Strings For 1995 Essence 4

[Stanley85]

Hi everyone -

I just registered for this forum and thought it could be a good resource.
I have a 1995 Essence 4. I want to restring it. I'm thinking about flats. Do you think this is a good idea? I've gravitated toward nickel wounds on a couple of my other basses, but just thinking about trying something new. Being a large scale bass, I'm also wondering if a certain gauge would be an important consideration. Any recommendations for brand and gauge are appreciated.
Juan

[jazzyvee]

I have recently tried flats on my elan bass and since i generally use D'addario  strings , i went for their chromes

https://www.daddario.com/products/guitar/bass-guitar/xl-chromes-bass/ecb81-chromes-bass-light-45-100-long-scale/
They are quite stiff compared to my preferred D'addario pro steels roundwound.
I'm not a big fan of flats but i'm leaving them on this bass until i have a chance to use it on a gig, then decide if they will stay.

[g-dude]

When it comes to flats, Thomastik Infeld Jazz Flats are the gold standard.

[fclef6]

Agree…Thomastik jazz flats are on my fretless and my “motown” PJ bass. And if you prefer round wound, Thomastik JR344 Nickel .043-.089 are on my Essence 4. I also have a set of these on an Essence 5 and an Ibanez SDGR 1306 6 string. Much lighter touch and less tension which takes some getting used to. Both highly recommended but somewhat pricey. I’ve played more years than I care to admit and tried all kinds of strings, and these things are the bomb! And I have never tried the “Infield” ones. Probably the same, but cheaper.

[rv_bass]

Welcome Juan, I use Labella Low Tension Flats.

[g-dude]

Agree…Thomastik jazz flats are on my fretless and my “motown” PJ bass. And if you prefer round wound, Thomastik JR344 Nickel .043-.089 are on my Essence 4. I also have a set of these on an Essence 5 and an Ibanez SDGR 1306 6 string. Much lighter touch and less tension which takes some getting used to. Both highly recommended but somewhat pricey. I’ve played more years than I care to admit and tried all kinds of strings, and these things are the bomb! And I have never tried the “Infield” ones. Probably the same, but cheaper.

The "Infeld" aka Super Alloy strings are the closest thing they have to a conventional string...but it's a very high quality conventional string.  I run them on a few basses.

The Jazz Rounds are a wonderful string, and I'd describe them as the perfect string if you want the best of rounds combined with the best of flats.

[hdfixer]

I use both Thomastik Jazz flats and LaBella Low Tension Flats on some of my Series basses.  To my ear the Thomastiks are harmonically more interesting (rich) but the feel of the strings in my plucking hand is sometimes draggy or slow so I tend to play them with a pick.  The LaBellas feel much more slick and are easier to play faster in hand. Harmonically they match perfectly with S1 electronics, especially for a glorious woody thump when played near the bridge that embodies the Alembic tone!  I run Thomastiks on my fretless Epic 5 and they have Mwah for days without chewing up that lovely ebony board.

[Songdog]

I've had Ernie Ball Slinky flatwounds (45-65-80-100) on my bass for several months now and I'm really happy with them. These might be the brightest flatwound strings ever made! They take good advantage of the extended range of Alembic pickups/electronics.

[StephenR]

For flats I tried Chromes first which I didn't care for due to a lack of sonic punch and feeling too stiff for the bass I put them on. I now have Pyramid flats on two of my basses and really like the musicality of the tone. Both sets were custom made to fit the basses they are on since one bass was a 35" scale and the other 32", the stock long scale set did not fit either bass properly. Pyramid is great about making custom length or gauge strings and they don't charge extra.

I agree that the all the TI strings are amazing strings as long as you like strings with very low tension. I haven't tried their flats because both the TI Acousticore and TI Jazz Rounds were way too low tension for my playing style. I also thought the stock gauge of the TI Flats (five-string set) looked really odd and they are expensive, so I doubt I will ever try them. I was bummed to not like the tension on the Jazz Rounds because they sounded really good and had the smoothest feeling windings of any round-wound string I have ever played on.

The good thing about flat-wound strings is that once you find a set you like they last a really long time and in a lot of cases sound better with age. Good luck!

[g-dude]

For flats I tried Chromes first which I didn't care for due to a lack of sonic punch and feeling too stiff for the bass I put them on. I now have Pyramid flats on two of my basses and really like the musicality of the tone. Both sets were custom made to fit the basses they are on since one bass was a 35" scale and the other 32", the stock long scale set did not fit either bass properly. Pyramid is great about making custom length or gauge strings and they don't charge extra.

I agree that the all the TI strings are amazing strings as long as you like strings with very low tension. I haven't tried their flats because both the TI Acousticore and TI Jazz Rounds were way too low tension for my playing style. I also thought the stock gauge of the TI Flats (five-string set) looked really odd and they are expensive, so I doubt I will ever try them. I was bummed to not like the tension on the Jazz Rounds because they sounded really good and had the smoothest feeling windings of any round-wound string I have ever played on.

The good thing about flat-wound strings is that once you find a set you like they last a really long time and in a lot of cases sound better with age. Good luck!

Pull the trigger on TI Jazz flats!

Think of it like tires -- if you own a Ferrari, you're going to put great tires on it, as opposed to saving a few bucks on some 40,000 mile all-season tires. 

The TI Jazz Flats are lower tension, but I wouldn't call them low tension in the way that the Jazz Rounds are.

[hammer]

Lots of TI flats around here. Expensive but they last a long time. I do about 40% of my playing with a pick and they sound great whether playing with your fingers or a plectrum.