flats on thru body P bass

[bluesblaster]

I am wanting to try some flats on my late 90,s P bass, string thru body only bridge, rightaway that leaves out DTF,s but have those on a jazz already. I,m thinkin either chromes XL scale or some GHS precision flats. Anyone use these on a similar bass? or I,m open to suggestions. thanks

BTW, tried TI,s on this bass before and they really didnt do much for me, however I do have an old set on another jazz bass and they sound phenomenal, thus my quandry.... what is going to make this bass sound really great given all the variables.

[tjh]

just a thought, but you can always either replace the bridge with the current 3 screw Fender STB bridge, or simply drill 4 string holes in your current bridge to 'top load', and then you wont be limited ... the TI JF344's are all that I have ever used on a STB, and I didn't especially get all that excited about them either ... everything I do now is top loaded

[jmattbassplaya]

I play a strung-through P with chromes. Sounds good to me!

[Muckaluck]

I've used chromes and DR flatwounds strung through the body sucessfully. Just remember with the DRs to crimp before you cut.

[tsverrir]

I'm not sure what exactly you need for a string through body, but if you're looking for great sounding flats with a p-bass I strongly recommend Thomastik Infield jazz flats. I have them on my 77 p-bass. The strings are wound with a silk thread around the core, under the flat winding, witch gives them a bit of a muted sound. They are not cheap, but great if you're looking for that vintage Fender sound.

[4001]

Originally Posted by tsverrir

I'm not sure what exactly you need for a string through body, but if you're looking for great sounding flats with a p-bass I strongly recommend Thomastik Infield jazz flats. I have them on my 77 p-bass. The strings are wound with a silk thread around the core, under the flat winding, witch gives them a bit of a muted sound. They are not cheap, but great if you're looking for that vintage Fender sound.

I'm sure those strings sound good but if one wanted a vintage Fender sound, wouldn't they want the same type of strings that were on those vintage Fenders?

I wonder what the tonal difference would be (if there were any) if my Squeir CV Jazz bass had a string-through body.
I have Rotosound RS 77 flats on it and it sounds great but sometimes I just wonder..what if?...

What if it had string through?

I'm not quite ready to start drilling holes in it to find out that it was a mistake.

[FunkyWilly]

I have chromes on my 51 Precision. No problems with strings through the body. Sounds awesome.

[mattj1stc]

I use the GHS precision flats on my 51RI, which is only through-body. Work and sound great. Given the history, these are probably similar to the original strings back in the day. The only caution would be not to use LaBella flats - they are specifically top-load only. I do have LaBella Jamerson flats on my 57RI, and they're great.

[JTE]

I also have GHS Precision Flats (45/65/85/105) on my Sting (1954 P Bass replica) with through-body as the only option. They work great on it.

John

[bluesblaster]

As mentioned I do use the TI,s on one jazz bass and DTF,s on the other, they both work great on their respective instruments, I did try the TI,s on the P bass but was not overwhelmed with the sound, which I thought a bit odd as they sound killer on the jazz. But a P bass is not a Jazz so the search for the right strings is on, Have been using GHS boomers on it for years with fair enough results and recently installed some DR sunbeams, very punchy strings but just cant get use to that round core bounciness, like a bit more tension to dig in with, SO,,,, what about flats? love them on my J basses and want some fat old school tone for the P now.Thanks for all the replies so far, I appreciate it.

[bluesblaster]

Originally Posted by tjh

just a thought, but you can always either replace the bridge with the current 3 screw Fender STB bridge, or simply drill 4 string holes in your current bridge to 'top load', and then you wont be limited ... the TI JF344's are all that I have ever used on a STB, and I didn't especially get all that excited about them either ... everything I do now is top loaded

yes I considered replacing the bridge but I know that aside from labella DTF,s most flats are string thru friendly.

