There is only one gauge of regular long scale four string set, JF344 - 34 for 34". The other sets are 324, which are short scale, and 364, which are extra-long scale. You want the JF344 set.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Your favorite flats for a jazz?
- Thread starter Peter - Oregon
- Start date
There is only one gauge of regular long scale four string set, JF344 - 34 for 34". The other sets are 324, which are short scale, and 364, which are extra-long scale. You want the JF344 set.
I felt the TIs were too floppy when I tried them. Loved the tone, but couldn't gel with the feel. A lot of times when playing, my fingers found themselves under the strings. There is definitely a skill to using low tension strings as I had them on my bass for several weeks and it did get better over time. But my preference is for greater tension.
Followup: swapped the Chromes from a jazz with Delano JMVC pickups with a second jazz with Aguilar 4J-HC pickups and Fender 9050Ls. Chromes sound fine on the Aguilar pickup jazz, 9050Ls sound fine with the Delano pickups. Delanos and Chromes don't mix, at least for me. As always, YMMV.
I'm probably one of the people who recommended Fender 9050L's in the thread you referenced, and I still think they are good all around flats. And, lots of Jazz Bass players here like them, too. For various reasons, I don't own a Jazz Bass, but I do own 5 basses with dual single coil p/u's as well as 2 basses with dual humbuckers that can both be split to act like dual single coils. And, they all wear different flats. So...
- '95 Alembic Epic. Yes, believe it or not, the pickups are single coils, but like some Jazz Bass pickups, they're hum canceling ones. I have TI Jazz Flats on mine, and it's the only bass I play strictly finger style, since I have trouble playing TIJF's with a pick. I use it mostly for Jazz, but it will certainly handle anything I want to play on it. But, IMO, TIJF's don't do a lot of the really Old School, Vintage stuff I like to play, very well. Not enough bottom end, and too much mids and highs...
- '98 Danelectro DC59 Pro. I set this one up with La Bella 760FX DTFs. Very light gauge at 39-96, they definitely give me "that Dano Sound". IMO, perfect for Surf Rock, and the Garage Band sound I grew up with in the early '60s.
- '98 Danelectro DC59 Pro. Yeah, I have 2 of them. This one wears... you guessed it; Fender 9050L's. With the Fenders, it's a very versatile semi-hollow body bass, that I can use for anything I want to play. And sound good, too. Probably not great for Death Metal or anything like that, but I don't play that kind of stuff. And when was the last time you saw one of those guys playing a plywood-and-Masonite Dano, anyway...?
- '01 Rick 4003. Honestly, I do think Jazz Basses and Ricks can sound a lot more similar than a lot of Rick owners will admit to. But, it easy to make them sound very different, too. Anyway, being a fan of the old, original Rick flatwound tone, my 4003 wears Optima 4440 RB flats - their very close copy of the original Maxima Flats that Rick's used to come from the factory with. And that I learned to play bass on, in 1968. Fairly low tension and pretty flexible, too. Slightly deeper tone than the Fender flats, but nowhere near as thumpy as "normal" La Bella DTFs...
- '73 Rick 4001. Because it's finally developing the neck problems that these pre-1978 Ricks are prey to, I have very light gauge/low tension flats on mine; Dogal JC106A Jaco CarbonSteel Flats. They're very nice strings, and don't feel low tension at all - a little stiffer than TIJF's actually. Their tone is... a lot like the Optima RB's, TBH. Very, very smooth, too...
- '06 Carvin LB-20. For reasons I won't go into here, the original owner had this bass built as a Rick 4003 clone. Including an optional switch that split it's 2 HB-50 Humbuckers into to single coils. I currently have it strung with the original generation Sadowsky Blue Label Flats; I'll let you read all the raving about how wonderful those flats are for yourself. I'll just say that I pretty much agree... The current Blue Labels are supposed to be just as wonderful, by the way... I don't regret putting them on the Carvin for a minute, but the main reason they're on it, is because I didn't want it to sound like my 4003. Because, yes; with the coils split, it really does sound an awful lot like a 4003... And, finally;
- '20 EBMM 4HH Stingray Special. There's a pickup selector switch position that turns both pickups into single coils. It's not one I use a lot, but... I do use it. And, the Galli JF4505 Jazz Flats it wears, sound pretty darn good when I do. Tension is, IME, about average for 45-105 flats, and their stiffness is about average as well. Their tone? Good lows; really good low-mids and mids; and a decent high range, too. What I like most about them is that they are crazy mad smooth. Like, running your fingers across a wet ice cube smooth. This bass is extremely versatile; I can't think of anything it couldn't handle. And these Galli Jazz Flats are a perfect string for it...
Update; The TIs have arrived and I've had them on a 60s custom shop Jazz for about a week. They're fantastic.
I've have them on 2 different Ps, but the really shine on a Jazz!
Thanks for tuning back in!
Great post. Thanks for putting so much effort into that!I'm probably one of the people who recommended Fender 9050L's in the thread you referenced, and I still think they are good all around flats. And, lots of Jazz Bass players here like them, too. For various reasons, I don't own a Jazz Bass, but I do own 5 basses with dual single coil p/u's as well as 2 basses with dual humbuckers that can both be split to act like dual single coils. And, they all wear different flats. So...
