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flatwound strings on a Jazz bass

#101
Ordered a set of Fender 9505L for my Suhr Jazz. They arrived today and I just now put them on and played for about a half hour. So far I'm really liking them. A lot more than I thought I would. I was surprised at how much high-end I was getting off of them, more like a somewhat dead set of rounds than flats, but I expect that will diminish somewhat as they break in. I also like the way they look on this bass; kinda dressy.

These seem pretty versatile. I was able to get a great slap tone as well as nice, clear fingerstyle. Very punchy funk tones, and the sound of the bridge pickup solo'd sounds a bit cleaner. Chords sounded nice too. I'm gonna give these a few weeks and see how I like them going forward.
 
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#102
red_rhino said:
Ordered a set of Fender 9505L for my Suhr Jazz. They arrived today and I just now put them on and played for about a half hour. So far I'm really liking them. A lot more than I thought I would. I was surprised at how much high-end I was getting off of them, more like a somewhat dead set of rounds than flats, but I expect that will diminish somewhat as they break in.
Click to expand...

The Fender 9050 flats do start out surprisingly bright, even "clangy", but the initial clang will settle into a very pleasing low-mid grind after a month or two.
 
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#103
michael_t said:
The Fender 9050 flats do start out surprisingly bright, even "clangy", but the initial clang will settle into a very pleasing low-mid grind after a month or two.
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I like them even more today than yesterday, but that could just be my ears embracing the new sounds. One thing I've become more aware of since putting these on is that the evenness with which I pluck each string has become inconsistent over the years. I'm plucking notes on the G string at a slightly different angle than the other strings, and it's not a good thing. Now I find myself trying to make some adjustments to my technique to address that. So ultimately, that's a good thing.

I'm gonna have to try flats on my P-bass now. Something other than the 9050's, if just to see what else I might like.
 
#104
red_rhino said:
I'm gonna have to try flats on my P-bass now. Something other than the 9050's, if just to see what else I might like.
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My P bass has been wearing the GHS Precision Flats 3025 (45-60-75-95) for the last six months and these are by far my favorite to date. A very different flavor compared to the Fender 9050s on my J, but they're just as scrumptious in their own way.
 
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#106
jnewmark said:
I notice quite a few of you go in for the lighter gauge flats. Any reason for this ?
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I'm guessing it's a tension thing. I had D'Addario nickel rounds (45-65-85-105) on my jazz, and went with Fender 9050L (45-60-80-100). Tension feels about the same, so I'm guessing that 9050's at the same gauge as the D'Addarios might be a bit higher. But honestly, I just chose them because that's what others in this thread were recommending.

It seems like tension is a bigger consideration in flatwound string selection than it is for roundwounds. (Or at least people seem to discuss it more when talking about flats.)
 
#107
jnewmark said:
I notice quite a few of you go in for the lighter gauge flats. Any reason for this ?
Click to expand...

Here's my reasoning for going lighter with flats...

Flats are naturally stiffer than rounds of similar gauges, so downsizing helps with the overall playability. Besides, I need to be kinder and gentler to my 61-yr-old battle-scarred hands these days after four trigger release surgeries in the last couple of years.

What's more important, though, is lighter sets of flats tend to have better tonal balance. I used to swear by "balanced tension", which meant I always looked for a set as close to 45-60-80-105 as possible. For example, Fender 9050CL (45-60-80-105) and La Bella 760FL (43-60-82-104). The only problem was the 105E and 104E tended to get muddy, especially on my P bass, so I started to experiment and discovered a lighter E (100/095) tended to be cleaner with better note definition.
 
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#108
michael_t said:
Here's my reasoning for going lighter with flats...

Flats are naturally stiffer than rounds of similar gauges, so downsizing helps with the overall playability. Besides, I need to be kinder and gentler to my 61-yr-old battle-scarred hands these days after four trigger release surgeries in the last couple of years.

What's more important, though, is lighter sets of flats tend to have better tonal balance. I used to swear by "balanced tension", which meant I always looked for a set as close to 45-60-80-105 as possible. For example, Fender 9050CL (45-60-80-105) and La Bella 760FL (43-60-82-104). The only problem was the 105E and 104E tended to get muddy, especially on my P bass, so I started to experiment and discovered a lighter E (100/095) tended to be cleaner with better note definition.
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makes sense. I have the LaBella's on my Jazz and the 104E is noticeably " deader " sounding than the other three strings.
 
#109
I play my guitar players mexi deluxe jazz once a week. It has flats on it of an unknown veriety. All I know is it sounds great. I think they must be chromes because the balls are all different colors. However the silk is an aqua color and not the blue that I thought chromes use. Maybe the silk has faded over the years. Anybody have any ideas? They sound excellent. Last night I took my American deluxe jazz, which is essentially the same bass, it’s strung with la-bella LTF’s and it was a lot easier to get a good tone with the mexi jazz with the chromes (?).
 
#110
68Goldfish said:
I play my guitar players mexi deluxe jazz once a week. It has flats on it of an unknown veriety. All I know is it sounds great. I think they must be chromes because the balls are all different colors. However the silk is an aqua color and not the blue that I thought chromes use. Maybe the silk has faded over the years. Anybody have any ideas?
Click to expand...

