Which flatwounds for new 4003s?

[Fred Mertz]

I've been using Fender 9050ML's flatwounds on my P Basses and jazz basses for about 40 years. I'm guessing that the 4003s should use a lighter set. I have a 9050L set waiting for my new bass to show up. I have used Pyramids in the past but don't like the feel. Looking for string suggestions that would not require truss rod adjustment.

Suggestions?

Dave

[jps]

TI Jazz Flats. Wonderful feel and tone.

[bassman4001]

I have a set of Ernie Ball Slinky flats on the way...hope I like'em. They're the new cobalt ones released at NAMM this year

[cjj]

I've been likin' LaBella Deep Talkin' Bass flats, .045, .065, .085, .105 Stainless Steel...

[cassius987]

TIs seem to do really well on some basses and awful on others. But when they work, they really work.

Fender 9050L flats are GREAT on a Ric. I have recorded with this and they track beautifully; they might be the easiest strings to mix, ever. But their tone is not nuanced.

I also like the lowest gauge set of LaBella DTFs.

[fran4001]

Thomastik Infeld JF344 Jazz Flats. Sublime. I have them on 15 basses, two of which are Ricks.

[woodyng]

The '72 4000 i recently got ( ) came with a new set of Labella Low tension flatwounds,a relatively new offering from the company. I forget the exact gauge,but they're in the 40-100 ballpark. They are absolutely fabulous strings,supersmooth,slinky,with a perfect tension,and a great sound. I'm actually digging them more than my 60's maxima set,as they seem to have a bit more bark. They sound fab with a pick,or played fingerstyle.

[donhank]

The '72 4000 i recently got ( ) came with a new set of Labella Low tension flatwounds,a relatively new offering from the company. I forget the exact gauge,but they're in the 40-100 ballpark. They are absolutely fabulous strings,supersmooth,slinky,with a perfect tension,and a great sound.

A quick comparison:

guage tension guage tension guage tension guage tension set total
LaBella Low Tension Flexible Flats 100 34.20 70 30.50 56 34.00 42 36.20 134.90
TI JR344 89 27.99 68 29.54 51 30.20 43 34.61 122.34


The LaBellas are a little darker sounding than the TIs but still a good choice.

Woody . . . I also use the Labellas on my other instrument - a koa neck-thru Peavey Unity series. Didn't you once own one of these ??

[DavyR]

A quick comparison:

guage tension guage tension guage tension guage tension set total
LaBella Low Tension Flexible Flats 100 34.20 70 30.50 56 34.00 42 36.20 134.90
TI JR344 89 27.99 68 29.54 51 30.20 43 34.61 122.34


The LaBellas are a little darker sounding than the TIs but still a good choice.

Is there a set number for these new LaBella Low Tension Flats or is this what they are referred to as? Thanks!

[Wiker]

A quick comparison:

guage tension guage tension guage tension guage tension set total
LaBella Low Tension Flexible Flats 100 34.20 70 30.50 56 34.00 42 36.20 134.90
TI JR344 89 27.99 68 29.54 51 30.20 43 34.61 122.34


The LaBellas are a little darker sounding than the TIs but still a good choice.

Is there a set number for these new LaBella Low Tension Flats or is this what they are referred to as? Thanks!

La Bella LTF-4A, http://www.labella.com/products/ltf-4a
Tension listed as 134.9 lbs.

TI JR-344 are round wounds.
TI JF-344 flat wounds are listed as 140.19 lbs.

http://www.thestringguy.com/tension.html is the only place I’ve found
any measures for Pyramid Gold flats, 164.9 lbs.

[donhank]

Two other popular sets that I tried:


- - - - -TI JF344 100 34.39 70 31.30 56 37.47 43 37.03 140.19
-D'Addario super light ECB80 95 36.20 75 42.58 60 46.49 40 37.83 163.10

[songdog]

Have you ever considered nylon tape wounds? I've never tried them on my 4001 (Rotosounds forever!) but I've settled on GHS black nylon tape wounds (set 3060) as my favorite strings for my Fender fretless. Gauges are 50-70-90-105, they seem to be fairly low tension.

I originally tried them on a whim, expecting they would be dark and toneless. They turned out to have plenty of tone to work with, maybe because there's a light-gauge roundwound string under the nylon wrap.

I also tried the La Bella white nylon tape wounds (50-65-85-105), somehow didn't like them as much.

[woodyng]

The LaBellas are a little darker sounding than the TIs but still a good choice.
Woody . . . I also use the Labellas on my other instrument - a koa neck-thru Peavey Unity series. Didn't you once own one of these ??

I did indeed used to own a Koa Peavey Unity bass,with an ebony fretboard. I ripped all the PV active eclectronics and pickups out,and installed passive seymour Duncan PJ pickups of some kind. (It's been a decade or so,ago,so memory fails..) Great body/neck on that,i should have kept it. I had it strung BEAD,and the low notes on it were brilliant. Pretty sure i was using DR Sunbeams on it,which seem to sound great no matter what bass i put them on.

[woodyng]

Have you ever considered nylon tape wounds? I've never tried them on my 4001 (Rotosounds forever!) but I've settled on GHS black nylon tape wounds (set 3060) as my favorite strings for my Fender fretless. Gauges are 50-70-90-105, they seem to be fairly low tension.
I also tried the La Bella white nylon tape wounds (50-65-85-105), somehow didn't like them as much.

In recent years,i've tried Rotosound tapewounds,(not bad,a little stiff/high tensiony for my taste),as well as Labella's classic black tapes (great URB sound on a fretless),as well as both varieties of Labella White tapewounds on several fretted and fretless basses. I think i prefer the black tapes for fretless,but the white strings sounded great on a Carvin Ac50 fretted,and an Italia Rimini,also fretted. The White tape/copperwounds i have on my defretted Cii seem to be lacking in fundamental,so i am thinking of replacing them with a set of the classic tapewounds.

[edski]

I used Fender 9050 ML's for a long time on my 4001 - the neck had a bit too much bow, but oh boy was the sound explosive. I would guess the better truss rods of a 4003 would be better suited for those bridge cables (I still have the old 9050 ML's on my Ibanez - they make that bass sing!).

I don't know what the difference is between the newer 9050's (green packaging I think) as opposed to the older ones I have (brown packaging).

Currently I have GHS Brite Flats on my 4001 and the custom fretless...seriously thinking of putting them on the Laredo (but I would suggest getting the string gauges as close to Ric specs as possible). Been thinking of the GHS flats for the fretless when it gets to be time for new strings on that one...