Flats for a Lakland Hollowbody

[HotRoded]

It is currently strung with Sadowsky (45-105), and what I don't like is that they are too mid and not enough low oriented.

That gauge is ok. Also I don't want low tension strings.

I have done some research here, and I'm pretty much down to Lakland (45-105) or LaBella Deep-talking 760FL (43-104) or 760FM (49-109).

The Lakland Hollowbody is 34 inch scale.

Anybody has experience with any of these? Any help appreciated.

[main_sale]

My Lakland HB came with flats and I've never had the urge to replace them with anything else.

[Pilgrim]

The Labellas are my favorite flats of all time. I like a traditional, 60's non-zingy sound with depth, and they nail it. I have them on a Rogue Beatle bass (actually the strings are Labella's Hofner variants) and on a Turser '51 P-style bass. They vastly improved the sound of each compared to the original rounds.

You absolutely won't go wrong with Labellas.

[HotRoded]

What gauge do you use on your '51 p-bass (34 inch, right?), and how is the tension?

[rulyøngo]

My favorite flats are the Laklands, you should try them on your Hollowbody...

My vote goes to the La Bella 760FL's. I have them on my Lakland Hollowbody.


George

[HotRoded]

Originally Posted by X Wolf

My vote goes to the La Bella 760FL's. I have them on my Lakland Hollowbody.


George

I'm curious why you prefer the LaBella to the Laklands.... Tone? feel? ... ?

[bigtexashonk]

I'm using chrome flats on my Lakland HoBo. I usually use TI flats, and usually love the lower tension, but the higher tension of the chromes seem to work really well for me on the HoBo.

[IanAllison]

I just put a set of TI flats on my Lak HB and I'm in love. I just did a session with it yesterday and was suprised by how much I used it.

If you can hang with the lower tension, the TIs are the bee's knees. I just jacked my action up a bit and was fine. Don't be freaked out by the low tension - it's really no biggie.

Ian

[chunkstyle]

the Lakland flats that came on my Hollowbody with Dark Stars sounded great, but the E string was noticeably deader sounding than the others. i've heard that criticism echoed by a lot of people, so i know it wasn't just a bad set.

i put TI Flats on, and i loved the sound. but after 6 or 7 months i have realized that i hate the low tension. if i'm just sitting around playing, the tension is no problem. live, when i tend to play harder, they just don't work for me.

my local stores carry Chromes and not much else for flats. i hate chromes and all other D'Ad strings. they are simply average strings with zero personality.

i'm about to order either some Labellas or DR Flats. i think the tapewound Labellas are some of the coolest sounding strings made. i'm interested in trying the regular flats. and i've never heard the DRs either, but i'm always game for something new.

[HotRoded]

Thx for your valuable input Chunkstyle.

I just put a set of Lakland flat 45-106. I like them much better than the Sadowsky previously on it.

The open E is still a little dead, but acceptable. It was completely dead with the former strings. I wonder if other strings would fix that.

[MAJOR METAL]

Give the TI Jazz flats a try , I have them on my hollowbody and the bass never sounded so good !

[DrPieZon]

So I've now had JO flats and DR flats on my skyline hobo with barts. I would describe both as being more similar than different, with the DR's being a bit more even sounding string to string and the JO's having a bit more mid bark.

Alas, with both these strings I've found that after a year or so the E string becomes unacceptably deader than the other strings. So what are peoples recommendations? I'm debating between La Bella 760FL, Sadowsky Flats, Chromes, or possibly some warmer/deader nickle rounds?

Thanks for any help.

[J. Brooks]

Hey DrPie,

In my experience the 760fl and Sadowsky flats are both excellent. To me the gauges of the 760fl felt unbalanced in tension from string to string but sounded very even. 760fl have a traditional thumpy tone when broken in and have a nice midrange. Slightly lower tension than the Sadowsky's (45-105) if I remember correctly.

Sadowsky flats are great and I use those on my P bass because they have a wonderful musical character that is unique, while still being in the ballpark of traditional labellas. They are the most versatile flats I've tried. They retain nice highs for years, sound good with a pick and slapping, can produce harmonics, have a great low-mid character, sound totally balanced and even. They have a little more sustain than labellas and sound less scooped. They are also very responsive to dynamics and sound great when plucked hard, which I find the labellas to sound a little harsh when playing aggressively.

Chromes are cool but have a lot of high mid range which I also found to be a little harsh on my P bass. They might sound great on a hollowbody to give it some edginess and definition.

[DrPieZon]

So I just ordered these. I'll weigh back in in a few week on how I think they are on my HoBo. Thanks for the recommendations.