twangmeister
Wholenote
Posts: 349
Formerly Known As: Twangmeister
Age: 72 and fading fast.....
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Post by twangmeister on Sept 21, 2020 21:07:13 GMT -5
I was fooling around with my P bass tonight and realized these particular strings were first put on a bass in 2003. I got these strings second hand.
These are a set of LaBella flatwounds--the same model which today are named after Jimmy Jamerson. I won these strings in a raffle from an FDPer in 2006. I have had them on my Jazz Plus, a Jazz Bass, and since 2014 on a Precision.
Since I don't play bass that much any more they don't get a lot of use. When I played seven nights a week I went through three or four sets a year usually from developing a dead string but occasionally by breaking the G or D string. I was hard on my strings in those days.
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Post by LTB on Sept 22, 2020 4:36:05 GMT -5
Wow, that is remarkable! I bought a 1964 Precision Bass in 1974 that came with LaBella Flats on it and they were as "dead as a Door Nail". The longest strings so far have been TI Jazz Flats at 6 years and LaBella Low Tension still good after 2 years.
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Post by themaestro on Sept 22, 2020 7:32:11 GMT -5
I've got a 20 year old set of TI Jazz Flats on one of my precisions. It was played weekly with a big band up until the lockdown. They still sound good with no tone or intonation problems. I have TI's on 5 other basses, between 12 to 2 years old. I consider them to be install and forget strings. Even though they are kind of expensive, they are my least costly string when I consider how long they last.
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twangmeister
Wholenote
Posts: 349
Formerly Known As: Twangmeister
Age: 72 and fading fast.....
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Post by twangmeister on Sept 22, 2020 10:33:14 GMT -5
I've got a 20 year old set of TI Jazz Flats on one of my precisions. It was played weekly with a big band up until the lockdown. They still sound good with no tone or intonation problems. I have TI's on 5 other basses, between 12 to 2 years old. I consider them to be install and forget strings. Even though they are kind of expensive, they are my least costly string when I consider how long they last. You hit my two major criteria: tone and intonation. The old LaBellas still have some top end to them, but nothing compared to the Ernie Ball roundwounds on my Telecaster bass. The P-bass has adequate highs for me with the old LaBellas and the mudbucker-equipped Tele bass needs all that can be wrung out of it. TIs are on my shopping list for the Precision if the old LaBellas finally crap out.
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twangmeister
Wholenote
Posts: 349
Formerly Known As: Twangmeister
Age: 72 and fading fast.....
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Post by twangmeister on Sept 22, 2020 10:51:00 GMT -5
Otherwise never had strings last over a year.
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Post by LTB on Sept 23, 2020 0:38:50 GMT -5
've got a 20 year old set of TI Jazz Flats on one of my precisions. That is incredible! Yep they are selling between $70-$85 a set for 4 strings but longevity more than makes up for the initial cash outlay. Nice to know you can pick the bass up and play it anytime with very little fear of issues.
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Post by morrow on Oct 2, 2020 10:16:01 GMT -5
I don't know how it happened , but a little shortscale Dano Longhorn became my favourite bass , maybe about a dozen years ago . It's recently been replaced by a little Gibson DC Jr , but for many years was my go to bass . The Dano was made around 98 , still has the original factory roundwound strings . They're dead , but still intonate and possess one gorgeous old school thump . I think I have some basses with TI flats that might be slightly older . But they're flats .
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rwb
Quarternote
Posts: 14
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Post by rwb on Nov 15, 2020 2:58:34 GMT -5
I've got a 20 year old set of TI Jazz Flats on one of my precisions. It was played weekly with a big band up until the lockdown. They still sound good with no tone or intonation problems. I have TI's on 5 other basses, between 12 to 2 years old. I consider them to be install and forget strings. Even though they are kind of expensive, they are my least costly string when I consider how long they last. Same here, tho I can't recall if they are quite 20 yrs old.... I was using TI's on ALL my basses by abt 2005, but now I have more basses and a greater variety of strings. TI's still on a 65 P bass. I once even cut down a set from a 34" scalle and forced them to fit thru the tiny tuners on an old Danelectro Shorthorn (they weren't quite right for that bass, tho)....
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Post by morrow on Nov 15, 2020 9:17:22 GMT -5
I have a set of TI flats that have been on a 4001 now for just over sixteen years . They still work .
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Post by morrow on Nov 15, 2020 15:57:41 GMT -5
My 51 reissue was made around 2007 , not as early as I first thought . The first SCPB's made in Japan were only for sale in Japan . On the day they finally appeared on the Fender website , I ordered one . And on the day I received it I put on a set of TI flats .
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Post by Blacksunshine on Nov 15, 2020 21:56:45 GMT -5
I'm probably gonna win this....
My dad gave me a cheapo Hofner Beatle bass copy back when I was in intermediate school, around 1986 or so.
