I bought a used Nash P bass. Love it. It has flatwounds on it that sound and play great. They are lighter gauge than I usually play. A friend said they are probably the Thomastik Jazz Bass flatwounds. They have red silk windings at the tuners and regular gold color ball ends on all four strings. Does anyone know what color windings the Thomastik electric flats have? If they aren’t Thomastiks, can anyone tell me what they could be? Thanks in advance
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Thomastik jazz bass flatwound electric bass strings
- Thread starter peskatore
- Start date
TI Jazz flats have red silk on both ends and gold colored ball ends. They feel lighter than most flats I have played and tend to be a touch brighter than most flats.
TI Flatwound silks are kind of a “dayglo” red color. It’s pretty distinct from the red used on silks of other flat wounds I’ve seen … if you can post a picture we can probably tell you for sure.
Which is...?
What about the bridge end? red silk there as well?
From the picture, they made me think of Rotosound Jazz Bass 77. The top pair is a lot smoother than the bottom two.
However, this is a trait also exhibited by Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats,
https://www.talkbass.com/posts/24638376/
so not a decisive element.
TI flats have brass balls and red silk at both ends. Rotos used to, as well, but they've had colour-coded (red-blue-white-red) balls since 2016 or thenabouts; also, they currently have red silks at the headstock end only, but that change was even more recent.
In other words, if silk is only at the tuner end, yours can be neither. In which case... pre-2022 La Bella 760FL, perhaps? I dunno.
This! I was mainly a rock banger when I first put TI flats on one of my P-basses. TIs are so flexible that I had to learn to lighten my touch... which was good! But I still bang on roundwounds for hard rock.
Those are TIs. You can tell by the different in the texture of E/A vs D/G.
I have a love / hate with TIs. I LOVE they way they feel and the quality of them, the tone is really good too (although not the best) but they are just a TAD too loose. I would give my left n*t if they would just make a bigger gauge. Like, a 102 or 104 E. They just always seem to feel a little too loose, especially when setup low. Not because they buzz low, they don't, but because the just bottom out so easily if you dig in even a little bit. It gets annoying and why I prefer LaBella LTF of Chromes ECB80, both being just the EXACT the amount of added stiffness needed for me to play properly.
For me they are excellent on a Jazz or Stingray bass when played closer to the bridge, but just a little too loose feeling for near the pickup playing on a P bass.
I have a love / hate with TIs. I LOVE they way they feel and the quality of them, the tone is really good too (although not the best) but they are just a TAD too loose. I would give my left n*t if they would just make a bigger gauge. Like, a 102 or 104 E. They just always seem to feel a little too loose, especially when setup low. Not because they buzz low, they don't, but because the just bottom out so easily if you dig in even a little bit. It gets annoying and why I prefer LaBella LTF of Chromes ECB80, both being just the EXACT the amount of added stiffness needed for me to play properly.
For me they are excellent on a Jazz or Stingray bass when played closer to the bridge, but just a little too loose feeling for near the pickup playing on a P bass.
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The bridge end also has red silk with the brass ball ends on all strings. I guess they’re TI’s. Great. I’ve always wanted to try them. And now I have and I like them. Win-win!
A nice used set of TI jazz flats is a great score. At close to $100 a set new, and you get to skip the painfully bright break in period.
I’ll sell a bass, but the Ti’s stay with me.
I’ll sell a bass, but the Ti’s stay with me.
I think I lucked out all the way around. Was looking for a maple neck P bass and this Nash showed up at a Guitar Center near me. We worked out a trade with a bass I’ll never play. Made it affordable. The TI’s are icing on the cake. Great axe.
Acquired taste for some but the TI jazz flats are the gold standard for me. Enjoy. Expensive initially but amortize over their life -bargain.
I always try a set on every new bass I buy. Not always a new set, that would be quite expensive. They don't always stay but they have found some forever homes. So far my fretless P bass and my short scale p bass.
I bought a set on sale for $65 and put them on my Rickenbacker. Like mentioned above the quality is great and the tone for flats is brighter and more versatile than most. However a low action paired with low tension and digging in they will bottom out so it's an acquired touch for me as I play heavy. I think I prefer the stock rounds over the TIs. It's still too soon to say definitively but I've always considered LABELLA flats to be number one.
That is current day Ti JF344 which has notable different sill wrap pattern found on D string .
And the old version JF344 sound completely different than the current day version which i install on my bass few week ago.
The old one, the best one !
Just curious...
Have you played Chromes ECB81 (45, 65, 80, 100)? The reason I ask, is that I am considering putting a set of TI flats on a bass, and having never played TIs before I have no idea what the tension can be compared to.
You mentioned above that the ECB80s have more tension than the TIs, and the ECB80s are 40, 60, 75, 95. I know exactly how the ECB81s feel, and I am trying to get a reference point. I also play round wounds on a different bass and have used DR High Beams for years - which are known for being a little floppy due to the round core and hand-winding.
If I could get a good reference point to another brand and gauge of string I've already played, I would have an idea what the TIs may feel like - without spending $100 to find out the hard way.
The TIs are an acquired taste at first, but they sure break in well. I put them on my CS P a few months ago, and after losing their initial brightness they are literally perfect now. This P bass is the greatest instrument I have ever played (if a little over reliced) and I think that is large part thanks to the TIs.
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BTW, you can find TI JF344 flats on Amazon for $60-$65.
And, YES, they are the real thing. I've been buying them off Amazon for the past 3+ years. Best string investment you can make, as I've had them on two of my basses now for 10+ years.
