Will Flats Mellow out my Am Jazz Dlx

[banjo5]

I just bought a new Jazz Deluxe with SC Active P/U's. I have to run the treble tone knob fully off and the bass tone knob fully up to get the tone I want. If I run it flat, it's way too snappy, bitey, trebley, whatever you want to call it. My questions is, will flat wounds tame it down a bit? And if so, any suggestions on which ones? Thanks

 

[jeremyr]

it'll mellow it out, but if you think that the jazz is too in your face, you might want to try out a P-bass. It sounds like that's more the tone you're going for.

 

[9mmMike]

Two things:

1. If it is new, the strings "should" mellow after some break-in.
2. Nickels are another good option for a mellow tone.

My opinion is worth a little less than what you paid for it!

 

[guroove]

Flatwounds should help you get closer to the sound you want, but you'll probably still be pumping the bass a little. They'll help get rid of the top, but won't change the balance between mids and bass very much. As for suggestions, it really depends what you are going for. I just put some DR flatwounds on my active Jazz bass, and it helped with the sound a lot, but I'm finding that they aren't so good for slapping because of the high tension. They have a very mellow sound, and I found them to be way smoother than rotosound jazz bass strings.

 

[morebass!]

I have a '97 MIA jazz deluxe rosewood/alder. With roundwounds its a great slap bass but I've been moving away from that style lately. For a better fingerstyle tone I'm using tapewounds and rolling off the treble. Flats can be kind of clacky. I don't boost bass or mids, just leave them flat usually. Cranking the bass on the OB preamp is way too drastic for me but moving the blend a bit towards the neck pickup fattens things up nicely. Your extreme EQ seems to indicate that your amp is light in the lows.

 

[pbass888]

i have a 91 jazz plus fender (active) with kubiki and lace sensor pickups. i put 760fl la bella on them a month ago and they are going to stay on. Its great for std jazz to reggae, which is most of what I play and the funk machine is a mm sterling. I think had the exact same issue as u did. hope it helps.

 

[Sparkdog]

You might try a set of D'Addario Chromes on there, they're magical and have tamed more than one bass for me where the tone wasn't quite happening.

If you use the 45-100 set the tension is pretty similar to nickel roundwounds. Balance from top to bottom is excellent, the tone is bright but not harsh and everything you want in terms of mids and lows is there too. You can even slap these strings, and particularly if your bass is that "toppy" you'll probably like the result.

My faves are the medium gauge 50-105's. More tension, but I love the feel. These are FAT and oozing with the funk.

 

[stflbn]

You can also try something like DR Sunbeams. After 4-6 hours of playing they mellow out nicely and continue to mellow from there. More 'polite' than some other strings.