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Thomastik Infeld Flats vs DR Legend on Fender Precision - Example sound clips

trothwell

trothwell

Apr 9, 2008
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2,242
www.trevisrothwell.com
#1
I've been using TI JF344 on my Precision bass for over two years, but have slowly been coming to feel like they didn't sound quite like I wanted, and felt too flexible. Scouring the forums here, I tried to determine what would be a good alternate string. I had used Fender 9050Ms on another bass in the past, and found them intolerably stiff, so I didn't want to go that far.

The DR Legends seemed a plausible candidate for a little stiffer, but not overly so, and a bit richer low end sound. Reviews of them were quite mixed, though, with a variety of conflicting claims from different users. I finally bought a set to compare to the TIs:





So far, I am liking the DRs. They come across to me, as desired, as a little stiffer than TI, but not too much, and the sound is more what I was after. They are definitely not as stiff as the 9050Ms.

Sharing for the benefit of anyone else considering one of these sets of strings, either vs. the other, or independently.

Happy bass playing!
 
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#2
Nice! I've never tried either, your soundclip reinforces what many other T-I Flats users have posted on their midrange heavy tone. I've thought about putting a set of them on my Rickenbacker for a long time now.

I just replaced the ancient Infeld Superalloys last night on my Ristola-6. I loved everything about them, but they didn't have quite enough tension for my fingerstyle technique.

I'm now test driving a set of Fodera Nickel Roundwounds, they certainly have more tension, so in that regard I'm happy with them. Now to find out how long they keep their tone.

I still plan on buying a set of DR Nickel Lo-Riders to find out which is the best fit for me.

Best Regards!
 
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#3
I had a set of DR Legends on my fretless which I put on my fender P for the past few months. Pretty happy with them, strong fundamental, smooth mids, highs easy to tame, plenty of bottom end, record well, the E string has unfortunately gone noticeably dead.
Just put on a new set of TI JF344's on the P, straight away I noticed, they look feel and sound like a light gauge string. Which translates to lesser tension, neck doesn't appear to need adjustment yet but
there is a bit of fret buzz when I dig in. Being a lighter string than the DR's they are easier to dig in. So in all my research I hadn't read that the TI's were closer to a light gauge than a medium.
Reviews where I read they had less lows and more mids now also make sense being a lighter string... so there ya go learn something new.
Do the TI's come in a heavier gauge? Do I have the wrong set?
 
#4
I have been doing a lot of research myself, as I am looking into flats for the first time in my playing career. My reason for looking is that I am getting older and I want something a little easier on my fingers, and my tastes are changing a bit. I was a rock and country player for the longest time, now getting into blues and funk/r&b/jazz.

My first set I tried was D'Addario chromes. 045/.100 - very stiff, but sound great. Keep in mind that I played ss rounds for ever, so I like a bright string.
I have some black label Sadowsky Flats on the way. Should be here in the next few days.
 
#13
Around 5 years ago or so, Fender switched their production from Mexico to the US and to a new supplier. The general consensus is that D'addario makes them now. They ship in the same packaging as D'addario strings, and have similarly colored ball ends.

I used to play the old Fenders. Great tone, but man they were HIGH tension and seriously stiff. The new ones are WAY less tense and far more flexible. They're also a little brighter and somewhat "modern" sounding, i.e., less thumpy "old school" than the old set. A bit rougher to the touch as well.

Still good strings, just different.
 
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#14
michael_t said:
I've had the Sads on my P for over a month now. Got to play it in church this past weekend and one of our audio techs was quite impressed with how "clear and punchy" my bass sounded.
Click to expand...
This gage is much more comfortable, and I can't feel the tuners starting to tighten up as I tune. I just didn't feel good about putting that much tension on my bass. My main bass, and the one I'm experimenting with, is a Warwick Thumb. It is pretty sturdy, but my back up bass has a much thinner neck. I wouldn't even start to put the Chromes on that one. I wouldn't hesitate to put the Sads on there.
I have been trying to find some specs on the Sadowskys, but not having any luck. I wonder what the tension is on these strings.
 
#15
Funkabilly said:
I have been trying to find some specs on the Sadowskys, but not having any luck. I wonder what the tension is on these strings.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, no info on the actual tension on the Sads.

However, I can sort of guess at how they would fare compared to a few of the other sets I've tried in the last year...
  • A year ago, my J bass wore a set of the D'Addario EXL170BT (45-60-80-107), which weighs in at 162.88 lbs.
  • Then I tried the Fender 9050L flats (45-60-80-100). Going from rounds to flats, they did feel "stiffer" than the D'A, but it did not require any truss rod tweak, which indicates to me the actual "tension" (pulling weight exerted on the neck) on them was very similar.
  • Then came the GHS Pressurewound ML7200 (44-58-80-102), which weighs in at 169.30 lbs. Again, no major tweak needed on the bass.
  • And here comes the Sadowsky (40-60-80-100). Once again no tweak needed on the bass.
  • Back to the Pressurewound for the J and the Sads now on the P.
Based on this, I would guess the tension on the Sads Lite to be in the neighborhood of 165-170 lbs., which is quite reasonable.

In comparison, the D'A Chromes ECB84 (40-60-80-100) weighs in at 173.13 lbs., while the ECB81 (45-65-80-100) at 199.75 lbs. and the EXL165 Nickel Rounds (45-65-85-105) at 174.29 lbs.

Did I say I'm obsessed with numbers? :D
 
#16
michael_t said:
Unfortunately, no info on the actual tension on the Sads.

However, I can sort of guess at how they would fare compared to a few of the other sets I've tried in the last year...
  • A year ago, my J bass wore a set of the D'Addario EXL170BT (45-60-80-107), which weighs in at 162.88 lbs.
  • Then I tried the Fender 9050L flats (45-60-80-100). Going from rounds to flats, they did feel "stiffer" than the D'A, but it did not require any truss rod tweak, which indicates to me the actual "tension" (pulling weight exerted on the neck) on them was very similar.
  • Then came the GHS Pressurewound ML7200 (44-58-80-102), which weighs in at 169.30 lbs. Again, no major tweak needed on the bass.
  • And here comes the Sadowsky (40-60-80-100). Once again no tweak needed on the bass.
  • Back to the Pressurewound for the J and the Sads now on the P.
Based on this, I would guess the tension on the Sads Lite to be in the neighborhood of 165-170 lbs., which is quite reasonable.

In comparison, the D'A Chromes ECB84 (40-60-80-100) weighs in at 173.13 lbs., while the ECB81 (45-65-80-100) at 199.75 lbs. and the EXL165 Nickel Rounds (45-65-85-105) at 174.29 lbs.

Did I say I'm obsessed with numbers? :D
Click to expand...
Well, I am a Die maker, so numbers are also my language, lol.
Those TIs are somewhere around 150, right? They must really feel loose.
 
#19
Played a party last night with the TI's strung on my P Bass, tonally a very nice string. I'm a dynamic player in regards to feel and tone, if I want more thump I dig in, the TI's cannot handle this.
They are a light to medium strength players dream, for a player that likes to dig in they pop very easily. I might have to try the Labella's just a bit concerned about the high tension.
It's been mentioned the TI's are the Gold standard, I can't agree. None of the flats mentioned can claim that. If anything Labella's are the reference for being the first.
 
#20
I like the sound of those DRs. I used to be a long time user of TIs and agree with what some here have said: very expressive, more mids than lows and easy on the hands. I ended up moving to LaBella FLs and love them. More low end than TIs and still easy on the hands. Not as pliable as the TIs but it works in this case. I will add the DRs to my list of strings to try. Thank you for the sound clips.
 

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