Fender 9050M Flats or LaBella Deep Talkin' Flats

[John K.]

Well, I've narrowed my search for flats down to these two brands; Fender 9050M (55-105) and LaBella Deep Talkin' (43-104). They will be my first set of flatwound strings. I've grown out of the sound of roundwounds and they are too bright for me, so I'm gonna try out flats. I like lots of thump and I guess what some would call punch.

So what are your thoughts on these strings? I've searched TB and found that people who owned these sets have been very happy with them. The guy who reviewed strings for The Bass Gear Review Archive gave the LaBella's his vote for his favorite fingerstyle-player strings.

I'm going up to Bass Northwest this week to gawk at the basses and hopefully pick up the strings (and maybe some other fun toys if I'm lucky ).

Now I realize that strings are totally about personal choice (as is everything having to do with an instrument and gear) but I just want some feedback to help me make my choice.

[The Lowest]

I think the 43 G is too light. I'm curretly using the Fender 9050 ML set which is 50 - 100 on a precision and I like the sound.

I think the 55s would sound great (whether Fender or La Bella), but the tension on flats is ferocious. Ill try raising my action with the 50s first.

[John K.]

Originally posted by The Lowest
I think the 43 G is too light. I'm curretly using the Fender 9050 ML set which is 50 - 100 on a precision and I like the sound.

I think the 55s would sound great (whether Fender or La Bella), but the tension on flats is ferocious. Ill try raising my action with the 50s first.

You think I should go with the 49-69-89-109 set?

[The Lowest]

Originally posted by John K.


You think I should go with the 49-69-89-109 set?

Give 'em a shot...that's the only way you'll ever really know. And let us know how they work out.

I played the "Jamerson" set for years. When I first started playing I bought a used precision that was set up with them. I think they were packaged as the 760M set. I stayed with them until I went to Rounds sometime in the mid 70's.

I loved the sound, but looking back I realized that very often I was tweaking the truss rod and reseting the intonation. One time I bought a used Jazz and put the "Jamerson" set on and the neck bowed A LOT! For that reason I stayed with rounds for years, using Makrley or D'Dadarrio 50s.

About 2 years ago I put a set of Fender 9050 MLs on a precision and kept rounds on another. I figured the best of both worlds - right? Since then I find myself gravitating to the flats. they produce the sound that I like. The 9050s caused no problem with the neck. I set it up and for the most part its been fine. The 9050s feel somewhat smoother than the Jamersons also. They are stainless steel - so they DO get THAT sound. I sometimes think of trying the Jamersons again, but logically I'm pretty happy with the 9050MLs and if anything may try the 9050M set.

[John K.]

bump

[bgavin]

The Lowest, have you compared 9050M and 9050ML for tone?

For the record:

043, 056, 070, 100 - TI Flats
045, 060, 080, 095 - 9050L
050, 065, 085, 100 - 9050ML
055, 070, 090, 105 - 9050M