Epiphone Jack Casady - what strings do you use?

Hey Peter,

I just got a sunburst JC Sig and strung it up with Rotosound Tru-Bass black nylons and while I like them they do seen to have a limited tonal range on the JC Sig...very "Hofnerish".

I may try a set of the Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Roundwounds on it next and report my findings.

 

I was using TI flats for a while...they imparted an almost fretless vibe and growl to my Jack.
But now I am back to TI Nickel Roundwounds, which seem to give off the most tone, and widest array of tones. The tension and gauge of TIs is a bit light, which I really like, but that might be a bit supple for some. Maybe aheavier gauge would help in yer tone quest?
But they are remarkable basses, eh?
In Mr. Jewels absence allow me to welcome you to the Jacksters......
Max Valentino

 

Dude! A sunburst Casady with Roto tapes? Got one
hangin' on the wall . I tried the same thing. Kept me
from rippin' out the frets anyway - very quiet.

 

Markley Blue Steels work well on the bass. I use 45-105.

 

Cool...yeah I really prefer the sunburst ones over the black or goldtops. I took off the pickguard and may put a T-Bird chrome pickup cover on it (hate the cheap cream colored pickup) and am talking to Hipshot about making me a decent set of tuners for it. The stock tuners are really cheap in my opinion but all in all I dig the hell out of my JC.

Has anyone in here tried moving the upper strap button to the upper horn instead of behind the neck joint? It tends to fall away from my body when playing it standing up unless I sling it low and on the side of my hip.

 

They are kinda' "slippy", ain't they. I could see where regular
Ultralite Cloverleafs would require a lotta' hole-fillin' and re-
paintin'. What about REAL Schallers?





I got to wonderin' about a heftier replacement bridge.
This one from Schaller (left) looks like it might work.
If not, Allparts has nickel ones.

 

Dude...I got Casady from Steve Azola, who had done some "experimenting "with the strap buttons.
He drilled holes on the horn, the outside top end of the heel, and of center and the butt (like a ZON or Tobias have). On the horn does even out the balance, but kinda puts the center of gravity in a funny place, at least for me when I play alot of chords (which, by the way, sound great on the JC!), so I have put it back on the heel. I have two straplocks on the butt, one for wearing high, as I usually do, and one to drop it a few inches to accomodate my use of Funk Fingers (which also really sound incredible on the Jack!)
Lighter tuners would really help. I was wondering about hipshots.....let me know what you end up doing.
MAx

 

I've never had a problem with the stock tuners. In fact, the bass stays in tune great over the course of four sets. As to the strap buttons, I did replace mine with Schaller's and the instrument retains good balance without the possiblity of slipping off the strap. Mounting a button on the upper horn would be a mistake, IMO.

One thing I did discover about this bass is that its tone is greatly affected by setup. If you don't take the time to really set it up right, you won't enjoy the full potential of its sound. The bridge needs to be properly adjusted and intonated and the front-to-back tilt needs to be perfect. When you get it just right, man, it's sweet!

 

Man! How did I miss this thread? Anyway Peter, let me welcome you to the Jacksters as well. Presently, I'm using Dean Markley Blue Steels, like Boogiebass, but, I'm using the light guage set.(40-100) For flatwounds I used to use Rotosound 77s which I feel give an almost roundwound sound, and seem to go naturally with this bass. This is some bass, huh? One thing I recommend that you try at least once is to turn all/most of the mids down on your amp. I find it gives the Casady an almost upright bass type tone. Another goodie I recently purchased was a Yamaha Nathan East NE-1 parametric EQ. As good as the Casady sounds, it makes it sound even better. In fact it makes any of my basses sound better. As far as the tuners go, I have to agree with Boogie, I haven't had any problems so far. Which strings sound best on this bass? I think most strings do, which is a tribute to its overall design; this is a well planned bass. I've said it a dozen times, but, I still don't understand why this bass hasn't caught on more than it has.
BTW, my Casady is sunburst too. I'll post some pix when I get a chance.

Welcome aboard, Pete.
Mike J.
P.S. As penance for missing this thread, I promise to have a couple of Cutty Sarks tonight!

Shout out to Notduane, Boogie, Max V. and Dude.

 

This may be a little off topic but then it does involves a JC Sig bass What amp and cab do you all use for your Jack Casady. I have a Ashdown abmc210500 and I find myself turning down the mid's. I use a carvin 15" under it somtimes as a extension cab.

 

LOL Max...that was my bass!! I sent it to Steve Azola last year as a partial trade toward the Telecaster Thinline Steve made for me. Small world huh?

I got a reply from Dave Borisoff at Hipshot this week. He said that he's work with me on designing some replacement tuners for my JC. I'll keep you guys up to speed with the project. I'm a Hipshot dealer and might get a few sets made up. If any of you might be interested come over to The Pit and post a message in my Hipshot forum ok? (I only browse arond in here once in a while):

http://pub41.ezboard.com/fthedudepitfrm23

Also keep your eyes peeled at the Pit for news about a new "Signature" set of strings currently in prototype phase by one of my manufacturers....wink, wink, nudge, nudge...sorry can't say more right now but all of you in this thread will be VERY interested in this new set of strings!!

 

I guess my last post was a little off topic but I am always curious what rigs the other Jacksters use...?

Well speaking of strings I was given a set of LaBella Deep Talkin 1954 flats by a fellow (Mike Jewels) and I tried them but just don't just want to keep them so with his permission I will send them on to the next person that wants them. Is this OK Mike? I only played then a few times and I belive Mike only did the same. I will look for the original posts that we shared. I remember Mike saying that they are high tension strings and sound best when you dig into them. As Mike said No strings attached...

 

Hey shortscale, what's up? Absolutely. If you can find someone else that wants them, you have my blessing. It was nice of you to ask. BTW, what don't you like about 'em; too much tension?
Right now I have a set of Dean Markley Blue Steels. Very nice. These and D'Addario slowounds are about the best round wounds I've tried on the Casady; for flats I still like Rotosound RS77s. Good hearing from you. Come around more often, y'hear?

Mike J.