Looking for upright sound on P-Bass

[twoByFour]

I have a made-in-Korea Squier P-Bass with roundwounds, forget the gauge. I'm looking for a traditional jazz upright sound, something you'd hear in a noir movie or on an episode of "Peter Gunn" (NOT the theme song, but the music that played throughout the show, check it out, it's awesome). Of course, I'm thinking of switching to flats, and I'd like some recommendations, brand, model, gauge, ideally you'd have experience with them on a P bass. I'm also considering tapewounds. Don't know much about them, but they look intriguing. Since they are wrapped in nylon, it seems to me that they would practically last forever, right? If strings go dead due to 'dirt' getting in windings and corrosion, it would seem that a string wrapped in nylon would stop both those problems.
I'd appreciate any other tips for getting the sound I'm looking for. Thanks.

 

[Gorn]

Heavy flats or nylons with high action and foam at the bridge and pluck like an upright with the side of your finger.

 

[Jon Moody]

I'd argue that the technique of the player is going to be more important than just swapping your strings out, but what Gorn said above is on the money.

I did a quick video a while back that outlines the tonal differences with using a mute at the bridge, tapes or flats on your P Bass, and then switching the position of your right hand. Personally, I palm mute for the rapid decay it gives, but some prefer other methods.

 

[Noot]

An upright has depth and harmonics, a really warm and fat sound which you can not achieve through any trick on an electric bass. A full open electric simply does not have the sound richness of an upright. Do you think foam and palm muting it will help? And then there's the percussive attack sound of thumping those big, long strings, which is very important in upright tone. You can only kid yourself until you do a live comparison of both. Try the G string on an upright and your instinct will tell you "aaaahhh, so that's how the G string is supposed to sound like!"

 

[MD]

I'm also considering tapewounds. Don't know much about them, but they look intriguing. Since they are wrapped in nylon, it seems to me that they would practically last forever, right? If strings go dead due to 'dirt' getting in windings and corrosion, it would seem that a string wrapped in nylon would stop both those problems.

My current set of LaBella tapes are going on ~5 years or so. They used to be ~$21.00 at the Carvin site.