Flatwound B-Strings?

Joebone · #1 12-06-2009, 07:33 AM

So I'm using TI jazz flats on a 4-string, and La Bella 760FL flats on a 5-string. Both great strings, just different.

I'm not sold on the La Bella B-string (.128) as I'm getting some strange intonation, even though the tuner tells me that the 12th fret pitch is consistent for the harmonic and when fretted. The string sounds sharp in the lower frets when the tuner tells me it's correct. I downtune it by ear, using 5th/7th fret harmonics, and it sounds great until the 9th or 10th fret. Meanwhile, it also goes sharp above the 15th fret, relative to wherever the fundamental pitch is set. This is all after a set-up by an excellent technician.

Maybe I just have a bad one, or maybe all flatwound B-strings are like that?

I'd love to hear how others are doing with various flatwound B-strings.

**lowendfriend** · #2 12-06-2009, 07:46 AM

I've had a little challenge with my Sadowsky flat B but it is most likely cockpit errors, as I have just learned about intonation setup AND I got an XL length when I should've gotten regular length. Net result is wrapping almost a turn of the full thickness string around the B tuning post.

pickles · #3 12-06-2009, 09:54 AM

The La Bella worked quite well for me. Not as amazing as their roundwound Bs, but solid and thumpy. I didn't sweat the intonation very much, I just made sure it played in tune up to the 6th fret and moved on ...

ggunn · #4 12-06-2009, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joebone

So I'm using TI jazz flats on a 4-string, and La Bella 760FL flats on a 5-string. Both great strings, just different.

I'm not sold on the La Bella B-string (.128) as I'm getting some strange intonation, even though the tuner tells me that the 12th fret pitch is consistent for the harmonic and when fretted. The string sounds sharp in the lower frets when the tuner tells me it's correct. I downtune it by ear, using 5th/7th fret harmonics, and it sounds great until the 9th or 10th fret. Meanwhile, it also goes sharp above the 15th fret, relative to wherever the fundamental pitch is set. This is all after a set-up by an excellent technician.

Maybe I just have a bad one, or maybe all flatwound B-strings are like that?

I'd love to hear how others are doing with various flatwound B-strings.

When I put flats on my Alembic Epic 5 (I don't remember which brand they were), the B string was significantly sharp at the 12th fret even with the saddle pulled back as far as it would go. The intonation adjustment needed on the other 4 strings was minor.

engedi1 · #5 12-06-2009, 01:35 PM

Has anyone tried the TI Flat B string? THis is my favorite b string on the market. It is flexible enough (although HUGE!) that maybe the intonation problems won't be so prevalent. I have the TI Flat's complete set on my M5-24 and I have never noticed any intonation issues.

idoru · #6 12-06-2009, 03:04 PM

Joebone: what's your pickup/tone settings when tuning? It's generally recommended to go to the neck pickup and roll the tone off to increase the ratio of fundamental : harmonics.

Also, not sure if you know this, but the initial attack of a note is sharper than it's sustain/decay. This can play merry hell with intonation, and I'm still not entirely sure how to get around it

c-

**lowendfriend** · #7 12-06-2009, 04:22 PM

What I've tried to do with my B is to get the 0 fret note, the 12th fret note, the 12th fret harmonic and the 24th fret note as close as possible.

I have noticed that using a crisp attack makes it all go to hell in a handbasket, so I tend to use a soft attack when adjusting intonation on a b string.

Maybe there is an optimum place along the string to pluck with the meaty part of your thumb to get a smooth, low peak to average attack that is ideal for tweaking intonation.

Then again, I could be out to lunch!