What color ball end for the D string? If it's black, they're most likely to be D'A Chromes. If it's silver, then they're Fender 9050s, which come with green silk at both ends.
 
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#113
db59 said:
I'm mostly a "jazz" guy...but after being on TB and to avoid embarrassment I knew I had to have "flats" and
a PBass....well the flats are on the jazz....PBass have rounds
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LOL. Same here. Although I plan to change that shortly, (once I've completed a ton of research on every aspect of every brand, and finally just picking one at random).
 
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#114
So I've had the 9050L's on my Jazz bass for 3 or 4 days now. I'm really liking them. Never thought I would say that about a flatwound string. They seem to be settling in very nicely, and I like them a little more everyday. It will be interesting to see what they sound like in a few weeks.

This may be the bass I take to my next jam or audition.
 
#117
I have been thinkin of trying to find a decent inexpensive jazz bass strictly for the purpose of putting flats on it. These posts are encouriging! I currently have a jazz bass with rounds on it that I only use when I do a pop gig where I thumb slap a few tunes. I have flats on my three P basses (62 MIJ Reissue, MIJ Reissue, 2022 American Pro II Five) and love the sound. Alas I have been in the throws of a serious case of G.A.S. and am trying to stop spending money........I think i will wait till I find just the right one.
 
#119
ics1974 said:
I have never put flats on a Jazz bass before. I do have them on my P Bass. Is there any reason not to on a Jazz?
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Well...
As I'm sure you've found by now, the only real reason not to put flat wounds on a Jazz Bass, is that you just don't like flat wounds. Jazz Basses came from the Fender factory with Fender's own flats, until 1978 or so. P-basses kept their factory flats until 1982. The factory flats - made by the Squier string company (which Fender bought out) - were fairly light gauge; fairly low tension - as most factory flats were, back in the day - and by today's standards, would be considered "modern, mid-range focused" flats. A decent low end; lots of low-mids and mids; and a fairly decent top end. "Old School", low end focused flats are... well, some people use them - and like them - on a Jazz Bass; but, most folks seem to prefer the more mid-range focused flats. If you want to try flats like a Jazz Bass used to come with? The light gauge GHS Precision Flats are about as close as you will get. GHS is the initials of 3 guys that used to work for Squier, so they more or less cloned the Squier flats they used to make... Or, you may like the Fender 9050Ls; they sound - and feel - like the originals, too. And, if you have money burning a hole in your pocket? There's always a set of TIJF344 Jazz Flats. They seem to be popular on a Jazz Bass, too. Other pretty popular flats on a Jazz Bass? D'Addario Chromes, and EB Slinky Cobalt Flats. I have the GHS P-Flats on my P-Bass (I want that original tone), as well as several other basses. I also have the Fender 9050L's on 2 or 3 basses at the moment, and my Alembic Epic wears a set of the TI Jazz Flats. Which are the cat's ass if you need their "orchestral" overtones for what you play - I do, for what the Alembic is used for - but... if you don't? Personally, I think I'd get the Fenders - or the light GHS P-Flats...:cool:
 
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#120
GIBrat51 said:
Well...
As I'm sure you've found by now, the only real reason not to put flat wounds on a Jazz Bass, is that you just don't like flat wounds. Jazz Basses came from the Fender factory with Fender's own flats, until 1978 or so. P-basses kept their factory flats until 1982. The factory flats - made by the Squier string company (which Fender bought out) - were fairly light gauge; fairly low tension - as most factory flats were, back in the day - and by today's standards, would be considered "modern, mid-range focused" flats. A decent low end; lots of low-mids and mids; and a fairly decent top end. "Old School", low end focused flats are... well, some people use them - and like them - on a Jazz Bass; but, most folks seem to prefer the more mid-range focused flats. If you want to try flats like a Jazz Bass used to come with? The light gauge GHS Precision Flats are about as close as you will get. GHS is the initials of 3 guys that used to work for Squier, so they more or less cloned the Squier flats they used to make... Or, you may like the Fender 9050Ls; they sound - and feel - like the originals, too. And, if you have money burning a hole in your pocket? There's always a set of TIJF344 Jazz Flats. They seem to be popular on a Jazz Bass, too. Other pretty popular flats on a Jazz Bass? D'Addario Chromes, and EB Slinky Cobalt Flats. I have the GHS P-Flats on my P-Bass (I want that original tone), as well as several other basses. I also have the Fender 9050L's on 2 or 3 basses at the moment, and my Alembic Epic wears a set of the TI Jazz Flats. Which are the cat's ass if you need their "orchestral" overtones for what you play - I do, for what the Alembic is used for - but... if you don't? Personally, I think I'd get the Fenders - or the light GHS P-Flats...:cool:
Click to expand...
Do you know specifically what the original VC Squier made light gauge strings were?

Edit: I just saw this pic of a 1969 Fender string catalogue in post #63 that lists a "light" flatwound bass set as having gauges
095 080 064 048

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/history-of-fender-brand-strings.1157207/page-4
 
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