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j-bass with flats: any good?
- Thread starter williamk
- Start date
Lol. Why bother when you can just read about whether you'll like them or not on the internet.
Why the attitude?
I'm here to find out names of bassists that have recorded with a j-bass with flats so I can hear what it sounds like and then decide if that's a sound I'm after or not. Why are you even on this forum? Are you a grumpy troll?
It's kind of naive to think you'll sound like Joe Osborn (or any other great player) just by switching strings. (Or by reading about switching strings
)`so far on my jazz i have tries daddario xl round ,rotosound 66, ghs bright flats and chromes. have been using labella flats now for awile and love the sound but thats just me, i am far from what you would call a good judge.
Sorry - I'm easily amused.
Here's a live to air I did with my 75RI, Labella FLs.... which sound quite a bit different to Chromes... FWIW I hated Chromes on a P bass too... but love em on my Duesenberg semi acoustic.
Link Removed
My only bass is a Squier Precision Special V (Jazz electronics) strung with D'Addario Chromes. I love the sound an feel. Really a great sound.
I also have a J-bass strung with GHS precision flats. I was in the market for Chromes, but took a gamble and have not regretted it in the slightest.
As far as tonality goes, I think the wonders of modern amplification more than compensate for any shortcomings. And there aren't many. The strings sound and feel better each day.
The true test is when you hear it against other instruments in a band. I cut through the mix and it sounds really great. Much more sonically attuned than when I was rocking rounds.
But to each their own.
As far as tonality goes, I think the wonders of modern amplification more than compensate for any shortcomings. And there aren't many. The strings sound and feel better each day.
The true test is when you hear it against other instruments in a band. I cut through the mix and it sounds really great. Much more sonically attuned than when I was rocking rounds.
But to each their own.
Different strings for different things, in my own experience. On my MIM Jazzes I preferred D'Addario light gauge rounds. On my MIA with the S-1 switch I used TI Jazz Flats. I know it's another ball game but on my Jaguar, which I consider a descendant of the Jazz, I've gone back to the light gauge rounds.
The variables I found which were always affecting my string decisions were numerous; tone, tension on the neck, my own touch, whatever my cab was at the time. Although I love Chromes and other flats on some basses, there are many cases where I found I'd rather just string the bass with light gauge rounds and use the tone knob, for flexibility's sake. If I bought a standard Jazz bass today, with the traditional/standard wiring and passive pickups, I personally would chose rounds.
And there's overall configuration to think about, too. If I put a Precision neck on a Jazz body, I'd be pretty tempted to use some big ol' flats on that thing.
The variables I found which were always affecting my string decisions were numerous; tone, tension on the neck, my own touch, whatever my cab was at the time. Although I love Chromes and other flats on some basses, there are many cases where I found I'd rather just string the bass with light gauge rounds and use the tone knob, for flexibility's sake. If I bought a standard Jazz bass today, with the traditional/standard wiring and passive pickups, I personally would chose rounds.
And there's overall configuration to think about, too. If I put a Precision neck on a Jazz body, I'd be pretty tempted to use some big ol' flats on that thing.
I am using chromes on my MIA Jazz and I love it. First time I've tried flats ever besides noodling at the consignment centers on some that had em. I love the tone and I recorded with the bass 10 minutes after I put the new strings on and it sounds awesome in the mix. I'm going to rerecord because the chromes were kind of tacky right out of the packaging and I flubbed up some parts due to the tackiness. I just like the dullness of flats over rounds. There's a reason the instrument is called a bass and not a mid-high.
TI-JF344-flats, on my Bluesman Vintage 1961-Jazz.
Bass was made fretless and epoxied by HG Thor labs.
This is my main bass with a truly amazing tone.
LAST MONTH I PUT CHROMES ON MY J AND I LOVE THEM! My J finally got some low-end. It cuts trough. AND they last for ever. So it's good for your savings too! Only the Flea/M²-sound I miss. But when I've bought my first real Fender J I'll put rounds back on my old one.
My main bass however, will always have flats from now on. Great for rock, reggae, funk and heck, almost everything (except for the M²/Flea-tone, as said).
The Chromes by the way were medium gauge.
Hope you'll like'em
My main bass however, will always have flats from now on. Great for rock, reggae, funk and heck, almost everything (except for the M²/Flea-tone, as said).
The Chromes by the way were medium gauge.
Hope you'll like'em
Update: I must apologize, I was wrong above. I timed myself when I swapped the TI's back on. 10 1/2 minutes.
