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Flatwounds on a Jazz and roundwounds on a Precision?

#42
I play dead rounds on both Jazz and Precision bass. The P strings are 10 months old and still hold tune perfectly (They're SIT Power Nickels) and I like the way they add articulation to the E string lower notes so there is depth maintained across the feedboard.

When playing out several times a week, I used to change the strings about every 3-4 months but I am experimenting a little these days to see how long they last, keep tune and hold punch and clarity.
 
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#44
Thom Fioriglio said:
Hi all, I just got a new Fender Player Precision Bass. Over the last 2 years, had 2 basses, a Classic 50s P strung with Fender flatwounds and a Lakland DJ-4 (Jazz) strung with roundwounds. It's been quite a while since I've played a Precision with roundwounds, and man, does the Player P sound good. I got rid of the 50s P and like the idea of having one bass strung with flats and the other with rounds. I am thinking of keeping the rounds on the Player P and putting EB Cobalt flats on the Lakland. I've tried the Cobalt flats before on the Lakland but took them off because I already had flats on the Classic 50s P and didn't want 2 basses with flats. Now I am thinking I don't want 2 basses with rounds.

Based on my search, I know flats on the P and rounds on a Jazz is more common and more traditional. So my question is this, does anyone prefer it reversed like I am suggesting and rounds on the Precision and flats on the Jazz?

Thanks for the feedback.

Thom
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For live,, I put rounds on everything- if they are too bright or zingy for certain songs, I either tone down (passive) or EQ down ( active). I can make lively strings duller but I can't make dull strings brighter.....It never matters to me what traditionally everyone else does - I do what works for me
 
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#45
Thom Fioriglio said:
Hi all, I just got a new Fender Player Precision Bass. Over the last 2 years, had 2 basses, a Classic 50s P strung with Fender flatwounds and a Lakland DJ-4 (Jazz) strung with roundwounds. It's been quite a while since I've played a Precision with roundwounds, and man, does the Player P sound good. I got rid of the 50s P and like the idea of having one bass strung with flats and the other with rounds. I am thinking of keeping the rounds on the Player P and putting EB Cobalt flats on the Lakland. I've tried the Cobalt flats before on the Lakland but took them off because I already had flats on the Classic 50s P and didn't want 2 basses with flats. Now I am thinking I don't want 2 basses with rounds.

Based on my search, I know flats on the P and rounds on a Jazz is more common and more traditional. So my question is this, does anyone prefer it reversed like I am suggesting and rounds on the Precision and flats on the Jazz?

Thanks for the feedback.

Thom
Click to expand...
Play whatever makes YOU happy.
 
#46
I believe that the Bass gets to pick the strings. My P bass prefers medium gauge nickel rounds, and sounds awesome with the tone control all the way down. I have 3 jazz basses, so I have the luxury of having flats, nickel rounds, and stainless steel rounds on different basses. Fretless w flats, coated fretless w stainless steel rounds (I’m tellin ya she picked those strings), and fretted w nickel rounds.
 
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#50
Doug4321 said:
If you just play rock, maybe the rounds on the P, flats on the J, makes a lot of sense. P for some more aggressive sounds, and the the J for that deep, bassy sound, e.g. early Zeppelin.
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I’ve played with flats on my J and either rounds or pressure wounds on the P for the last few years, and I was pretty satisfied with the sound of both basses. I didn’t play the P much, though, because I prefer the feel of the flats. I just changed the P to flats and switched it to a no-load tone pot in hopes of keeping the sound similar.
 
#52
I think strings make a huge difference on feel and sound. Not sure what the audience thinks.
I experiment with strings quite a bit.
Just be careful taking them off and you can swap them and experiment yourself.
Personally, I like a J with high tension La Bella Flats and a J with low tension TI's.
My P has tapewounds.
The PJ has roundwounds.
So many options to try out!
Have fun.
 
#57
EdwardofHuncote said:
I went and asked Jeannie, just for fun... she rolled her eyes made that annoyed sound she makes whenever I talk about bass stuff, and told me even the World is flat, and when in question, it was always best to stick with what was natural... then she went back to reading her fake-news scrolls.

Hey, it's a snow-day. Try it both ways. I'm going to see how that pink chiffon number of hers does in a rematch snowball fight in a little bit.
Click to expand...

You wish!

Yeah, you guys are gettin' yer share of ole' man winter, for sure, today!
 
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#58
Well, it's settled. Every combo has been lauded and, therefore, all combos are correct.

But I came here to say that I put LaBella tapewounds on my fretless Jazz and get compliments all the time on it's burpy thunder. So...............there. (Should sound just as juicy on your P bass, too.)
 
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#59
Until this past Saturday, I had Dunlop Super Bright rounds on my P-Bass and TI Jazz flats on my Jazz. I liked the tone of both very well and had been playing the Jazz a lot since I put TI Jazz flats on it, BUT, on the gig we had Saturday night 1/15/22, I knew I would be playing slap on several songs, so I swapped the strings between the basses the day of the gig, BECAUSE I don’t like slap on my P with any kind of strings. The clearance of the strings off the pick guard is tight, and the slap tone of my P is not my favorite. I’ve played quite a bit of slap on my P just because it was what I had on when we started shuffling the song list, but I still don’t like it. I also don’t care for the slap tone of my Jazz with TI flats. I love the tone & feel of the TI flats on the Jazz for everything but slap.

If you play slap on anything, you are going to have to learn to like slap on a P with rounds or on a J with flats, which may not be a problem for you, but I couldn’t handle that, so I made the string swap to the more common configuration. My J only had flats on it because I had the strings on another bass (fretless) that I wasn’t playing much & I wanted to get some use out of the TI’s. They were great on the Jazz while they were on it, especially when the pickups were in series (I added series / parallel pickup switching a few years ago).

As it turned out, I played the Jazz w/rounds on 4 or 5 songs and played the P with the TI flats on the other 30+ songs. It helped that the P only weighs a little over 6 lbs, and the tone of the P with the TI flats was sitting in the mix like a chihuahua laying on a bean bag chair, so I couldn’t put it down;)

I think I would have been just as happy with two J basses, one with rounds & one with flats, but I only have one J bass:cool:
 
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