La Bella 760FL vs. D'Addario Chromes ECB82 (medium guage)

Mastermold · #1 05-28-2008, 11:36 PM

The La Bella's are lighter guage on the D and G strings but I'm hearing good things about them so I ordered a set. My D'Addarios are fine, nice deep growl to them but not enough "punch" in my opinion. At my last rehersal I kept getting lost in the mix, having trouble hearing my E string entirely. The tone was great by itself but with the band it just got lost.

Anyone have similar experience with Chromes? Will the La Bella's help?

walruswaspaul · #2 05-29-2008, 01:57 AM

sounds a bit odd , chromes normally cut through very well , try boosting the mids a little . Labellas may help , chromes are voiced more towards the upper mids whereas Labellas are voiced more towards the lows and lower mids

Mastermold · #3 05-29-2008, 04:01 AM

I wonder if the Chromes being nickle is the problem. La Bella's are stainless steel and maybe that thumps better? The Chromes sound great, they're just getting lost in the mix.

walruswaspaul · #4 05-29-2008, 05:56 AM

I could be wrong but i thought the Chromes were chrome plated stainless steel.
Try the Labellas and see if they cut through any better , if they dont and if you don't mind the extra cost TI's are meant to be quite good for cutting through the mix

Mastermold · #5 05-29-2008, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walruswaspaul

I could be wrong but i thought the Chromes were chrome plated stainless steel.
Try the Labellas and see if they cut through any better , if they dont and if you don't mind the extra cost TI's are meant to be quite good for cutting through the mix

I just recently put a set of TI's on my fretless and they're perfect for that bass, but I'm not sure if they have enough bottom end power for my P-bass. I've ordered a set of La Bella 760FL's so I'll give them a try I guess.

One Drop · #6 05-29-2008, 01:55 PM

I find flats punch through better when they wear in; although most are brighter at first (especially Chromes), it's not brightness that makes flats cut but rather that strong low mid punch and big fundamental.

In fact, I hate new flats and consider them the worst of both worlds, and can understand why people new to flats sometimes rip them off their basses after 5 minutes. It's like hearing a hole in the middle of your tone, the lows and highs don't join up and make that big round sound (with or without growl) that is a traditional flat's TM.

DavePlaysBass · #7 05-30-2008, 09:12 AM

I had a set of EB 50-105 flats that sounded very bright for flats on their own. I think these are similar to Chormes. They had a fair amount of clank and finger noise for flats. I ran them on a P bass and a G&L L-2000 and they never really sounded good to me in a band context. I have wondered in a 45-100 set would sound better.

I had a set of Labella FLs on a different P bass and it was very old school and thick and did cut better than either example above in a band setting. I ended up going back to nickel rounds because I lost some of the maple board snap character on that bass but the FLs were pretty good. I tried TIs for a short time in the basement on that bass and I thought they were too bottom shy. I never took them to the band setting. However, my J with TI flats does very well in a band setting even though the bass and strings are a little bottom shy.