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Flats on a Jazz ?

jsllim

jsllim

Feb 5, 2009
30
0
9c
#1
Hey guys,

Tried a search, didn't get the results I was looking for. I just got a new Fender American Standard Jazz for Christmas, I love it, it has the stock rounds on them now. I put some flats on my other jazz about a year ago and fell in love with them. When talking to another bassist about my new bass and how I will eventually put some flats on my new bass, he cautioned/warned me that flats would eventually start "bending/damaging" my neck or whatever opposed to rounds. Is there any truth in this statement at all? I don't understand how flatwound strings would bend your neck more or cause more damage to a neck than roundwire's would. I want to take care of my new baby and don't want to do anything to potentially harm/damage it. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
JM
 
#3
jsllim said:
Hey guys,

Tried a search, didn't get the results I was looking for. I just got a new Fender American Standard Jazz for Christmas, I love it, it has the stock rounds on them now. I put some flats on my other jazz about a year ago and fell in love with them. When talking to another bassist about my new bass and how I will eventually put some flats on my new bass, he cautioned/warned me that flats would eventually start "bending/damaging" my neck or whatever opposed to rounds. Is there any truth in this statement at all? I don't understand how flatwound strings would bend your neck more or cause more damage to a neck than roundwire's would. I want to take care of my new baby and don't want to do anything to potentially harm/damage it. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
JM
Click to expand...

Hey JM. All I can think of is that he meant that higher tension strings put more tension on a bass' neck. Well, the only response to that is...duh. However, there would not be enough tension in any set of "normal" strings that would do this to a non-faulty neck.
String up those flats, enjoy, best sound IMO are flats on a Jazz.
 
#11
I have an affinity jazz V. As soon as I got it, I put XL Med adjusted the truss rod about 1/4 turn(over a couple days, it is an affinity). A couple of months later I decided to flats on, as I love em on my VM tele.

So0o... I put Chrome Med Light on and lowered the action from 7/64ths to 3/64ths. I had to then back the truss rod a 1/6th turn. Even though the Chromes have more tension, lowering the action had (I assume) put less bowing tension on the neck.

Take from it what ya will.

Dave :bassist:
 
#13
+1 circuitspore

Go Ahead!
It will be fine
You might need to adjust the truss rod a little bit.

A relatively long time ago I had my Jazz-style Bass strung with a heavy set (I got by accident, thinking it was med-light) of Fender Flats (the old ones) for more than a Year and a half, the neck barely noticed a thing.
Right now I have 40-95 Chromes on it, but not due to being cautious not to stress the neck.
 
#16
DriesG said:
Flats are made for p basses... :hiding:

No: it's completely safe. I've played for about 2 years with TI flats on my '72 j and really liked them. Made my j sound really warm with a big bottom.
Click to expand...

+ 1 To both.

I'm one of that bunch who feels that you rob a JBass of it's broad tonal range by using flats but I also realize it's all a matter of personal taste. One other option you might consider for the Jazz is a set of Pressure Wound strings. They're on the mellower end of the tonal spectrum but still offer full tonal versatility and they have a very nice "feel" to them.

And tell that other bassist he doesn't know what in the hell he's talking about and to stop giving advice based on inaccurate information. :rollno: The string tension of some rounds is even greater than that of some flats and that's what exerting pressure on the neck. String manufacturers wouldn't stay in business long if their products damaged a bass.

Consider what he told you an urban legend or worse. :eyebrow:
 
#19
I put flats on my Sadowsky standard 5, and I love 'em! I was able to lower the action quite a bit because of the lack of fret buzz. Just a minor tweek to the truss rod and I was good to go. I can still get a very aggressive sound by digging in a bit. Bonus having absolutely no string "squeek" during position shifts.
 

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