Steel core strings did exist in that era for bowed instruments. They were used mostly for student (not fullsize) instruments. A good violinist in that era used gut core strings (except for the E, which was plain steel) - those were the "standard" strings that you'd use on a "real" violin.
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Strings on Pre-CBS Fender Bass
- Thread starter Chicken Wing
- Start date
Steel core strings did exist in that era for bowed instruments. They were used mostly for student (not fullsize) instruments. A good violinist in that era used gut core strings (except for the E, which was plain steel) - those were the "standard" strings that you'd use on a "real" violin.
Please tell me you still have it
yeah, still do but not because I was smart but because I am too lazy to sell it. Came close to having it factory refinished in the 70’s but again was too lazy. Sometimes being lazy pays off
I dig that!
Still, I wanted to see what James Jamerson and Duck Dunn were working with back in the day. So on one of my P basses, I got a set of LaBella 1954s, they were called the James Jemerson string until the Jamerson family stepped in and put a stop to it. Anyway, I put those on with the traditional sponge rubber mute under the bridge cover and got "that" sound
Sure they're fat 52-110, flat, and stiff but the sound to me is worth it, and I actually like muscling them around like, James and Duck did Do I play that bass all the time? No, but it's there when I want "that" sound BTW in an interview, James said he didn't like the Fender flats that came on the bass. He would replace them with the Labella string because they gave him the tone he liked.
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This is true. You'll find this account on page 101 of Richard R. Smith's authoritative 'Fender The Sound Heard 'Round The World'.
"The idea for a fretted electric bass came to Leo from guitarists. As dance bands downsized in the late 1940s, some players lost work because they could not double on stand-up bass. According to Leo, they came complaining to him because they did not want to take the time to learn upright technique. They needed a bass they could play like a guitar - a fretted bass."
Smith is a native of Fullerton, California and knew Leo Fender; Don Randall, and George Fullerton. He was once the curator of the Fender collection in the Fullerton Museum. I think he is still alive, but seems to have fallen off the face of the earth.
Yes, I have that book, and it is excellent. Look on page 12. There is a photo of the inside of the bridge cover showing the mute (Sears weather-stripping). Here a comment by George Fullerton (who went to work for Leo in 1948) is paraphrased. "According to Fullerton, the mute was not placed on the bass to mirror an upright bass tone, but was needed to prevent unwanted overtones and sustain."
Yes they did and GHS Precision Flats have that same wonderful organic woodiness in their tone. That's why I love them so much.
I’m pretty sure Fenders were being shipped with flatwounds into the early 80’s.
I was working at a local music store in the early 80s, and I remember being pleased that the BC Rich basses we had on display came shipped with roundwounds. The Peavey T-40 basses came shipped with roundwounds at that time too.
Pretty sure Stu Cook of CCR. Merle Haggard playing bass for Buck Owens. Just the Bakersfield sound. The Nashville sound was seriously all Fender. You've heard famous recordings of Fender Precisions strung with Fender Flats played through Fender Bassman amps far more than you know.
Thanks! I'm sure that I have heard the sound plenty, but it's not always clearly identified.
I always assumed 70's era basses were shipped with Rounds. Can anyone confirm? I strongly associate the look of the 70's Fender P & J's with the roundwound string sound and would be pleasantly surprised if the 70's actually came with flats.
I was a Fender dealer from '77 - '88. The first Fender bass that came from the factory with rounds was the Precision Bass Special ( active 2-band EQ, brass hardware) ca. '82. The regular basses started showing up with rounds in '83, but the Vintage Series came with Studio Bass flats. The "standard" basses, and the later Standard and Elite series came with a decent set of nickel rounds, labeled "Studio Bass".
The Studio Bass flats were very different from other strings. Flat ribbon wrap wire do a true flatwound, but very flexible. Years later when I first got some TI flats, they reminded me of those Studio Bass sets. The Fenders were not nearly as light as TI, and felt pretty good under my plucking hand.
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"to my ears, the original V C Squier strings had an organic woodiness that has not been emulated, duplicated, or adapted since".
"Yes they did and GHS Precision Flats have that same wonderful organic woodiness in their tone. That's why I love them so much".
The Fender Light Gauge #80 flatwounds were excellent, as I remember them. However, I made the mistake of replacing an original set with Fender #850 mediums (.105-.090-.070-.055) on my '66 Precision, and wood is correct -- stiff, dull, thuddy. You were lucky if you had started on upright. Otherwise, you needed hand strengthening exercises to play them. I still have them, went back to my old strings.
"to my ears, the original V C Squier strings had an organic woodiness that has not been emulated, duplicated, or adapted since".
"Yes they did and GHS Precision Flats have that same wonderful organic woodiness in their tone. That's why I love them so much".
The Fender Light Gauge #80 flatwounds were excellent, as I remember them. However, I made the mistake of replacing an original set with Fender #850 mediums (.105-.090-.070-.055) on my '66 Precision, and wood is correct -- stiff, dull, thuddy. You were lucky if you had started on upright. Otherwise, you needed hand strengthening exercises to play them. I still have them, went back to my old strings.
This is indeed more true than most folks realize... ;-)
And as usual whenever this subject comes up, I'll insert my shameless plug/plea for help that I'm always looking for new old stock or gently used 70s-era Fender F-80 light gauge flats, which I'll pay fairly for. Check those junk drawers!
From a certain point on, yes. [Late '50s to early '60s it was the classic upright + tic-tac bass (Danelectro UB-2 or Longhorn six-string) arrangements, with the two basses going in mostly unison.]
