Squier Mini Precision bass mods Ep.5: Labella Flatwounds Deep Talkin' 760FM-P

In this unsponsored video, I have strung up a Squier Mini P was Labella Flatwound strings - specifically the 760FM-P set with a 31" string wound length designed to fit mini 28.6" scale basses. These are stainless steel flatwounds (49-69-89-109). They can only be top-loaded (as per Labella).
Will these flatwounds give the Mini P that vintage-styled thumpy tone?
'Find strings that fit your short scale bass' video link:
• Find strings that fit ...
In addition to a demo of the tones, we will also hear this Squier in the context of a drum track. As a sonic reference, we will be comparing this flatwound strung Mini P with a full scale (34") Fender player Precision strung with GHS flatwounds.
Basses were recorded direct through a Line6 Pod Go with my usual GK800RB model settings. Level matched, but no EQ or compression was added in post.
00:00 Intro
00:17 Background
02:10 Tones
06:22 Track
09:45 Assessment
jonathanwong.b...

[@florabee9283]

Oh no- the only safety I had keeping me from wanting that mini P was my fear of lack of flatwounds- now this!

[@jonathanwong458music]

Oh man! My apologies to the bank account! There are, however, not very many options for flats in this scale length. Thanks for watching!!

[@stephenc9040]

Hi Jonathan, I've been watching your Mini P videos with interest. Went back to this one and ordered a set of La bella flatwounds as a result! I have the red model but have ordered a black pick guard from the company in Scotland that you mentioned. I don't know how you found the strap buttons but I found them too small for the strap and replaced them. Thanks again for all the work you do. It really is so helpful!

[@jonathanwong458music]

Thanks for watching! Yeah, the buttons are pretty tiny. I typically replace buttons with Dunlop locking ones on my main basses. They don’t squeak like the schallers do. But honestly, 90% of the time these days I’m sitting down and not using a strap. Body ain’t what it used to be, unfortunately. Your red&black combo will look fantastic!

[@Kim-yl7yg]

Excellent Jonathan. Thank you !

[@jonathanwong458music]

Thanks for watching and for the encouragement!

[@dustyaudio]

Ha, the reason I bought my used mini-p, it had these and I couldn’t resist. I’m thinking of installing a Bass VI style strangle switch if I can find room in there!

[@jonathanwong458music]

Interesting idea! Thanks for watching!

[@StevenDoyleLuke]

Nice demo,, Man! Love the Palm-Muted/Pick tone . . .

[@jonathanwong458music]

Thanks for watching!

[@blatantenigma3374]

Nice! Just got me this bass and these strings, plus a set of Thomastik (my fav brand)shortscale flats

[@jonathanwong458music]

TIs are my favourite flats too!! Thanks for watching! Hope you enjoy your bass!

[@leonardomargutti7889]

Can you Which Thomastik specifically fit this mini P?

[@jonathanwong458music]

@@leonardomargutti7889 None of the Thomastiks are marketed to fit the mini. They make a 'short scale' version of the jazz flats 106-43 that are closer to medium scale than short. If you put them on the mini, you'll have a lot of exposed winding around the tuning post. Having said that, I string many of my main short scales with the long scale sets and they work for me just fine. In fact, it's my preferred flats and I leave them on for years. But it's a 'buyer beware' scenario as it's not recommended by the company. Wind carefully and slowly!

[@leonardomargutti7889]

@@jonathanwong458music Thank you for the reply! I've some muscle issues on my hand and the mini P has been surprisingly accessible for playing. will get the labella you showed in the video. One last follow up if possible: do you feel a huge difference in size and playability from the mini P to a 30 inch short scale? the fret size is a bit of an issue for me.

[@jonathanwong458music]

@@leonardomargutti7889 My personal preference is for the 30" scale. I find it to be the physical and sonic sweet spot/compromise, for me and my hands. It was medical issues that got me into playing short scales too. I found the 28.6" to be a bit cramped, but a lot of it is muscle memory, I think. By 'fret size' do you mean the fret spacing or the actual size of the fret? If finger span and reach is a limiting factor for you, then there's nothing wrong with the mini's 28.6" scale if you can play more comfortably. If it's the height and width of the fret you are referring to, I had small vintage-sized frets put on my F Bass and it's super comfortable! I much prefer it to the tall and jumbo frets more typically seen.

[@aminahmed2220]

What a fantastic video have a wonderful weekend Jonathan ❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@jonathanwong458music]

Thank you so much for the encouragement and for watching!

[@MonserratFoster]

I put these on my Ibanez mikro almost two years ago and never looked back. I also have the cobalt flats on my 5 string (long scale), I like them both but they feel and sound different.

[@jonathanwong458music]

Great choices! The cobalts feel unlike anything else. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[@jasondorsey7110]

Dang that thing looks tiny compared to the full size p-bass...love that blue btw, I refinished my p-bass in a color just like that

[@jonathanwong458music]

Hahaha! The Mini really is tiny! The Fender is a player series sea foam green but for some reason, it looks way more pale (sort of aged/faded) in person than the online photos. It has more of the baby blue-ish undertones in the colour and I love it. I always wanted a seafoam green Fender!

