Pyramid Golds Smooth?

[Robert B]

Just got a USA Glaub that came equipped with nickel flats. I love the tone but they are "sticky" or "tacky" in the sense that they kind of grab my fingers as I move around the fingerboard. I use a lot of slides in my playing and when my fingers catch than break loose it creates a thump and/or squawk as my finger vibrates along the string (almost a bowing effect.) I even oiled them lightly figuring that would do the trick -- no help.

I changed out the nickels for a set of Sadowsky flats since they're much smoother and sound great on my Fender P bass. On the Glaub though I lost a lot of the fundamental and they sound kind of compressed and overly modern.

I was reading about the pyramid flats and wondering if they are tacky in the way the Lakland nickels are or if they are smooth. Can anyone tell me? Thanks,

[zombywoof5050]

I don't think Lakland has any nickel flats.
The only nickel flats I'm aware of are TI, Pyramid, and Zeta.

[Gene Leone]

I never found Pryamid to be tacky like the TI's can be out of the box.

However the stickiness on nickel wrapped strings go away fairly quickly. On the TI's, just wipe the strings down a few times over a few days and play them. The strings "clean up" pretty fast.

[Robert B]

Originally Posted by zombywoof5050

I don't think Lakland has any nickel flats.
The only nickel flats I'm aware of are TI, Pyramid, and Zeta.

I'm assuming the flats that came on my USA Glaub are Joe Osborne and are nickels. They sure don't look or feel like stainless! I've used Fender and Sadowsky stainless steel flats for a long time and these have a very different look, feel and sound. And they remind me of the strings that used to be on almost all basses back in the '60's. But the Lakland website doesn't say nickel or steel on the page where they sell them. I guess it's possible they are just steel vs. stainless steel. I'll email Lakland and ask them.

Zomby -- I'm going to leave the Laklands on for awhile. I really like the tone and hopefully they'll smooth out over time. I've tried lightly oiling them and spraying them with "Finger Ease" neither of which helped. The only thing I've found to help is to put some moisturizing lotion on my finger tips and rub it in. That eliminates the squawks, thumps and squeaks for about an hour or so. Maybe the problem is my dry hands and not the strings!