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Strings American Vintage '64 Jazz Bass

acmeseed

acmeseed

Jun 15, 2009
243
205
Mission Viejo, CA
#1
I bought one of these back in May and still have not found a sweet spot for strings on this bass. It came with Fender roundwound, I just did not like it, way too bright and clacky. I changed them to the flats that came with the bass, I like them much better, but still they sound bright. I am wondering if any of you own this bass and have any suggestion on strings that have worked for you.

I will greatly appreciate your input.

PS: I posted this on the bass section rather than the strings section because I think it is related to a specific guitar, please move it if it needs it.

Thanks.
 
#4
I had one of these for a long time and loved it. First if bright and clacky is an issue the first thing I'd do is roll off the tone 30%, then I'd add some relief to the neck and drop the saddles down to compensate. That will help round out the tone and get rid of a lot of fret noise. I am very confused that you thought the included flats are to bright.

I absolutely loved TI jazz rounds on the bass, but it also sounded great with Labella deep talkin flats.
 
#5
For me, there's nothing better than the warm, thumpy sound of heavy gauge Labella flats on a vintage Jazz. I've had this set on my 62 RI for the past fifteen years or so, and they are just getting broken in.

image.jpg
 
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#7
My taste with flats is the James Jamerson Motown sound. Pretty much what it sounds like around 1:30 on this video

I have to go back and experiment more, I have a couple of sets of LaBella flats, I'll try them and see.

Interesting that putting in some relief and dropping the saddles will help with fret noise, I will try that as well. I usually set mine up with very little relief and low saddles.

Thanks for your replies.
 
#11
TomB said:
It takes a while for new flats to mellow out, no matter which product. Play them for a while and see if you like them better.
Click to expand...

Exactly, flats all mellow with time, though some mellow faster than others. OP--The Fender flats you have on now will mellow but you'll need to give them a few months of daily playing before knowing whether you like them. A lot of guys trying flats for the first time don't realize that, they want to sound like Jamerson but never give the strings enough time to settle in and end up giving up way too early.
 
#13
TomB said:
It takes a while for new flats to mellow out, no matter which product. Play them for a while and see if you like them better.
Click to expand...

I have found that gooping flats up with Eucerin or Vaseline before putting them on makes them sound broken in immediately. An instant year of aging before they even go on the bass.

Coat the strings in Vaseline then wipe off. Put on bass. Done.
 
#14
Save a little money first, and try some GHS. They're fairly mellow and have lots of low-end - and sound quite similar to the Labellas (at a little more than half of their price). If that doesn't work, then pack them up, sell them in the classified, and go for the Labellas.
 
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#16
acmeseed said:
I bought one of these back in May and still have not found a sweet spot for strings on this bass. It came with Fender roundwound, I just did not like it, way too bright and clacky. I changed them to the flats that came with the bass, I like them much better, but still they sound bright. I am wondering if any of you own this bass and have any suggestion on strings that have worked for you.

I will greatly appreciate your input.

PS: I posted this on the bass section rather than the strings section because I think it is related to a specific guitar, please move it if it needs it.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I have used LaBella Deep Talkin' Bass 760FM on my Fender Jazz for a long time now, studio and live. Best flats I have found, after trying many brands! They always take a few weeks to break in, but that should be expected I think..
 
#19
Because they're relatively inexpensive, try a set of GHS Precision Flats. As suggested in an early post, if they don't give you the tone that you're looking for, sell them on talkbass and try a set of La Bella 760 Deep Talking Bass strings.
 

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