- '95 Alembic Epic. Yes, believe it or not, the pickups are single coils, but like some Jazz Bass pickups, they're hum canceling ones. I have TI Jazz Flats on mine, and it's the only bass I play strictly finger style, since I have trouble playing TIJF's with a pick. I use it mostly for Jazz, but it will certainly handle anything I want to play on it. But, IMO, TIJF's don't do a lot of the really Old School, Vintage stuff I like to play, very well. Not enough bottom end, and too much mids and highs...
- '98 Danelectro DC59 Pro. I set this one up with La Bella 760FX DTFs. Very light gauge at 39-96, they definitely give me "that Dano Sound". IMO, perfect for Surf Rock, and the Garage Band sound I grew up with in the early '60s.
- '98 Danelectro DC59 Pro. Yeah, I have 2 of them. This one wears... you guessed it; Fender 9050L's. With the Fenders, it's a very versatile semi-hollow body bass, that I can use for anything I want to play. And sound good, too. Probably not great for Death Metal or anything like that, but I don't play that kind of stuff. And when was the last time you saw one of those guys playing a plywood-and-Masonite Dano, anyway...?
- '01 Rick 4003. Honestly, I do think Jazz Basses and Ricks can sound a lot more similar than a lot of Rick owners will admit to. But, it easy to make them sound very different, too. Anyway, being a fan of the old, original Rick flatwound tone, my 4003 wears Optima 4440 RB flats - their very close copy of the original Maxima Flats that Rick's used to come from the factory with. And that I learned to play bass on, in 1968. Fairly low tension and pretty flexible, too. Slightly deeper tone than the Fender flats, but nowhere near as thumpy as "normal" La Bella DTFs...
- '73 Rick 4001. Because it's finally developing the neck problems that these pre-1978 Ricks are prey to, I have very light gauge/low tension flats on mine; Dogal JC106A Jaco CarbonSteel Flats. They're very nice strings, and don't feel low tension at all - a little stiffer than TIJF's actually. Their tone is... a lot like the Optima RB's, TBH. Very, very smooth, too...
- '06 Carvin LB-20. For reasons I won't go into here, the original owner had this bass built as a Rick 4003 clone. Including an optional switch that split it's 2 HB-50 Humbuckers into to single coils. I currently have it strung with the original generation Sadowsky Blue Label Flats; I'll let you read all the raving about how wonderful those flats are for yourself. I'll just say that I pretty much agree... The current Blue Labels are supposed to be just as wonderful, by the way... I don't regret putting them on the Carvin for a minute, but the main reason they're on it, is because I didn't want it to sound like my 4003. Because, yes; with the coils split, it really does sound an awful lot like a 4003... And, finally;
- '20 EBMM 4HH Stingray Special. There's a pickup selector switch position that turns both pickups into single coils. It's not one I use a lot, but... I do use it. And, the Galli JF4505 Jazz Flats it wears, sound pretty darn good when I do. Tension is, IME, about average for 45-105 flats, and their stiffness is about average as well. Their tone? Good lows; really good low-mids and mids; and a decent high range, too. What I like most about them is that they are crazy mad smooth. Like, running your fingers across a wet ice cube smooth. This bass is extremely versatile; I can't think of anything it couldn't handle. And these Galli Jazz Flats are a perfect string for it...
I have Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats on my Fender 60's Vintera J. Cobalts are a great match for this bass.
I love TI Jazz Flats on a Jazz Bass because they help bring some midrange back to the “both pickups on full” setting. For a more old-school sound, I really love the Dogal Vintage flats.
Azari is a self-professed "þ enþusiast".
"Þ" is a modern version of the rune named "thorn" in English (because of acrophony as well as rough shape), used in ancient times to represent both "th" sounds (as found in "thin" and "then") in Germanic languages.
After gradually abandoning the runic script, Old English kept using the "thorn", in free alternance with the "eth" or insular crossed "d" (ð), in otherwise Latin inscriptions; later still, the " t h " spelling, which too had been used in Anglo-Saxon times but only occasionally, definitively took over post-Norman conquest.
If I'm not mistaken, both the þ and the ð are still in use in Icelandic.
Last edited:
Yeah occasionally I’ll use it because I think the letter is useful & should never have fallen into obscurity and also I enjoy seeing how people react to it (though I’ve also been banned from various online communities for using it and targeted by bullies so I don’t do it often anymore unfortunately)
I’m thinking of putting a set of TI flats on my Rick 4003, great for for some Gladys Knight & The Pips tunes.
Last edited:
Sadowsky Black Label….which isn’t helpful, I know, as they are discontinued.
Wonderful flats for a jazz, possibly my all time fave….they have an impressive clarity and articulation, and express the particular tonal character of the jazz well without being muddy. Also great for slap (yeah, I’m one of those flat-slapping heretics).
Wonderful flats for a jazz, possibly my all time fave….they have an impressive clarity and articulation, and express the particular tonal character of the jazz well without being muddy. Also great for slap (yeah, I’m one of those flat-slapping heretics).
I really don’t find the feel of rounds or flats objectionable. My recent purchase of AM Pro V JB came with a brand new set of flats, the first Bass I’ve owned with flats in almost 50 years. I have no clue what brand they are, kind of a blueish purple at the headstock end. My thought is I like them better when recording, live not so much.
So for now, I’m just going to record with it and frankly for that, it sounds pretty awesome with the type of material we do. And considering I record more tracks than gigs by a large margin, I’m good with it.
Blueish purple like these? No silk at the ball end and the ball ends themselves are brass?
Last edited:
