Wanted 5 string flatwounds

I'm a die hard LaBella flatwound freak. I will go to my grave with them.

The LaBella flatwound B sucks IME. I was so sad. I needed it to be as awesome as the E to G strings. I would stand in front of Bob and Richard and tell them this in person without hesitation.

You want DR. I've tried just about every flatwound, pressurewound, groundwound, and tapewound B string there is. The DR flatwound B is the only one I've found to be worth using at the moment. And even that one isn't perfect. Just closer to being acceptable than the rest of them.

BUT - LaBella has been introducing a lot of new string concepts recently. They are making cool things happen. Maybe they're working on making their flatwound B a better string. I'd be thrilled if that happened. I will probably try a LaBella flatwound B every couple of years just to see if they've made any improvements.

As far as a La Bella E string goes, if you get something bigger than .104, things start to get heavy and muddy.

Also, it is easy to kill a LaBella flat. If you can afford a new set and can string them up without killing the windings during installation, that would be the way to go. There are many dead LaBella E strings in the world, killed off unknowingly right from the start.

Suggestion: put on a set of LaBella 760 FL strings (E to G) and tune them DGCF. You'll have a great sounding and playable bass and only be missing three notes (B,C,Db) from what you'd get if you had a low B. You get the low D for rock and pop tunes and you get the low Eb for blues and horn section tunes. A huge plus.

I have a fiver strung with E to C flats that's tuned DGCFBb. It is magical. Unfortunately, though, the La Bella flatwound high C string is too bright for my taste, so I can't use it. D'Addario and Thomastik make decent flatwound high C strings that sound good with their four string flatwound sets.

Wow well first off thanks so much for all the info, much appreciated! I am definitely going to check out the DRs, not only have I never tried them but I've never even considered them(excited about a new flat wound to try!)
I've been basically only playing flats with occasional tape wound in there for the last 20 years but for a lot of the time I kept the same strings for several years at a time with the occasional boiling to clean up. I mostly play reggae so I love the thumpy dull strings tone rolled off and don't like new strings at all. I have a new set of fender flats on 1 of my Ps now and I can't stand them, which is crazy because I'm otherwise all fender at this point.

As far as the LaBellas I had a set of the 1954 original 5 set and totally agree with you the B strings was terrible one of the worst I've played, however I liked the tone enough on the other strings that I rolled the dice on a set of deep talkin medium gauge: .069, .089, .109, .128 and it's easily the best b string I've ever touched, in fact they are easily the best sounding and feeling strings I've ever played no exaggeration. The b string has perfect tension for me no floppiness and the tone stays tight like the e and a string. In fact I like the strings so much the fender p bass they're on is always my go to bass even though I really want to play my others!
I'll certainly check out those DRs though
Thanks again for the info!

I'm kind of confused here. Was this a want ad or do you want to have a string discussion with the thread moved to the string forum?

Sorry I'm looking for flatwounds but got caught up in the post
Looking for 5 string flats to buy!
Thanks

My bad. I turned it into a discussion, which shouldn't have happened in this category. But now I'm encouraged to try a La Bella flatwound B again, which I will do. Thanks.

If I had a set sitting around, I'd just send them to you. If I come across something, I'll PM you.

I have a new set of DR five-string flats I bought for a project last year, and never used. PM me if you're interested.

Edit: I found the box, and they're Hi-Beam flats, 45-125.

Still looking bump!