Please help educate me. I currently have a Jazz, strung with a set of TI PowerBass. I like it. I also have my old (original purchase) Squier P-Bass, pimped out with a Bone Nut, BAII Bridge, and some Quarter Pounders. My original thought had been to maybe throw some flats on this to learn from. However, I'm really enjoying getting to know this Bass again since throwing the parts on her. So, I'm wondering if I should just keep it with some good rounds and maybe experiment with a Fretless. Possibly giving me the three choices of guitars and the range of tonal possibilities. Hence my question.
I really like flats on a p-bass, gives it a good motown sound. More thumpy, I guess I like flats because I'm mainly a UB player. Maybe they are tighter to so I can get more pull out of them? Plus I never change them!!!! I think that was my main resoning for switching!
Buying a set of flats is a lot easier than defretting a bass, and a lot more reversible. But admittedly less awesome.
The fretted with flats more thump, your notes are steal on steal. Fretless your vibrating off of the wood more resonate sounding a little longer vibration, plus you can hear semitones when you move around the neck.
I'd go with the flats, myself. Not that I'm any expert, but I think having a bass with flats would be great. I'm not familiar with the strings on your Jazz - I read that they have a hex core. Do they perform more like rounds? In that case, the flats would offer more tonal variety. I'm planning on putting a set of flats on the next bass I buy. That is, when I have money.
I'm not intending to change the strings on the J Bass. For now I'm happy with the TI PowerBass Strings. What I'm talking about is my P-Bass. I decided to just go for it. So today I changed the strings on the P to a set of TI JazzFlats (JF344's). Now I just need to play it for a while to break them in and then "experience the magic"