Fender 9050L's on PBasses?

[GrapeBass]

Here's the deal with 9050's: they do have growl. They are not your father's round, woody tone flats. Whether they will work on any given bass depends entirely on the resonance of the body of the bass. I have tried them on everything: maple, ash, asian mahogany, alder. To my ears, they work best on a neutral alder body with a bolt on neck, rosewood fingerboard. A bass of these characteristics tends to have a slight dip in the natural resonance of the instrument @ 400 Hz, which gives clarity and definition to the 9050's. Maple overworks the growl; ash and mahogany have tonal signatures that do not seem to be compatible with the 9050's: ash, again to my ears, seems to draw the life out of them, and asian mahogany, having a different midrange resonance, makes them sound nasal to me.

Your mileage may vary. Rock on.

I use the 9050Ls on my MIM Ash/Rosewood J-Bass (CS60s) and Squier VM fretless Agathis/Ebonol (SD QP). They sound similar but markedly different. Both have a nice growl, the Ash/Rosewood J sounds sweet and focused and the VM J has more of a distinctive growl and sounds like it has less high frequency content. Both took a while to break in.

 

[iiipopes]

Flats with growl? That makes it interesting!
Poplar is supposed to be tonally similar to alder and laurel to rosewood isn’t it?

Tonewood Tutorial: Everything You Need to Know About Tonewoods | GuitarPlayer

 

[ximun]

I just read the first page and agree totally with most of the opinions.

Great strings, with a long zingy time before being lovable.

I have them on a Vintage brand Pbass which is pretty modern voiced, and the fit is perfect to be versatile and play rock.
I have Labella 760FS on a great CV60s Pbass, for a more vintage perfect touch and marriage
I have TI flats on my JBass, and love them

I have tried and disliked all the other combinations... just my opinion of course.

 

[GIBrat51]

View attachment 3906540 I had 9050L's on my '78 P-Bass for several years. This picture was taken shortly before I took them off the bass; which is why the bridge cover/mute is also off. I have to say right up front: Fender 9050's are VERY nice flats. If you need your P-Bass to be versatile, and you want a modern flat with decent highs; a good bottom end; and super mids? Then, IMO these strings are for you. The only reason the 9050's came off this bass is because I have 22 others; the last thing I need from most of them is versatility. What I want from my P-Bass is Old School Rock/Rockabilly/Motown thump; and, IMO, that's about the one thing 9050's on a P-Bass don't do really well. So, the P-Bass wears flats that do give me the thump I want; and, as for that set of 9050s?
View attachment 3906547 They're on my Eastwood Magnum bass - lookin' good, and, with mini humbuckers, sounding even better... View attachment 3906548 One of my Dano DC59 Pros wears them, too. On a plywood/Masonite semi-hollow bodied bass? Fender 9050's can thump with the best of them...

Well...
4 and a half years on, and I still like Fender 9050L's - a lot. But, there have been some changes in my "Bass Herd". The Dano DC59 still has it's 9050L's - and still sounds good. I sold off the Eastwood Magnum bass (minus the 9050L's), and it's spot in the Herd ("Long Scale Bolt Neck") was filled with an '88 Tokai TB48 Thunderbird. It doesn't wear the Fender flats, though. I wanted a little more thump from a T-Bird than they can give me, so it wears Optima 4099RL "Chromes". Similar to the Optima 4440RB "Rickenbacker" Flats, but with a little more low end... That particular set of 9050L's, is on the bass that replaced my Alembic Epic in the "Active Bass" spot; a '15 Tom Hamilton Signature G&L ASAT Bass. They suit that bass VERY well. The Alembic, besides being an active bass, is also a "Long Scale Set Neck Bass"; since I was having a pretty hard time filling that spot? It was easier to move the Alembic over, and look for another - and much easier to find - left handed active bass. Took me about a day to find the ASAT... However;
This May, the ASAT lost the "Active Bass" spot to a seriously active Schecter Stiletto Studio-4L lined fretless bass (which came with a set of EB Group IV flats). But, I have no plans to get rid of the ASAT. It's now part of a little group of basses that don't have a spot in the herd, but that I won't get rid of. Since it's just barely active to begin with, and works - and sounds - perfectly fine, with no battery in it? I just play it in permanent passive mode, and enjoy the 9050L's it still wears. And which, IIRC, are close to 15 years old, now...

 

[C-60 Bass]

Big fan of 9050L's and I 'really' liked the pre 2010 ones but all mine are now sadly gone!

I've recently put 9050L's on my '71 Precision after trying a few other sets (FL760FL, GHS Precision Flats, Roto 77's, Roto 66's and Slinkies).

I'm a firm believer that strings will bring out the character of a bass/pickup and one string doesn't give the same results on all bass's/rigs/players. Strings are the cheapest and easiest tone change you can bring (after pick types and fingers)!

I always enjoy the mid range thump and slight growl of 9050's