Kindness From A Fellow Forum Member

Fellow member, astutzmann, (Alf) contacted me about a week ago asking if I would like to try a set of Thomastik-Infield Jazz Bass strings as he had a new set that he no longer had a need for. I thought that was really kind of him and I said sure. He sent them to me and said that all he wanted was a tone report! How thoughtful as he knew I was a bass player.

First of all, I was not familiar with these strings and it is funny how things happen at times. I am in the middle of a recording project and love the tone of the Asat bass. I like a bright tone but on a couple of tracks I had fingering noise and zipping at times. To get rid of that requires less treble and ultimately tone loss. I had just ordered a set of D'Adarrio half rounds about an hour before Alfs email arrived. Not knowing anything about Thomastik I assumed they would be round wounds.

Yesterday both sets of strings arrive in the mail. I open the package from Alf first and to my surprise I see that they are flatwounds. I had always used flatwounds until a few years ago and found them quite dull. I immediately strung them up on the Asat Savannah. I loaded ProTools and plugged in through a direct box. These babys really sound good. The wave form is clean and dynamic. Very live and great tone. I recorded a track on one of the songs I was having issues with and the result was exactly what I was hoping for. Later in the evening I did some internet research on Thomastik and discovered they are designed to sound like a roundwound strings. I was also surprised by the sustain of these strings as that can be lacking with flatwounds. They are great strings and I will gig them live in another week. Thanks to Alf for the great experience as I wouldn't have purchased flatwounds and did not know about these. Made my evening! The half rounds will be in the cabinet. Thanks again Alf, great experience! -- Darwin

you are welcome, glad you like them and can put them to the use they deserve!!

Awesome stuff,

Alf

Love stories like this

Thanks for the tone report Darwin, I'm eager to buy some TI bass strings again when the wallet is fat.
I might have to try some flats when I place that order. I bet they will last forever .

elwood

That's G&LDP at its best.

Darwin, do the TI strings have blue silk windings at both ends, and color-coded balls? I've suspected my Warwick fretless came to me with TI strings, but haven't been able to confirm it.

I'm looking forward to the gig report too. I've been sold on La Bella Deep Talkin' flats (and D'Addario Chromes as my "cheap" set) for a couple of years now. I haven't sunk money into a TI set, but may if yours turn out to be winners.

I also have a set of D'Addario Half Wounds waiting for a future string change. I wanted to try some "in-between" strings on some of my basses that would normally wear rounds, and picked up D'Addario Half and Quarter Rounds and GHS Pressure Wounds. I put the Half Rounds onto the El Toro, and hated them from the very start. They seem to have the worst features of flats (a general lack of life) and rounds (finger noise and friction). I would say the friction is worse with the Quarter Rounds than with any rounds I've ever played. The GHS Pressure Wounds are on the '86 SB-1 right now, and seem to be a lot more of what I was looking for. I'd call them more of an improvement on round wounds strings than a compromise between rounds and flats.

I plan to order some La Bella Original 1954s (the same set James Jamerson used) for the SB-1, and move the Pressure Wounds over to the Interceptor. Based on how they sound on it, I will move the El Toro either to an identical set or a set of flats. The Interceptor may do well with TIs.

At least string GAS is cheaper than bass GAS!

Ken

Thanks Ken, first of all the silk on these is Red and the ball is the same color on all strings, brass I believe.

I have tried different strings. I used Fender flats for a long time. About 4 years ago I traded a Fender Deluxe strat for a Fender Deluxe Jazz bass. It was a 2005 I believe with the 18 v active circuit. He was telling me about the expensive flatwounds that he had put on it. They had the Red silk and I now wonder if they were Thomastik. They did really sound good for flatwounds. I also tried a set of GHS half rounds one time and they were pretty good. I went back to rounds when I bought my Stingray 5 HH as it D"addarios and I did like the tone. That is what I had used until he set that Alf sent to me. I love the tone of these Thomastik flats and I couldn't believe the sustain. It really shows on the recording wave at the end of the song when comparing to two other basses and the Asat when it had the D"addarios. I have never tried the La Bella strings. My experience has been that bass strings last a long time for me. A lot of bass players prefer them when they get old and thunky. I do not.

Ken, this was the GLPD at its best! I have had some great experiences on this forum. Gdub mentioned a couple of days ago that he feels that this is the support forum for G&L. That may well be true and I don't see that as a problem. I like first hand information from the people who experience the issues. There is a wealth of information shared on this forum. I visit other forums and they are all moderated as far as I know. This is the best technical forum that I have visited. Anyway, the GLDP is still a great forum in my opinion. -- Darwin

Last edited by darwinohm on Wed Dec 11, 2013 11:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

One more rehash of why this forum is great. When I bought my S-500 ( first G&L ) I found this forum, posted pics and gushed about how happy I was with it. I had mentioned that it only had 2 tremolo springs in my description of the guitar. Forum member Ches posted something like " that guitar needs 3 springs ! ". Anyway, he had an extra G&L spring and he sent it to me , asking only that I pay it forward. This was my first post ! Knowledgable and friendly ,Thats why I check it everyday.

P.S.

Thanks for the bass string discussion, I'm learning a lot !

Thanks for the bass string discussion, I'm learning a lot !

