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Post subject: strings
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 6:04 pm
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Hello every one i got a 2011 60s fender jazz bass and i was wondering should i change the strings that came with it im fairly new at playing but i want that james jamerson sound?


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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 6:34 pm
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Well thats a bit tuff,Jammerson played an old 62 p-bass with Labella flats(flatwound strings)110's X-tra heavy gauge,You can put some flats on your jazz but I would'nt go to heavy of a gauge on a MIM 60's jazz; being their necks are'nt as beefy as an old P-bass is and will stress with real heavy flats.
Flatwounds have more tension than roundwound strings and your bass came with 100-80-60-40 gauged and adding ANY flats will require adjusting the trus-rod because of the higher tension,so if you dont know how to adjust the neck(trus-rod) to counter added string tension please have someone exp do it for you,if not you can really mess up a new neck this way making it problematic permenatly,new basses are'nt cured(its wood dried & settled in to its semi perm shape) all the way and overtension can warp the neck if not adjusted correctly.
So some light flats and a soloed neck pickup can give you a almost p-bass like tone,and you can deaden the strings more by adding some foam under the strings back at the bridge,which Jammerson did with the bridge cover which had foam in it already.
:mrgreen: goodluck w/new bass

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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 5:59 pm
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String it with flatwound strings, and mute them down by the bridge (I use a sock wedged under the strings). Most importantly, play with your fingers (Jamerson played only with his index finger).

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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 6:12 pm
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All the above was good. I've used every type of mute imaginable, I've found felt works well for me. Like Lawsuit said, heavy flats on a Jazz neck scare me. I had Rotosound flats on my Precision but took them off because they were so stiff, I was afraid for the neck.

At present I use 45-105 whatevers, I've tried a lot of strings and at present I have Ernie balls on my Precision, Rotosound on my VM jazz, and I don't know what is on my Fender Jazz. Try different hand positions, play closer to the neck and mess with your amp. Take all the highs off and go from there.


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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 12:55 am
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In my expeirence on Fender basses they dont really play as well as they should with heavy gauge strings and also with Flats which have a higher tension,which can reek havoc on a thin neck like a jazz,I learned that the gauges of 100-40 light's allow the bass to play better(less string tension)and lower the number of the set-ups needed,I swear by that gauge;They make all my Fenders play better HANDS DOWN! :mrgreen:

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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 8:08 am
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Getting a Jamerson Motown sound on a soloed neck jazz pickup is probably not going to be easy.

The Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats have lower tension than any roundwound string I've ever used. They are ultra low tension and they are Flatwound. They also do not have the Motown sound.

The GHS PRECISION STAINLESS FLATWOUND REGULAR SET has lower tension than James Jamerson's Labella 760M set but is almost the same size, and actually is a tad heavier on the top end and lighter on the lower end. The GHS Precision Flat REGULARS sound closer to the Labella 760M's.

They called the Labella flat set that Mr. Jamerson used MEDIUMS even though they are just slightly smaller than a telephone trunk cable. The "M" in 760M stands for medium. Not only did James Jamerson use the Labella 760M's, but most of the other pro studio players of that era used them including Duck Dunn, Carol Kaye, Lewie Steinberg, etc because they were the OEM string for a while in the early 60's on Fender Basses during one period where Labella underbid the V.C. Squier Company. There were only flatwound strings back then, roundwound electric bass strings were not introduced till 1962.

In addition to neck issues, the nut on most modern basses are not slotted large enough for the fat flats like the 760M's and the nut slots will need to be expanded with a nut file or else risk breaking a chunk off the nut which usually happens on the outer top above the E string.

I had 760M's ruin the neck on several Fender USA basses both Jazz and Precision. Legend says that the Labella 760M's warped the neck on Mr. Jamerson's '62 P-Bass so severely that no other player could fret it. Fortunately Mr. Jamerson had very strong fingers.


Last edited by brotherdave on Sat Jul 09, 2011 12:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 8:11 am
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Another thought, even with Labella 760M strings a Jazz and Precision will sound different due to the pickup design more than anything else.


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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 8:30 am
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P Basses and Jazzes sound fundamentally different, but with the neck pickup soloed, flats and judicious amp eq settings you can get close with a Jazz. But they sound different no matter what you do.


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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 10:57 am
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YEAH, Ditto what he said,BroDave always has the 411(info)when it comes to names,dates,basses,strings,hardware,pick-ups,electronics,bodies,necks and finish,did I miss anything? :mrgreen:

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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 4:58 pm
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As Dave said above, Jamerson used La Bella heavy-gauge (.052-.110) flatwound strings -that he never changed, by the way. Imagine the 'funk' on those strings after a couple years... probably why his favorite bass was dubbed, "The Funk Machine"... LOL. :wink:

For a close-to-original Jameson sound, try a set of GHS 45-105 flatwounds ( Stock Number M3050 ), install a bridge cover and stuff high density foam sponge in the cover above the strings to get rid of sustain. Raise the strings up a bit with bridge adjustments to eliminate fret buzz because you will really have to get on those strings. You may want to try playing off a thumb rest mounted above the E string in the 'mellow' area where the neck and body meet, turn all the 'treble' controls off and have at it. This is the sound that Jameson brought to the Fender bass from his early years playing an upright bass. The dampening from the foam in the bridge cover made him attack the strings with his index finger and the sound is quite amazing.


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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 7:00 pm
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Well said, there's enough information here for the question to have been answered. Seems all of the people who posted know the sound and have tried to emulate it.


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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 12:28 pm
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PaducahLuke wrote:
... install a bridge cover and stuff high density foam sponge in the cover above the strings to get rid of sustain. Raise the strings up a bit with bridge adjustments to eliminate fret buzz because you will really have to get on those strings. You may want to try playing off a thumb rest mounted above the E string in the 'mellow' area where the neck and body meet, turn all the 'treble' controls off and have at it. This is the sound that Jameson brought to the Fender bass from his early years playing an upright bass. The dampening from the foam in the bridge cover made him attack the strings with his index finger and the sound is quite amazing.


True! Good post. I use the foam UNDER the strings, this works without the bridge cover if you don't have one. Here is a link to my page explaining two methods of muting I use:
http://brotherdave.com/add_mute.htm

Both techniques I describe were pretty much carefully kept trade secrets among studio players for decades. Sometimes when you see the Funk Brothers play on TV you'll see Bob Babbitt with a block of foam either in use under the strings or at the ready. He makes no attempt to hide it as it is often in plain sight.


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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 12:38 pm
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Another way to mute the sound is to put the foam in your ears!

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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:31 pm
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Sabre Lane wrote:
Hey! You have 2 medals in your sig.....
What's the new one?
The Chef! Never announced it, and he's the official awards guy.... Amongst other things. :mrgreen:


@pennywise, sabre is right, you should not display two m.o.h. in your sig...
the swiss deputy of
NICP demands control on the handed-over merits. :!:

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Post subject: Re: strings
Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:20 pm
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Sabre Lane wrote:
He doesn't realize who he's messing with! :D :mrgreen:
Good afternoon Chef!
(Or in your case, I guess I should say good evening.) :mrgreen: :D


yes, good evening fits better...
and let's not call it messing, rather an opportunity to show up the weight and value of being honored:

wear and display your m.o.h with pride but stay humble to your next!

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