they use for all their nickle round wounds.



John

[ddawson2012]

Our bass string taper spec was updated about 2 months ago to 36 7/8" (from a shorter 36 1/4"). This new spec should be available in the general marketplace but if a dealer has backstock, there's a good chance that some dealers have not received these as of yet.

[sigmafloyd]

Originally Posted by ddawson2012

Our bass string taper spec was updated about 2 months ago to 36 7/8" (from a shorter 36 1/4"). This new spec should be available in the general marketplace but if a dealer has backstock, there's a good chance that some dealers have not received these as of yet.

Does that mean that new stock of the 'Long Scale's should be able to be strung through body on a normal 34inch scale?

[SLaPiNFuNK]

It depends all on the specific instruments construction. 34" Fender Jazz / Fender P Thru-Body yes.

[sigmafloyd]

great, thanks

[king_biscuit]

Originally Posted by Jeb

But didn't Jamerson string those fat LaBella flatwounds through body on his PBass?

No, his 62 P was top load only.