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Back to TI Flats on a Jazz

bwildt

bwildt

Mar 21, 2017
906
4,154
Wichita, Kansas
#1
Not really a Jazz, but an old 2 pickup Jazz format Yamaha BBG5. I had TI Flats on it for a while and liked the tone. Last year I got a hankering to try going back to rounds on this instrument, so I tried some TI Jazz Rounds.

They were nice and I also liked them. Last night, I decided to throw the flats back on, just as a comparison. Well, I discovered (again) that I really like the sound of flats on a Jazz-style bass. Being first a pbass guy (usually also with flats), flats on a Jazz just give me a beefier sound that I like. Roll in the bridge pickup and I start getting a really nice scooped and nasally sound that is still full-sounding without the upper frequencies that I don't really care for. I have to admit that I never run roundwound strings with the tone control full up.

The flats are staying.

Yamaha BBG5-02_cropped.jpg
 
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#2
Nice! That bass looks remarkably similar to my Peavey Fury IV (see below). A couple of hours ago I placed an order for a set of TI Jazz Flats for it. I can’t wait to have them on my Peavey! This will be my second set; I owned my first for at least a few years but foolishly sent them along (not installed, just in the bag 🤦🏼‍♂️) with a bass I sold. Oh well. Looking forward to trying them again!

IMG_9053.jpeg
 
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#3
The BBG5 (and BBG4) were not expensive basses. I think about $399 in 2001. About the same as Mexican Fenders. However, they were nicely made. That tiger striping on the top is just a photo under the finish. I bought it to dip my feet in the 5-string world.

I paid $190 for mine, IIRC. It was a damage return at the old Musicians Friend warehouse scratch and dent store in Kansas City. It took a hard hit on the control knobs and split some of the top where it was thin because of the control cavity underneath. All the pots still worked OK. I was planning on making a plate to cover the damage, but instead ended up just playing it the way it was. I'm still playing it that way.
 
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#4
bwildt said:
The BBG5 (and BBG4) were not expensive basses. I think about $399 in 2001. About the same as Mexican Fenders. However, they were nicely made. That tiger striping on the top is just a photo under the finish. I bought it to dip my feet in the 5-string world.

I paid $190 for mine, IIRC. It was a damage return at the old Musicians Friend warehouse scratch and dent store in Kansas City. It took a hard hit on the control knobs and split some of the top where it was thin because of the control cavity underneath. All the pots still worked OK. I was planning on making a plate to cover the damage, but instead ended up just playing it the way it was. I'm still playing it that way.
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The old MF warehouse! What a place rows and rows of pricey guitars with snapped headstock...Yamaha always had some cool basses.
 
#5
Once I started using TI flats on my pbasses I became hooked and never looked back. My Jazz bass is the only bass with round wounds. Perhaps when the set that's on there goes dead I'll try the TI flats. They have gone up in price though...
 
#7
bwildt said:
Well, I discovered (again) that I really like the sound of flats on a Jazz-style bass.
Click to expand...
Back in the B&W days there was one music shop in my home town. Sold cellos and violins, sheet music, pianos, a lot of brass and the salesmen wore suits :)

When they finally recognised electricity, two bass guitars appeared; P-bass with roundwound and a jazz bass with flats. I loved the sound of the jazz bass with flats but it cost £20 more than the P-bass, no 3 guesses which one I bought 🤣
 
#8
That's a great find of that old Yamaha!!

FWIW, I love my TI Flats on my (very basic) 5 string Squire Jazz. It was an experiment for me...can "Cadillac" strings on a "used Pontiac" bass make it sound good?

For most of the fret board, the answer is a resounding yes. Even those great flats, however, can't overcome the two dead spots, the 5th and 6th frets on the G string. So, when I play that bass, I just work around those notes.

Since then, I've moved to a Yamaha 1025x five string...love it.

Hope you have a blast with your Yamaha!
 
#12
mambo4 said:
Hey, you gonna sell those TI Jazz rounds?
I might know a guy
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Sorry. I moved them over to my cheapie Cort Action PJ, replacing some old DR steel Lo-riders. The TI rounds sound great on it. However, I'm always amazed at how good that Cort sounds. I think it is the pickups. It feels cheap in my hands, but a can't complain about its sound. I would take it and play it anywhere.
 
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#13
I’ve played TI flats off and on for decades, but they have never risen to the top choice for my flats. They have such great characteristics in so many ways. However one thing, that in my opinion, they utterly fail at is in their lack of a strong initial note attack. I have tried pedals, eq, different basses, different set up…the attack is not there. Others have either found a way to achieve a strong attack, or they don't desire that, or perhaps they hear their results differently. TIs are certainly not traditional flats, nor do they claim to be. I have found that they are not a universally great string set for my purposes, but they do offer some very tasty tones.
 
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#14
I did just the opposite: I stuck a set of lightly-used TI Jazz Rounds on my mid-tier Soundgear 755 replacing some really worn SuperBrights. If nothing else, it lessened my desire to swap-out the stock MK1 pickups. Honestly, I had a tough time justifying sticking some very expensive strings on a budget instrument. Waiting in the wings: another set of TIJR's and LaBella LTF's.

Riis
 
#15
bwildt said:
Sorry. I moved them over to my cheapie Cort Action PJ, replacing some old DR steel Lo-riders. The TI rounds sound great on it. However, I'm always amazed at how good that Cort sounds. I think it is the pickups. It feels cheap in my hands, but a can't complain about its sound. I would take it and play it anywhere.
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，Agree. Just like the Yamaha trbx174, PJ, sound better than both trbx 500/600 series.
 

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