Fender 9050ML strings - Tension & Growl question

[Sausages]

Hi all,

I just put some Fender 9050ML 50 - 100's on my Jazz bass, and had a couple of questions if I may.

Firstly, should I loosen the truss rod a bit to release a bit of tension; I changed from rounds (embarrassingly, I can't remember which ones )

Second, they sound really [i]growly[/i], which is interesting, as I always understood that flats sound mellow, flat and thumpy? TBH, I don't mind the low growling sound at all, but wondered if this was anyone else's experience with these strings, or flats generally?

Would be really interested to hear any opinions or advice.

Many thanks

[discreet]

Only adjust the truss rod if you need to. They do sound growly when new, this wears off a little as they break in. They're also a bit 'grabby' when new, they'll get shinier and smoother over time. But the growl won't entirely disappear.

You can make them thumpy and mellow if you want to, but I like having that growl on tap. Great strings, and not expensive, either. They sound really good on my Hayman 4040 and they're generally good flats to have on a dual-pickup bass IMHO, as they're quite dynamic and have a fair bit going on in the mids. The 50-100 set are very even across the strings, too. I like 'em!

Edited June 21, 2016 by discreet

[HowieBass]

If there's more tension on the neck after changing to flats you'd need to tighten the truss rod a little in order to get the neck back to the same degree of relief - check what the relief is and don't change anything unless you really need to. I've got Fender flats on two of my basses and I like them a lot.

[Sausages]

Ok, thanks guys, that helps a lot. Will give them a while to bed in, and won't do anything unless I really need to. Much appreciated.

[Funky Dunky]

I'm about to trial these badboys, but not sure which gauge to choose. I like .45-.105 on rounds, and I like the tension to be toward the higher end of the scale. From what I can gather, flats at that gauge will be higher tension than rounds, so I dunno whether to go lighter to compensate, or the same to see if the slightly higher tension is favourable.

Trial and error, I guess, but .45-.105 on these are 9050CL and are actually kinda hard to come by. Fortunately, Amazon does them

Edited August 15, 2016 by Funky Dunky

[Funky Dunky]

Sausages - how are you liking these 9050s? Have they bedded in yet? Interested to hear your thoughts

[M@23]

Great that they're bringing the 45-105s back from extinction ☺ I love Fender flats. I've had them a on a few P basses, on my old 2012 US Standard they were perfection. I tried some La Bella but went back to the Fender. They sound and feel significantly better after about 2 months solid use. Can't say I found them growly at all, but this was on P basses with the tone rolled back. They're pretty high tension too.

[Oopsdabassist]

Just ordered a set for my Squier PJ, found this topic just after....great minds an all that!

[LayDownThaFunk]

Capo on first fret, fret the 16th or 17th fret. A credit card should just be able to pass under the 7th fret without raising the string. Adjust truss rod to suit otherwise.

[njr911]

I'm a big fan of Fender flats tried a few and love the Fenders

[HowieBass]

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1471338316' post='3112188']
Capo on first fret, fret the 16th or 17th fret. A credit card should just be able to pass under the 7th fret without raising the string. Adjust truss rod to suit otherwise.
[/quote]

Relief is usually measured at the 8th fret and is the thickness of a business card (cardboard) or 0.012" if you have a set of feeler gauges (I already had the sort used to check spark plug gaps so I use that). A plastic credit card is too thick.