Precision Pickup Paired With TI Flats

Have you tried TI flats with the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder you have on it yet? They’re a lot different than say La Bella Deep Talking Flats. Check out Pino Palladino’s set up and videos.

 

There are over 500 threads on Thomastik-Infeld JF344 with a mega thread in the Strings forum. I’m a convert. I have them on my Precision, Jazz and Sadowsky.

TI flats

 

I don't know if things have changed but I've been a member of TB since 2008 and have read soooooo many threads and posts about P Bass pickups.

Since that time, the 3 most popular P Bass pickups that I have seen here are The Fender Original. The Seymour Duncan SPB-1 and the EMG Geezer.

I have TI Flats with the SPB-1 and the Fender Originals and I get excellent good balanced sound.

IMO and IME P Bass pickups with about 10K ohms give the best sound. Above 11.5K ohms start getting muddy. YMMV

 

For this question specifically, you might be able to find more info in the Serek Owners fan club. Lots of folks in there have experience with the Serek B90 pickup, and I imagine some of them use TIs.

 

I have TI strings on all of my basses, including a '73 P with Quarter Pounders. I find the combination great!

 

just for the record, TI jazz rounds (JR344) are very different rounds than any other: the windings are smaller (closer together), and they feel smoother than other rounds. and the great sound is there, of course.

just throwing that out there. i know you're looking for a pickup solution (good luck! ), but i thought i'd be remiss not to mention another great string that has "character" in spades, without any "mud."

i'm not a pickup expert by a long shot, but i put a dimarzio DP127 in my favorite P-bass (just for grins) and for the life of me: i can't get any mud, even when i want to dial some in! it's a hot pickup but it's hardly muddy IMO/IME.

 

Strings are personal and obviously subjective. I love TI flats on my P and I find them more lively, bright but not brittle compared to other flats. I use LaBella on my fretlesses so I can compare pretty easily. With TI the definition is very good all over the neck.

And most of my P and J basses have Fralin pickups.

 

I've gotten lots of compliments on my sound with my P bass with TI's and a Fralin pickup. It's got great thumpy lows and low mids without getting muddy, and has a very clear top end, so it's easy to sculpt how much of what you want. Great for 60s thump, or modern pick attack, depends on how you eq and set up the bass.

 

The Fender "Original" pickup has quite a lot of character and it's definitely not muddy.

Original Precision Bass® Pickups | Parts

 

I should put them on all of my basses too. I have them on one; the one that doesn’t like anything beyond 40-100 and they’re so spongy and fumbly. They sound amazing, but because they’re so light, my fingers fumble all over the place; so I end up playing them with a pick. Used to high tension Rotos… but the sound from the TIs is just incredible!

 

I'm a big fan of David Allen P Bass pickups. Recently I tried a Nordstrand P Bass pickup that I really like. I have tried TI flats and I like them but I have Labella Low Tension flats on almost all of my basses.

 

Yes, no, kinda.... although I like em a lot, you don't want them on everything. They have their own sound and soon everything sounds the same. On my (fretted) Tony Franklin PJ, Ric and L1000 they're great. I didn't like em on a J-bass or Stingray. I prefer the J-bass growl I get with Roto-66's. AND not all P's need them..... I put them on an ULTRA P-bass and although it was nice, it was better with rounds so I changed it back to rounds.

 

I have a 2017 Fender American Professional P-bass, which has the "infamous" V-mod pickups. It's also strung with TI Jazz flats. I've read a lot of griping about these pickups. Not sure why, but to my ears, the combination of V-mods and TI's is fantastic. Clear, sweet, hefty all-P tone. Love it with fingers or pick. Given the amount of hate I've read here for these original V-mods, you could probably get someone to give you a set for free! Here's a (anti nuclear war) song on which I tracked this combination. 4-string P-bass w/tone knob on full --> Noble tube preamp/DI --> Focusrite/DAW. Zero EQ in the chain.

 

Oh my god, that song is excellent!

 

Thanks to the post, above, by JRA, I am considering a set of TI rounds on one of my basses; there are times a little "growl" would be welcome - as song as it isn't accompanied by the objectionable finger and fret noise I associate with rounds.

 

It’s hard to recommend a string where the price is a factor.
But TI strings are the most well made ones I’ve ever played.
Extremely even up the neck, meaty, and with a signature sound to me.
Fortunately they are flats and we don’t have to buy them as often.