[Mojo-Man]

I've used TI344-flats, and GHS Precision flats, string-thru.
They both work fine.
Only flats that did not work were the LaBella 1954 set.
Very taut, stiff sting, They are great for non-string-thru bridges.
But, become to stiff with string through. (Heavy tension) JMO

[bluesblaster]

will I need the extra long scale for string thru body or is standard scale long enough to get several wraps around each tuner post ?

[jasper383]

The new Fenders are sweet, too. Very Chromes-like. Versatile.

I have the 50-100 set on my '51 Reissue. Sounds great.

[aus_bass]

Originally Posted by JTE

I also have GHS Precision Flats (45/65/85/105) on my Sting (1954 P Bass replica)
John

Yup, I have these on my Lakland 44-01, string-thru. No issues at all.

[fretlessguy]

I have a Precision from about the same era. I used GHS Ps, Chromes (extra long length will be needed), TIs (if you use these you may need to shave the silk off the E string if it comes out past the nut), and the new Fender Flats. They all fit through the body with no problems, with the exception of the E string on the TIs. All really sounded great.

[254 stringer]

This is on page 18 of the LaBella catalog I don't know where these strings are available though.

Thru-Body Flat Wound String
(Available in all of the above sets)
La Bella Strings introduces the first successful flat wound bass string meant specifically for electric basses where the strings pass through the body.
These flat wound bass strings are specially designed for instruments with string openings through the body. This design adds a unique resonance as the strings pass through the solid wooden body and over the bridge from underneath. With this configuration, the resulting sharp angle located at the bridge can cause the flat wound outer wrap to crack, fray or break with standard strings. To avoid any damage to the string. La Bella Strings has engineered a durable yet flexible section near the ball-end. Both the string and great sound remain intact.

[seanm]

Originally Posted by 254 stringer

This is on page 18 of the LaBella catalog I don't know where these strings are available though.

Thru-Body Flat Wound String
(Available in all of the above sets)
La Bella Strings introduces the first successful flat wound bass string meant specifically for electric basses where the strings pass through the body.
These flat wound bass strings are specially designed for instruments with string openings through the body. This design adds a unique resonance as the strings pass through the solid wooden body and over the bridge from underneath. With this configuration, the resulting sharp angle located at the bridge can cause the flat wound outer wrap to crack, fray or break with standard strings. To avoid any damage to the string. La Bella Strings has engineered a durable yet flexible section near the ball-end. Both the string and great sound remain intact.

Cool! I will probably never need them, but it is good to know I could get them if I had to. When I did need through body strings, I used Chromes.

[DBTOYS]

Originally Posted by bluesblaster

I am wanting to try some flats on my late 90,s P bass, string thru body only bridge, rightaway that leaves out DTF,s but have those on a jazz already. I,m thinkin either chromes XL scale or some GHS precision flats. Anyone use these on a similar bass? or I,m open to suggestions. thanks

BTW, tried TI,s on this bass before and they really didnt do much for me, however I do have an old set on another jazz bass and they sound phenomenal, thus my quandry.... what is going to make this bass sound really great given all the variables.

i use chromes on my mia p deluxe it thumps well make sure you get the super long scale or the blue wraping will go past the nut!

[pbassnut]

Originally Posted by 4001

I'm sure those strings sound good but if one wanted a vintage Fender sound, wouldn't they want the same type of strings that were on those vintage Fenders?

I wonder what the tonal difference would be (if there were any) if my Squeir CV Jazz bass had a string-through body.
I have Rotosound RS 77 flats on it and it sounds great but sometimes I just wonder..what if?...

What if it had string through?

I'm not quite ready to start drilling holes in it to find out that it was a mistake.

I have some Fender Ps and Js with the top load or strings thru option and have tried both ways. The difference is subtle (if noticeable at all) from a sonic perspective. However, the feel is different ... a bit stiffer with the strings thru option. This can be exploited to make slinkier feeling strings a little more taut. I'm more likely to use the strings thru for roundwounds than with flats as the flats I use tend to be stiffer feeling on average.