+1!

Excellent read this & yeah you reap what you sew Darwin how many have you helped here in the past bud?
I was another first poster who'd still be drooling over factory standards little known playing custom builds thanks entirely to the guys on this forum,Darwin chiefly among them.
VERY grateful for all the assistance & advice I've received here guys,nuff said...

Black Page,

It's great to see you back around! I was just thinking the other day that you had been quiet for a while, and hoping everything was alright. Are you still in Afganistan?

Ken

When I did my lunch report I was always appreciative of Alfs reply posts . You can tell he is is generous and smart .

I use the Tis on my fretless Precision (imprecision? frecision?) and love the sound. I love them more as they age, too. And I have come to love the lower tension.

Great story. After all the cat fights we get into, this is a welcome change!

Just posting an update. These strings are awesome! My b-day last week and Ginny gave me money to order a set of TI's for my 5 string Pink Lady. Thanks again to Alf or I would have never been introduced to them! Another great experience with a member of this forum! -- Darwin

I received the TI's today from Strings and Beyond. It was a bit difficult to decide which 5 string bass to put them on but I decided to keep rounds on the StingRay 5 and the Carvin. The TI's went on the M-2500 and they will get gigged tomorrow night. Intonation is dead on and they sound great. They are not cheap but sound good enough to make them worth it! They sure have a nice feel.-- Darwin

Congrats Darwin, great story! It's my pleasure to make sure you contribute more to the economy, lol!

Glad you like them.....Did you get heavier ones for the 2500? I know you said the other ones were "lighter"

I have the on my electrics now, they seem to last forever.

Going to try their acoustic strings next.

Alf, I ordered the same ones that you sent me as I really like them. They sound and feel great. I will post after our gig tonight and give my opinions. They sound terrific on the M-2500 and they fit the nut very well. It had a very tight nut with the original D'Addarios. It never had any tuning issues, in fact when I take it out of the case at a gig, it is usually in tune. On a side note, I tuned after restringing yesterday with a Snark. I then hooked up the strobe tuner when setting the intonation and was impressed by the accuracy of this Snark. Good to see you back again ALf! -- Darwin

Hi Darwin

Awesome and thanks. Its been a whirlwind lately, but all good fun, went to Europe for a long vacation!

Back to practicing now.........

Good luck at the gig!

ALf

Darwin,
I placed my first order with Strings and Beyond and was very impressed. Got in on their 15% off sale (thanks to Eddie's PSA) and had my stuff 2 days later! Picked up my own Snark - cool little tuner.

Alf, I saw the TI's on sale but just couldn't justify the extra coinage for them but with your endorsement and Elwood's, I may have to go for it one day. Specially if they last an extra long time. I did get a few other new brands to try out on the recommendation of members here so it will be fun hearing/feeling the differences.

I'd be very interested to hear from anybody who has tried both TI Jazz Flats and Pyramid Gold flats. I've figured out that the set of flats on my fretless Warwick - which I love everything about - are Pyramids. I've read several opinions from Pyramid users that TIs feel extremely soft in comparison. Can anybody here either second that opinion, or refute it? I've been itching to try a set of TIs, but if they are much lower tension than the Pyramids they will not be the strings for me.

Ken

Gig update Ken. First of all, this M-2500 is my only G&L Tribute. The cost of these strings are about 20% the cost of the guitar. I originally purchased this guitar at the end of January as an experiment. It felt good, was well balanced and overall workmanship was stellar. I really like it from the get go and I have had several G&L basses and many others. Early on I used flatwound strings but over the years I missed the tone of wound rounds. About 5 years ago I went back to rounds. The tone is there but you get string noise unless you have the tone cut way back, which defeats the purpose. When Alf contacted me i had no idea the TI's he was sending me were flatwounds. I hadn't done any research on Ti's primarily due to the cost. When the strings arrived from him I was delighted to discover they were in fact flatwounds. I had just ordered a set of D'Addario Half Rounds and they arrived the same day as the strings from Alf. I installed the Ti's on the Asat 4 string and really liked the tone. I was in the middle of our recording project and redid a couple of songs with the TI's and liked the results.

I ordered the set of 5 string Ti's last week thinking I would put them on the Pink Lady as a backup rig. They arrived a couple of days ago and I decided at the last minute to try them on my main gigger, the M-2500. Iinstalled them, set intonation, checked action and tested them. All great so far. Last evening they had the real test as we gigged in Brainerd. I had forgotten how good the feel of flatwounds really is. As for tension, I am a soft picker and they do not feel flabby and the low B output is good and balanced with the other strings and that was my main concern. They growl without the string zipping and buzz. The feel of the strings is so smooth that I believe I am more accurate in my fingering which helps eliminate any fret buzz when moving. Needless to say I am impressed and unbelievably happy with the tone. Who would have imagined that a Tribute could be such a perfect feeling instrument. I am a fan of gloss necks and the neck has glossed up nicely from playing. G&L, I would endorse this baby any day of the week!!! -- Darwin

Afterthought, maybe G&L should put Ti's on the Tributes stock from the factory

Last edited by darwinohm on Sat Apr 19, 2014 4:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Eloquent Darwin.

Maybe G&L should hire you to play bass doing Will Ray-type promo/clinic tours.