LaBella Jamersons to LaBella lights

[hack]

Hi folks,
I am considering to replace my current LaBella Jamerson set
(52 - 110) on my MIA P with LaBella FL lights flats
(43 - 104). Has anyone else made this switcheroo? Are there any issues with the nut? Would the gaps be too big to accomodate the lighter gauges without any strange noises? I do not want to replace the nut. Thanks in advance for your input.

[One Drop]

Originally Posted by hack

Hi folks,
I am considering to replace my current LaBella Jamerson set
(52 - 110) on my MIA P with LaBella FL lights flats
(43 - 104). Has anyone else made this switcheroo? Are there any issues with the nut? Would the gaps be too big to accomodate the lighter gauges without any strange noises? I do not want to replace the nut. Thanks in advance for your input.

I bought a '73 Jazz that had the Jamerson flats on it, and I switched to the FLs soon after (BTW, they call them Light guage but by today's standards they aren't lery light. The E string is .105, I think). Beside a 3/4 turn of the trussrod to make up for the huge decrease in tension I didn't need a new nut, but the grooves in the nut were very snug to begin with. But if your nut is cut on the large size for the Jamerson's you might have a bit too much room in there. I'm afraid you might just have to try it and see.

[bkeating]

is there any noticable difference in the sound when you lower the guage?

i played a bunch of flats until i found the jamerson set and it gave me exactly what i wanted. however, i'm playing a 74 jazz and i became too neurotic about all the extra tension that was stressing the neck. we tune down to Eb but i always start feeling nervous if i need to tune back to standard ect. so, i'm thinking a lower guage labella set would be the perfect compromise.

something about that jamerson set just absolutely floored me, it constantly gave me "my" sound no matter what bass i put them on...and part of me believes it is because they're are just so darn heavy. best case scenerio would be for me to get a bass i wasn't so concerned about but a string solution would be the cheaper fix!

great thread - keep me posted with what you guys find!

bk

[hack]

As far as I know the sound of the strings with lighter gauges LaBellas should not be too far off from the Jamerson set sound. However, I am worried that the wider slots in the nut can cause buzzing problems with light gauges. Some guys fill the slots with epoxy and other glues and then file new slots. This is what I don't want to do. If the strings are too thin for the slots I would rather buy medium gauge.

[kevin_lindsay]

The lighter gauge will naturally give you leed bottom end in the natural sound. You'll need to s;acken off the truss rod too as tehre will be less tension from the strings.

Sayong this, I have tried D'Addario Chromes. Thomastick Infeld, and Ernie Ball flawound sets, all of which ahve been less satisfactory then the La Bella Jamerson (1954 set) strings. So IThe La Bella are all I use now - expensive, but last for years, and give a sound I love, and which stuio and live engineeres seems to crave!!

[57pbass]

If the nut slot is too big from the .110 put a drop or two of crazy glue in the slot..
it dries super hard and will save you some $$ at the repair shop.. you can file it down until snug..

[bkeating]

hey hack - this might seem like a silly quick fix but sometimes putting a really small piece of folded paper in the nut slot will do the trick. if you can get it small enough, and to the proper thickness, you won't even know it's there.

+1 kev - i've found that live engineers go crazy over the sound of those strings!

[One Drop]

To be honest I didn't notice any less bottom with the 760FL set. What I did notice was more thump from the Jamersons. I actually prefer the attack of the lighter set, and the tension, too. The Jamersons really are like playing bridge cables, while the 760FLs are quite low tension for a flat.