It still has three of the strings on it from when he gave it to me.
I only replaced one of them because it broke.
So....like around 34 year old strings I guess?
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Post by Larry Madsen on Nov 19, 2020 15:39:01 GMT -5
I watched a bass tutorial video just this morning.
The guy mentioned strings ... age of and changing strings.
He indicated new strings can tend to provide more on the bass and treble ends of the spectrum and not so much for the mids. Older strings tend to even out and provide a more equal representation all across the spectrum. Said he knows of players that pretty much never change strings because of that "old string" tendency.
Now, was it all BS? I have no idea.
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Post by LTB on Nov 20, 2020 10:04:25 GMT -5
I have a set of TI flats that have been on a 4001 now for just over sixteen years . They still work . Wow, I knew they would last 5 to 7 years but 16 is incredible
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Post by morrow on Nov 20, 2020 11:27:17 GMT -5
It was my primary bass for five or six years , but now just gets occasional play . So I'm not putting much wear and tear on it . The strings still sound good . The strings on this old Pbass might be older . It's been a while ...
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matryx81
Wholenote
I think I know the reason but I can't spell it.
Posts: 763
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Post by matryx81 on Nov 20, 2020 11:36:38 GMT -5
It was my primary bass for five or six years , but now just gets occasional play . So I'm not putting much wear and tear on it . The strings still sound good . The strings on this old Pbass might be older . It's been a while ... That Ric looks mighty fine!
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Post by morrow on Nov 20, 2020 12:38:57 GMT -5
It's a later 4001 , an 80 . I was looking for a MacCartney thump rather than that prog sound , so I did the cap bypass and strung it with TI flats , it has a wonderful thump and still keeps an edge . Neck is fairly thin , it's a beauty to play . I also have a set neck 4000 .
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Post by LTB on Nov 20, 2020 16:08:01 GMT -5
It's a later 4001 , an 80 . I was looking for a MacCartney thump rather than that prog sound , so I did the cap bypass and strung it with TI flats , it has a wonderful thump and still keeps an edge . Neck is fairly thin , it's a beauty to play . I also have a set neck 4000 . Beautiful bass morrow!
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Post by morrow on Nov 22, 2020 19:07:17 GMT -5
I'm probably gonna win this.... My dad gave me a cheapo Hofner Beatle bass copy back when I was in intermediate school, around 1986 or so. It still has three of the strings on it from when he gave it to me. I only replaced one of them because it broke. So....like around 34 year old strings I guess? I have a Hofner I bought in the late 70's . Blade pickups , I think it's a 69 . It's an awful bass , I never did bond with it , it needs a neck reset . It does look really good hanging on the living-room wall . Never changed the strings , don't know how old they were when I bought it . I play most of the instruments I own . Except for that Hofner ...
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twangmeister
Wholenote
Posts: 349
Formerly Known As: Twangmeister
Age: 72 and fading fast.....
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Post by twangmeister on Dec 2, 2020 17:58:58 GMT -5
Talking about old Hofners...a late friend of mine owned a Hofner bass which apparently didn't like being stored in a car trunk during hot weather. On one memorable hot summer night we watched his bass slowly fold up at the neck/body junction. I offered him my Vox "Fang" bass to finish the gig but he turned it down.
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Post by windmill on Jan 18, 2021 4:41:17 GMT -5
All this talk you blokes do about changing strings and the like, lead me to do a comparison between my gigging bass and one of my home basses, which I had brought more recently. Yeah the round wound strings on the gigging bass sounded as dead as a doornail, I had not changed them since I brought the bass about .... say... about 10 years ago, but only regular steady playing use over the last five years. Now I am putting in playing time at home with the gigging bass to try and reduce the zing the strings have.
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Post by HenryJ on Jan 18, 2021 17:59:46 GMT -5
Just now visiting this thread.
Morrow, I am going to repeat what everybody else says about that Ric! It's gorgeous!! But it was good photography also. Not taking anything away from the beauty of the bass itself.
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Thomas47
Quarternote
Posts: 7
Formerly Known As: Thomas47
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Post by Thomas47 on Aug 6, 2022 16:59:59 GMT -5
I bought a Fender MIJ '51 P-bass Reissue from Deacon Blues on the old FDP around 2004, and put a set of Fender flatwounds on it at that time, and they have stayed on it to this day. Still as sweet sounding as the day I tore the cellophane off the pack.
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Post by hushnel on Aug 26, 2022 11:01:15 GMT -5
It’s interesting, I can recall the days when putting new strings on the bass was “unavoidable” it ruined the tone of the well worn in strings. Obscene decay too much jangle etc. I think that’s how the second bass evolved. Put the new strings on Bass#2 and when they were broken in move them to the Precision bass #1. But then that was back in the day when we wanted the bass to sound “bassy”
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