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The best flatwounds for my P?
- Thread starter scottbass
- Start date
I'd just picked the same bass up on eBay. My nephew claimed it as his own. The new one is in better shape. I'm planning on using it for a platform for a Dark Star pickup - a nice semi-hollow with a Dark Star. I didn't want to put a $200 pickup into a $300 bass unless the bass was in good shape. The first one wasn't.
The eBay bass will go to the nephew at college, where all sorts of bad things will happen to it. The second one will ultimately get the Dark Star, but I've got to sell some stuff before the Visa bill comes and the wife realizes what I've done. Winter is coming fast in Minnesota and my dog died a year ago. The dog house is no place to be.
KO
UPDATE: I put a set of T-I JF344's on my 08 Am Std P bass last week. The tension seemed to me to be almost the same as the tension on the DR Sunbeams I use on my StingRay - I was definitely NOT bothered by any sense of low tension/looseness. I strung them through-body. I hand-bent them ever so slightly on the bridge saddles, definitely not enough to mess up the windings, but enough to set the clamping point so the intonation doesn't move around. They fit just fine - the silks ended about 1/2" above the nut, so no problem there. The G string is exactly the right length for about 2 3/4 turns on the post. The others, of course, had to be trimmed to length.
I took off the Fender-installed roundwounds, put on the T-I's, let them settle on the bass overnight and then checked the neck relief. It had straightened out to about .008" (instead of the preferred .012") so I gave it a small tweak and let it sit overnight again. The next day it was at .012" and it has stayed there ever since. I play with my action set a little bit lower than "the norm" - whatever that is. I didn't have to adjust the action, except for the A string. I was getting some fret buzz, so I raised each side of the saddle about 1/4 of a turn. That fixed it, and I can't really tell that it's any higher. Of course the intonation needed adjusting, but not excessively.
The balance between the strings is definitely different than the set I took off. I ended up lowering the pickup quite a bit under the G, leaving it about where it had been on the D, lowering it somewhat under the A, and raising it a lot under the E. That E sounds so beautiful and thumpy, but the relative volume was definitely lower than the .110 taper wound roundwound that was on there before.
WOW! Those mids are amazing! It's exactly the sound I was looking for - vintage with mids to cut through. They sound just right with my SansAmp RBI emulating an SVT through a Schroeder 1212. Lots of old school thump, plenty of mids to sit just above the kick drum in the mix, and - best of all - no zingy highs. Also, most of the P bass "clack" has gone away - depending, of course, on how diligent I am at keeping my right hand up and my technique good.
I've played them about 6 hours, so they're not broken in by any means. I must say that rosin (or whatever they are coated with) is kind of annoying. I can hardly wait for it to wear off.
Anyway, a giant THANK YOU to all the wonderful TB'ers who posted to this thread with their votes, recommendations and comments. $50 is a lot to spend on strings, but your advice helped me make sure I bought the ones that were right for me. I'd better stop now before I get all weepy...
P.S. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I took off the Fender-installed roundwounds, put on the T-I's, let them settle on the bass overnight and then checked the neck relief. It had straightened out to about .008" (instead of the preferred .012") so I gave it a small tweak and let it sit overnight again. The next day it was at .012" and it has stayed there ever since. I play with my action set a little bit lower than "the norm" - whatever that is. I didn't have to adjust the action, except for the A string. I was getting some fret buzz, so I raised each side of the saddle about 1/4 of a turn. That fixed it, and I can't really tell that it's any higher. Of course the intonation needed adjusting, but not excessively.
The balance between the strings is definitely different than the set I took off. I ended up lowering the pickup quite a bit under the G, leaving it about where it had been on the D, lowering it somewhat under the A, and raising it a lot under the E. That E sounds so beautiful and thumpy, but the relative volume was definitely lower than the .110 taper wound roundwound that was on there before.
WOW! Those mids are amazing! It's exactly the sound I was looking for - vintage with mids to cut through. They sound just right with my SansAmp RBI emulating an SVT through a Schroeder 1212. Lots of old school thump, plenty of mids to sit just above the kick drum in the mix, and - best of all - no zingy highs. Also, most of the P bass "clack" has gone away - depending, of course, on how diligent I am at keeping my right hand up and my technique good.
I've played them about 6 hours, so they're not broken in by any means. I must say that rosin (or whatever they are coated with) is kind of annoying. I can hardly wait for it to wear off.
Anyway, a giant THANK YOU to all the wonderful TB'ers who posted to this thread with their votes, recommendations and comments. $50 is a lot to spend on strings, but your advice helped me make sure I bought the ones that were right for me. I'd better stop now before I get all weepy...
P.S. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
So, howzit coming? Still love them? I have had TIs on my 63 P and my Essex shortscale fretless for about a month and a half. I love 'em but dread them getting all thumpy and dead with time. Dread Dread Dread. Carol Kaye puts foam rubber under her TIs for the first few months. Yeah, like THAT's where I'm headed? Then I was gonna put them on my fretless 6 when I go "Doh! do i want the same tone on EVERYTHING"? And the Chromes I have on there sound fine but are too short so the B string is starting to unwrap at the nut, and I had to solder the C string I snapped. Time for a new set. But any DAddario set I put on it is gonna be too short, half-rounds included. What does that leave? The TIs are a little longer. JustStrings has them on sale. My basket is sitting there all ready to go, but I can't bring myself to click BUY. I want flats with zing and mwah. The Universe is pushing me towards TIs. But 6 months later I may end up with a gazillion bucks in TIs that are all maturing into thumpo mortis Fenders? Dear Abby, what should I do?
Fender 9050L's hands down...i've had these switched between my jazz and my P bass, and they've found a permanent home on the P. the higher tension has really helped me develop a lighter, more relaxed right hand technique
Actually, Carol uses felt on top of her strings.... and it's not just for the first few months. I have a set on my G&L SB1, and they sound wonderful..... no thump at all, unless I stuff foam under them at the bridge. And they've been on for over 18 mos. now.
Yes, I do still love those T-I flats. I have probably played them about 40 hours so far, including two gigs. There's still a little bit of the coating (rosin?) left in a few of the less-played areas, but I'm working on it! They sound wonderful, and they're still a wee bit bright. I'm setting the tone knob on my P at about 88% of cranked and getting exactly the sound I want. I assume as they wear in I will end up with the tone knob cranked, which is my goal. Straight through the pickup and into the amp without having to bleed off any of the high end.
You clearly have a very different experience than I do with them. I'm loving these strings, including on 7 Nation Army & Bounce.
I've voted for them for the OP for breadth of tone you can get from them.
