TI Flats and 35" scale.

[Kael]

I finally have my Chris Larkin Reacter 5 up and running after an extended downtime. I've never been overly in love with the DR Lowrider Nickels that it is currently sporting plus they are now completely dead after sitting fallow for many months. Looking at perhaps giving the TI flats another whirl. Not positive about it, but the thought did pop into my head. The last time I used TI flats (on a fretless Jazz) I liked the tone but hated the low tension. No, make that I HATED the tension. It was like using a string on the edge of being great but the playability kept sucking it back down. The tension felt lower than the D'Addario XLs that are now on my fretless. Ugh. I could actually tell when my tuning was more than a few cents flat by feeling the slacking in the tension.

I have a couple questions for anyone with experience using TI's and 35" instruments.

Given that the Larkin is 35" scale and thus has slightly tighter strings than a 34" scale instrument, how much can I expect the TI's to tighten up? I realize that the Lowriders are probably going to be tighter than the TI's and I am ok with that. The 35" scale coupled with the fairly tight Lowriders is giving me a little tighter tension than I'd normally like anyway.

Are there any issues with using the TI flat set, which is listed as intended for 34" scale basses, with a 35" scale bass? ie: will they be long enough? Bridge will be loaded on top, no through body. I suspect they will reach far enough, but I'd rather not find out the hard way that they won't. They aren't the cheapest strings out there.

Thanks in advance.

PS: To any potential responses by search nazi's, stick it. Searching TI doesn't work and the google search thing annoys me.

[JustDavid]

I make the scale change giving a 6% increase in tension. For reference, jumping from a 0.100 E to a 0.105 E gives a 10% increase.

No experience on 35" scale TIJFs. They have long sets, but $22 more at juststrings.

[Johnny Alien]

Unless someone is going to string through body I ALWAYS suggest buying the 34" scale for a 35" bass. TI makes their strings long to accommodate for through body stringing on a 34" scale. Because of this they work perfectly for a 35" scale as long as you are going through bridge. The next size is 36" and they are built long too so they would be very long for the 35" scale.

Increasing the scale might give you a slight "perceived" increase in tension but I am not sure there will be any real tension increase. I have never tested it and I would be hesitant to say that you would feel enough of an increase to fall in love with them.

I could be wrong. Perhaps someone that has both bass scales side by side can verify.

[mobis.fr]

i had them on my Skyline joe osbourne 5string - no problems.

[ElMon]

Not TOO off-topic, but I HIGHLY recommend D'Addario Chromes. Great tension, IMO/IME a tight/defined B string, plus they stay relatively bright throughout a long period. I LOVED the tone of the TI strings I had, but didn't like the tension either.

[mccartneyman]

TIs go fine through the body, and although the tension is less than most, I didn't find it too low ion my Lakland 55-94. I have never used TS on a 34" scale, so I can't tell you how the tension differs. I Currently have Sadowsky flats through the bridge on the 55-94 ans the tension is somewhat higher, but the mids aren't the same as TIs. Chromes definitely have more tension than TIs, but they don't sound the same, and I would not string them through body because they a won't be long enough and they might not like the bending.