New Strings - Which bass ???

[Frankjohnson]

Ok - minor dilema

I FINALLY ordered a set of TI's (Jazz flats)

I have a couple of basses i use regularly.

I don't know which bass to put these puppys on!

1 - Am P Bass Deluxe - has nylon wrapped 9120's.....I love the way it sounds, plays and feels!

2 - MIM Jazz deluxe, replaced the neck with a really nice Reggie Hamilton Neck, has great sound, and plays like a million bucks! Has Chromes on it - sounds great, plays great!

3 - Jaguar bass - Currently - the ONLY bass I have that has round wounds on it - in case I "need that sound. cannot use nylon wrapped strings on this bass - the preamp does not work well with it. The bass plays well, has a great neck and has a BAII on it, which eliminated neck dive, but added a little weight.

4 - Squier CV 60s P bass. Plays great, has SD Quarter pounder pup in it - sounds great. GREAT NECK! Had the Reggie Hamilton neck on it, played great - but put the original back on. Light bass, looks good, plays great sounds great.

The SX basses I have are good as they are - no interest in putting these on either of them.

I am leaning towards the Jag - but #1 and #2 could greatly benefit also.


Tough Dilema!

Other thought - wait and see which one breaks a string first, or has DSS (Dead String Syndrome) first.



Thoughts?

[fidopunk]

My vote is for #4. I don't like flat wound strings, but I think they work well with precision basses.

[jrfrond]

#4. Flatwounds on a P-Bass are just too cool. For me anyway. It's the Jamerson thing. I have Fender flats on my Fender P-Bass Special, and they are real thumpy. On my Ibanez Roadstar bass (also P/J) I have Rotosound flats with a maple FB. The combo is significantly brighter on the top end, but never buzzsaw-like the way roundwounds can be. I like flats for their punch. Their pitch definition isn't as good as rounds, but the punch more than makes up for it.

[4mal]

hmmm. Lot's of active basses there. Not my favorite place for TIJF's but I would opt for the MIM J Deluxe. If #1 is dialed - don't mess with it. I agree with keeping rounds on a bass - IMO the Del Am P would be the place but if #1 is dialed - keep 'em on the Jag.

The Jag - flats and BA II - not a good combo unless the bridge pieces were very thoughtfully shaped - which is not generally the case. IME

The QP in the Squire is too hot to really get a sense of what the TI's are all about. If you had put in something less hot and more detailed - that would be good choice for the JF's or for rounds. I'm not a fan of hot pickups in bass guitars. The Squire might be where I would locate the Chromes ... they are pretty 'steely' for a flat and might work better with the QP. The JF's would be a waste there IMO ...

nope it's the J

[Cas_SB]

No passive humbuckers? Looks like you need to get a whole new bass for those. That's what I would do, yep....

..and then hide it and the receipt for a LOOONG time

[Delberthot]

I prefer the sound of flats on a Jazz - my single coil P sounds too dead and lacks the punch that that the Jazz has.

another alternative would be to just try the strings on all of them. TIs take a while to break-in so you would need to have them on a bass for a few weeks before they start to sound their best.

I've got a set in their packet that I used on a fretless Jazz and they sounded fantastic. I also really liked them on a fretless Stingray and an Ibanez SR1016.

I'll no doubt fire them on my next bass- whatever that happens to be

[Frankjohnson]

A lot of great comments. I appreciate the time and thought that went into them.

The strings should be in todays mail - and maybe on "a bass" tonight.

I like the idea of Chromes to the P Bass and TI's to the Jazz.

The QP Doesn't seem so hot, but I never checked it with a meter. I removed the cap and replaced with a .1 mf . It has nice tone - not overly aggressive, but not faint of heart either.

I am looking forward to the chengeout. Thanks for the input.

[Frankjohnson]

They came today - installed tonight......
Intonated, set up, etc.....


really nice and relaxed feel to them, nice "new" tone.....I will play them in....
Gig Friday and Monday nights......between now and then - a little tweaking to feel and ear........

BTW -
The Jazz Dlx won!
Great neck on this thing.....I kept the original, but the Reggie Hamilton slab neck is pretty nice.

[Old Cane]

I read through this a couple of times and I guess I must have missed the point. If I wonder which one gets new strings, that's easy. It's the one that needs 'em. In this case since they are flats that's even easier. They need to go on someone else's bass.

[Frankjohnson]

Originally Posted by Old Cane

I read through this a couple of times and I guess I must have missed the point. If I wonder which one gets new strings, that's easy. It's the one that needs 'em. In this case since they are flats that's even easier. They need to go on someone else's bass.

Thank you - that was a very well thought out answer.