I went the full Monty and am rollin' with these:
View attachment 3646832
Not for the faint of heart.
Carpal tunnel be damned!
I acquired a set of these and couldn't fit the E string through the hole on the bridge.
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WELL I JUST ORDERED TI FLATS FOR THE FIRST TIME!
- Thread starter TC.65
- Start date
I acquired a set of these and couldn't fit the E string through the hole on the bridge.
Cool! But I would recommend keeping rounds on at least one bass. The TI Jazz flats are my favourite string, they are really "dynamic" and feel and sound great to me. But sometimes when I really want some aggressive grind and growl I find it hard to achieve with them. It's possible, but it feels like working against the nature of the strings. My P bass will always have a set of TI flats on, but I'll be putting TI Power bass on my Jaguar (once it's ready).
I find the length great just to put on and tune (for a Fender style instrument), but as long as you do the 90 degree bend thing they should be just fine. If you don't, you run the risk of the outer windings losing pressure and the string going "dead"... which on these strings is really, really dead.
Agreed!
+1
I love the TI's. They're on my 2014 Ric 4003, 2014 Fender Starcaster & 2018 Ric 4003 Fab Bass. If I get back to playing any of my other basses, I'll invest in TI flats for them as well.
I use these on my Precision. Their tension is similar to a set of D'Addario XLs. They're floppier than Trubass88 tape-wounds and much looser than Chromes (Chromes will feel like steel cables in comparison).
They are a wee bit tacky-feeling when new. About an hour of playing on them will get you used to it. Wipe it down with a clean cloth after playing.
Very easy on the hands, lower your pickups slightly because they really do have a lot of movement.
They are a wee bit tacky-feeling when new. About an hour of playing on them will get you used to it. Wipe it down with a clean cloth after playing.
Very easy on the hands, lower your pickups slightly because they really do have a lot of movement.
That's commitment! Love the legacy and Jamerson connection (if that's the reason for trying these,) but damn - too much work to play!I went the full Monty and am rollin' with these:
View attachment 3646832
Not for the faint of heart.
Carpal tunnel be damned!
I like them, but then I have most basses set up with either these or .100 or lighter rounds and a 1.5mm action and sort of tickle the strings, apart from one bass set up with .105 rounds and 1.5mm action for pick playing (which I rarely do).
Its worth it. I like to let the strings generally determine playing style. Light and delicate with floppy strings. Then stiff strings call for heavy digging.
I have a Squier Matt Freeman and it's responded well to every string I've put on it. It's currently sporting a set of LaBella Copper White Nylons and it sounds great.
If you're nervous about your first set of flats you could give the far more affordable GHS Precision Flats a try first. Those are a very classic sounding string set with a comfortable amount of tension and a really nice tone. They break in relatively quickly too compared to most other flats IMO. Lots to like for around $25 street. Good set to try if you want to determine if flats do it for you.
But TIs are their own thing in terms of feel and tone. There really isn't another set of strings that will give you the Tomastik signature sound other than the real deal. I really like them even if they wouldn't be what I'd consider a good match for every bass I own. I've got them on a vintage SB-300 however, and it's a marriage made in heaven. But either way, it's well worth giving TIs a try.
My current conundrum is deciding how badly I want to try a set of TI Jazz Rounds. I think they'd work really well with a few basses I've got. So maybe next string change I'll finally pull the trigger on a set of those.
If you're nervous about your first set of flats you could give the far more affordable GHS Precision Flats a try first. Those are a very classic sounding string set with a comfortable amount of tension and a really nice tone. They break in relatively quickly too compared to most other flats IMO. Lots to like for around $25 street. Good set to try if you want to determine if flats do it for you.
But TIs are their own thing in terms of feel and tone. There really isn't another set of strings that will give you the Tomastik signature sound other than the real deal. I really like them even if they wouldn't be what I'd consider a good match for every bass I own. I've got them on a vintage SB-300 however, and it's a marriage made in heaven. But either way, it's well worth giving TIs a try.
My current conundrum is deciding how badly I want to try a set of TI Jazz Rounds. I think they'd work really well with a few basses I've got. So maybe next string change I'll finally pull the trigger on a set of those.
I use TI Jazz Rounds on my Ric 4004L and 4004Cii. That's because the pickups are kind of dark and the rounds offset that a bit, whereas on my 4003 and 4003SW I use the TI Jazz Flats.
The TI Jazz Rounds keep their tone indefinitely because they are slightly less "zingy" than your average round-wound, even after you first put them on. The E string is very floppy at .089 so that may take a bit of getting used to. All in all I think they are a good investment as you won't need to keep changing them like you would with other rounds.
I went the full Monty and am rollin' with these:
View attachment 3646832
Not for the faint of heart.
Carpal tunnel be damned!
I've played those strings and liked them (on MIM pbass), but they can be tough, especially the D and A strings IME.
I'm currently playing the LaBella DTF Medium set (.49, .69, .89, .109) on a 32" Warmoth pbass. Not far removed from the 54's.
The Warmoth neck is extremely stable, and the fret job is outstanding. This bass has the lowest action of any bass I own. Even though I can tell the tension is high, there is barely any effort to fret strings. Mostly the tension affects the right hand, but interestingly I find myself plucking lighter - pick or fingers. Not to control floppiness (there is none), but letting the strings do the work.
Really enjoying this setup - and would be running away if I thought carpal or ulnar tunnel was pending.
Based on the description of your
That's like saying "I'm used to super flexible/low tension strings and play with a light touch so I just bought LaBella Deep Talking Flats (heavy gauge).
Something I noticed with the TI flats is an underlying high frequency distortion from these strings. At first I thought it was something vibrating or rattling around the bridge or nut, but checking revealed nothing. I also checked the speaker cabinet and amp, but found nothing. Listening through headphones through an SCR-DI revealed the same underlying distortion.
I'm thinking now this is part of the TI flat sound, perhaps caused by the string winding or core material, as opposed to a round wound string that rings clear, like a piano.
Whatever it is, I do like the sound.
I'm thinking now this is part of the TI flat sound, perhaps caused by the string winding or core material, as opposed to a round wound string that rings clear, like a piano.
Whatever it is, I do like the sound.
I have found that Thomastik-Infeld Jazz flats and Pyramid Gold flats are the cheapest and best sounding strings for my Jack Casady bass and my Hofner bass because they many years. They cost more initially, but they last. More importantly they make my basses sound like a bass and not an electric guitar.
Yes, Jamerson and Duck Dunn are the inspiration! As well as music pre 67.That's commitment! Love the legacy and Jamerson connection (if that's the reason for trying these,) but damn - too much work to play!
I get that too much work thing ATST, I'm not having any problem with them. The strings are heavy and thick but, if you approach it right, they'll play themselves. I can muscle them around without too much muscle
I don't have a big bow in my neck as Jamerson was purported to have had. My neck is as flat as needed, action low as I want, foam rubber mute under bridge cover. It sounds like Motown through a B15 no matter what I plug into
I don't have a package of them in front of me. But it says it somewhere.
Does anyone have a pack they can check?
Does anyone have a pack they can check?
Thanks for that information!
There's very little out there about those strings from what I could find. The low tension isn't a concern since I use a very light touch most times. And I don't care for overly zingy rounds either. So it sounds like they may be just what I'm looking for.
Pbassmanca
In the pocket n' thumpy. So woody, so greasy...
That's weird. The gauge is only .100 for the thickest E they make.
The E is very thin on the TI's. Are you talking about the Deep Talkin' Flats?View attachment 3647363 or similar
