TI Jazz Flats; 2 + 2???

Tim Skaggs · #1 06-29-2010, 10:08 AM

I put a set of Thomastic-Infeld jazz flats on my 1962 jazz "parts" bass a couple weeks ago and have noticed a strange phenomenon. The "E" & "A" strings sound a lot like new round wounds, with the "piano like" ring when the open string is plucked or picked, but the "D" & "G" strings sound like flats. I can see the slight gap in the winding on tha "E" & "A" which must be contributing to the flexibility & "brightness" of those two. Has anyone else noticed this and will all four strings start sounding more alike with age? Right now, it's very annoying.

CapnSev · #2 06-29-2010, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Skaggs

I put a set of Thomastic-Infeld jazz flats on my 1962 jazz "parts" bass a couple weeks ago and have noticed a strange phenomenon. The "E" & "A" strings sound a lot like new round wounds, with the "piano like" ring when the open string is plucked or picked, but the "D" & "G" strings sound like flats. I can see the slight gap in the winding on tha "E" & "A" which must be contributing to the flexibility & "brightness" of those two. Has anyone else noticed this and will all four strings start sounding more alike with age? Right now, it's very annoying.

Yeah, it's been brought up several times before, and I think its due to the gaps in the windings on the lower strings, like you said.

Anyway, they even out with each other in a few weeks and its all good.

deliciouspesto · #3 06-29-2010, 11:13 AM

Wait a few weeks, they will magically fix themselves. Really.

jasper383 · #4 06-29-2010, 11:19 AM

In my experience, all flats have some uneven string-to-string feel and sound issues right off the bat. They all even out over time. Give them a couple weeks.

Tim Skaggs · #5 06-29-2010, 01:37 PM

Sounds good. I'm just getting in to the "flat earth" movement over the past year or so after about 25 years of bright-as-I-can-get rounds. I've tried the cheap route (Fender) and the mid-priced (D'adderio Chromes), and now I'm on to the higher priced. So far, I like the TI's, except for the difference in the low 2 vs the high 2, and I knew the lower two would dim a little over time, just like rounds.

My #1 appreciation of flats so far is how well they cut through when playing in the higher register. Rounds just get drounded out by everything else when I played above the 7th fret on the "D" and "G" & now the TI's just cut through loud and clear.

deliciouspesto · #6 06-29-2010, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Skaggs

Sounds good. I'm just getting in to the "flat earth" movement over the past year or so after about 25 years of bright-as-I-can-get rounds. I've tried the cheap route (Fender) and the mid-priced (D'adderio Chromes), and now I'm on to the higher priced. So far, I like the TI's, except for the difference in the low 2 vs the high 2, and I knew the lower two would dim a little over time, just like rounds.

My #1 appreciation of flats so far is how well they cut through when playing in the higher register. Rounds just get drounded out by everything else when I played above the 7th fret on the "D" and "G" & now the TI's just cut through loud and clear.

They are really impressive strings, and as they mellow they become more impressive. I do find it interesting how almost zingy they are when they start off, but soon after they completely transform. I had a set of the 36" TI jazz flats used on the normal scale and I thought they were completely different animals than the 34" TI jazz flats, but after a few weeks they settled down.

Tim Skaggs · #7 07-09-2010, 01:30 PM

Well, I have a few weeks with the TI Jazz Flats and I'm a little dissapointed so far. I'm still experiencing the 2+2 effect. I see posts that indicate the break-in time for these strings could be as long as a year. I'm sorry if I don't seem as committed as some are, but I'm not going to play my bass for a year with undesirable tone while waiting on good tone to arrive. I would rather put on another set that sounds good from the beginning. Another observation; I'm not hearing a drastic difference from other flats I've tried. There is more roundwound tone on the E & A TI than on most flats, but the D & G are very much like the Chromes I took off the bass, just not quite as dead yet. In fact, I was considering putting on the E & A from the old Chrome set so all 4 strings would sound like flats, but the old Chromes are totally used up. I'm sorry, but regarding the TI J Flats, the emperor looks naked to me.

fearceol · #8 07-09-2010, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Skaggs

Well, I have a few weeks with the TI Jazz Flats and I'm a little dissapointed so far. I'm still experiencing the 2+2 effect. I see posts that indicate the break-in time for these strings could be as long as a year. I'm sorry if I don't seem as committed as some are, but I'm not going to play my bass for a year with undesirable tone while waiting on good tone to arrive.

I have never heard of TI's taking a year to break in, unless a person is playing for a half an hour a week. I'd say give them another week or two. If you are still not happy with them after that, then I'm sure there will be a queue of people willing to buy them from you, especially when they are almost broken in.

Tim Skaggs · #9 07-09-2010, 06:10 PM

TI Jazz Flats.. how long have they been on your bass ?

Johnny Alien · #10 07-09-2010, 06:53 PM

They "should" even out fairly quickly. If another week goes by and they still sound like that then ship those two strings to me and I will get them replaced for you free of charge because they could just be defective strings. If after that they still aren't doing it then it's quite possible they aren't for you.

Just hate to have your experience be based on a bad batch if that is indeed what is going on.

fearceol · #11 07-10-2010, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Skaggs

TI Jazz Flats.. how long have they been on your bass ?

Fair enough, one person said it took a year. For that, there are lots who will say three months max.

My own took about two months.

Johnny Alian could be correct in saying that you may have a bad batch.

Tim Skaggs · #12 07-11-2010, 09:20 PM

I played a 4+ hour gig in the outdoors with at least 70% humidity at the start. I have to say the TI flats came through in the mix very well. I did not notice the difference between the E/A and the D/G in the live mix as much as when practicing solo. I can see that the E & A are going to lose their "roundwound-like" tone in the same way that round wounds lose their ringing piano-like tone and zing as they take on oil & dirt from the player's hands along with tarnishing of the nickel (if nickel wound). I definitely don't anticipate the the D & G gaining the ringing tone similar to a round wound like the E & A started out.

Tim Skaggs · #13 07-26-2010, 06:04 PM

I'm very happy to report that Johnny Alien sent me new D & G strings and they fixed my problem. He said TI had some bad D & G strings floating around out there and I believe it 100% now that I received the replacements. The D & G that came with the set sound like old Fender flats compared to the replacments I received.

If anyone experiences TI Jazz Flats with a bright E & A and a dead sounding D & G, IT'S NOT NORMAL, and all the break-in time in the world won't fix it.

Thanks to Johnny Alien, I'm 200% happier with these strings. I would have bet the replacment strings would sound just like them. I couldn't have been more wrong.

CapnSev · #14 07-27-2010, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Skaggs

If anyone experiences TI Jazz Flats with a bright E & A and a dead sounding D & G, IT'S NOT NORMAL, and all the break-in time in the world won't fix it.

Interesting. I'm starting to think the set I bought is "not normal" now.

precision punk · #15 08-20-2010, 04:35 PM

As soon as I recieved my T I Jazz flats two years ago the 2 + 2 used to bother me. As soon as I put them on I rubbed some skin lotion on them and played for a couple of hours. The strings all sounded even, warm, and mid growly due to the tension I'm guessing. I still have them on my American Standard with a vintage 62' pup. What a great warm tone!