[@jasondorsey7110]

@@jonathanwong458music I do love the look of a seafoam stratocaster, if I played 6-string I'd probably get one...as for basses, I think it looks best on a mustang...I would have gotten a vintera one if they didn't have those hideous looking pau ferro fretboards

[@jonathanwong458music]

Pau ferro is not my favourite. Prefer rosewood and ebony myself.

[@jasondorsey7110]

@@jonathanwong458music I like maple, some people say it feels hard but I don't notice it...much of my collection is rosewood though...I find for rosewood that older is better, even the cheap old basses with plywood bodies often have nicer boards than the newer stuff

[@jonathanwong458music]

Unfortunately, lumber for everything is not great anymore. The lumber used in my house reno are all pretty rough looking….. even if you cherry pick them from the lumber yard. All the old growth trees have been used up - I had a luthier show me how the grains in the new growth trees are all scraggly. Old trees had much tighter grains. Not sure where the classic instrument luthiers are getting their wood from in the present day.

[@RockerProf]

Thanks! I had no idea there were string with winding length less than 32.25 inches.

[@jonathanwong458music]

As far as I know, these are the only off-the-shelf flats for mini. There are a few companies that would make you custom flats with a 31" string wound length for a premium. But I got these labellas through amazon, which gives it the convenience factor. Thanks for watching!

[@RockerProf]

@jonathanwong458music I fear you are correct. I can put more different strings on my Jackson Minion (I have D' Addario short-scale tapes on it) and more different types on my Ibanez mikro (I have GHS short-scale Pressurewounds on it) and both of those are, like the Squier Mini P, 28.6". But... that is because the shortest bridge → peg distances on those are greater than the shortest bridge → peg distance on the Squier Mini P. Squier should have taken this into account in the design, or at least, made strings specifically for it. I also have Jim Dunlop short-scale flats on my Ibanez mikro 5-string. In all those cases, the worst result is that the nearest peg will wrap actual string past the silk no more than 1/3 of a turn, and so no harm, no foul. BTW, thank you La Bella for making these, and for their newest addition: flats for the new Kala solid-body bass ukulele with a 23.5 inch scale. And thumbs down to D' Addario, who has discontinued their short-scale half rounds. There are no short-scale half rounds out there, and GHS Pressurewounds are the closest thing I can find. I can not possibly have those Ernie Balls with the green silk.😳

[@jonathanwong458music]

Wow, you've tried all the combinations! A downside to the Mini P are the tuners - not that they don't turn smoothly or don't work - but that the diameter of the post is smaller than most. As a result, you end up with a more acute angle of string winds, which further limits your string choices. I'm quite surprised that Fender hasn't made and marketed a made-for-Mini string set. The stock rounds actually are longer than ideal, as the step taper is past the tuning peg. I'd hate to spend $50-60 on flats to have the low E unravel. If I were Fender, I'd market a Mustang and mini scale version of their flats.

[@paulbucklebuckle4921]

Boom ,, boom, nice.

[@jonathanwong458music]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@frankiepedano3518]

I was so bummed when I saw a few videos and read a bunch of blogs about how flat wounds have too much tension for the mini P and read that the string trees break off. If thats not an issue with these particular strings I'm about to be one smitten kitten.

[@jonathanwong458music]

Phillip McKnight recently had a podcast where he said something along the lines of …for every person who loves a string, there’ll be someone who hates the string… These Labellas were made specifically for the Mini P. They have the perfect string wound length, the silk starts at the right place and you won’t have windings around the post/peg. I’m not affiliated with Labella in any way, but I have a set of their Deep Talkin’ flats on my Hofner. They’re not my favourite flat wound (TI flats) and I personally find them a bit stiff, but if Labella made these specifically for Mini P, one would assume they’ve done their homework and responsible testing!! I have not had any issues with these strings on the Mini used for this video nor has the current owner who has had it since the video. I hope they’ll work for you! Thanks for watching and asking!

[@MECarlao]

"Hello! My Precision bass has a 30" scale. I assume these strings would fit as well, right? Thank you very much and congrats! 🇧🇷

[@jonathanwong458music]

Thanks for watching! Unfortunately no. This particular Labella set is for the Mini Precision which has a 28.6” scale (saddle to nut). For a 30” scale it would depend on whether it is a top load bridge or a string-through bridge. I have a dedicated video on finding strings for short scale basses. Here is a link: Find strings that fit your short scale bass - Demo and options for 30”, 28.6” and Hofner kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3rPYaR4eJKepJo

[@milosch1029]

Did you have to file the nut wider for the thicker gauge of this Labella set? I think the stock strings that come with the mini P bass are 45-105s.

[@jonathanwong458music]

Great question. I did not need to widen the nut! At least on this example, they dropped in perfectly. Thanks for watching!

[@milosch1029]

@@jonathanwong458music Thanks! I'll give them a try on my mini P bass. Your videos are informative. Keep it up!

[@jonathanwong458music]

Good luck! Hope you like the Labellas and thanks for the encouragement!

[@alrightythen214]

YES.

[@jonathanwong458music]

Right on. Thanks for watching!

[@stanley5394]

I currently play a 30-inch bass and the strings, especially the E, are fairly floppy, but I’m used to it. How does the Mini-P at 28.6 inches compare? Is it even floppier?

[@jonathanwong458music]

I didn't think the stock strings on the Mini P felt significantly looser in perceived tension compared to what I usually play on a 30", but I did find the overall scale length to be a bit on the tight side, for me. My happy, most comfortable scale length is 30". The Labella flatwounds I had on the Mini P certainly increased the perceived string tension and weren't floppy at all. You might be able to get a sense of what it could feel like by putting a capo on the 1st fret on your 30". It won't be perfect, of course, but it might give you a sense. Thanks for watching!

[@hippoferd]

I use LaBella on a squier Pbass aswell , they sound better and better after 2 years on !

[@jonathanwong458music]

That’s the wonderful thing with flats. Leave them on for life and they’ll keep getting thumpier! Thanks for watching!

[@kasstudio2823]

Have you tried these LaBella strings with the EMG pickups?

[@jonathanwong458music]

I haven’t. It would really depend on what type of tone you’re after. These Labellas are for those after a Motown-y old school thumpy tone. The EMG geezers are quite hot and almost modern sounding. It might be a cool pairing. Thanks for watching!

[@Robyjv8]

Any new plans for the Mini P ?

[@jonathanwong458music]

Yes, actually! Hoping to shoot one with a Fender ‘63 pickup to get a more vintage-type character (with flats). In 2-3 weeks probably. Next little bit is nuts/busy. Thanks for watching and asking!

[@C0urne]

Do you have any plans for trying out some of the new(ish) 23.5" scale basses?

[@jonathanwong458music]

Hi! I have the Flight mini on my radar, as well as some of the offerings by CNZ, although it seems many models are back-ordered or sold out at the moment. I'll keep looking! Thanks for watching and asking!

[@RockerProf]

​@jonathanwong458music Try the new Kala solid-body Ubass. It's awesome, and La Bella makes flats for them, which Kala sells on its website.

[@kennyg63]

On that “note” have ever tried any of the budget brand basses being offered on Amazon? Glarry and Klaxton for example. Don’t believe they are short scale. However they have been described as lighter weight.

[@jonathanwong458music]

I haven't myself tried the Amazon budget offerings. I do, however, have a budget mustang style bass (

[@kennyg63]

@@jonathanwong458music You do such a great job on hour videos!🤙

[@ArleyMcBlain]

You wear a glove on your fretting hand? Is it for health reasons like Scott Divine?

[@ArleyMcBlain]

I hope it’s not rude to ask!

[@ArleyMcBlain]

just read your channel description! gotcha. Amazing channel. My son plays this pbass. We did a tour of Fbass last summer

[@jonathanwong458music]

No worries! I have a variant of dermatomyositis, which is an autoimmune disease that gives me chronic inflammation of skin, joints and muscles. As a consequence I have a lot of sores and ischemic spots on my finger tips which makes plucking and fingering/fretting painful. So the glove helps with pain control. Really should be wearing it on both hands, but it changes the tone too much. Scott Devine has focal dystonia, which is a neurological phenomenon - entirely different. The gloves have made playing much less painful but endurance is still limited, unfortunately. Should it interest you, here's a link to a video I made on how these gloves affect tone: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYLGh2uBebqkosk F Basses are great! You may have seen that I had them make me a bespoke short scale. First of its kind from them! Designed from scratch. Thanks for watching!

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

Does anyone make ground wounds for this scale?

[@jonathanwong458music]

D'Addario makes (used to make) a short scale version of their half rounds. But to my knowledge, not in the 28.6" scale. You might be able to get away with it, but you would have exposed windings around the peg, almost certainly. The manufacturers would not recommend it due to risk of string breakage. Thanks for watching!

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

@@jonathanwong458music Ok thank you very much. 👍

[@RockerProf]

NOT. ANY. MORE. D'Addario has discontinued their short-scale half rounds. I have put GHS Pressurewounds (similar idea, though more round than flat) on my Ibanez miKro, but they will NOT work for a Squier Mini P. Bridge --> nearest peg distance is way too short on the Mini P for them.

[@jonathanwong458music]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Very helpful to the community!

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

@@RockerProf Ok. Thanks man. 👍

[@derpderpson8796]

WAs honestly not watching the screen, aound changed a bit and was like "ha sure, that must be the Mini yet." But it was the Fender. There I get my wife beating me up again Q_Q

[@jonathanwong458music]

Thanks for watching!

[@derpderpson8796]

@@jonathanwong458music nah, thank YOU for doing this stuff :)

[@jonathanwong458music]

My pleasure! Peace!