760fm are NOT perfectly balanced

[superheavyfunk]

I just bought a pack of 760fm because everybody always raves about them and because tragically, the E on my almost 8 year old set of fender flats snapped on me (I almost cried, for real).

Anyway, I installed them yesterday, set up my bass and played for a couple of hours. Today, I broke out the bass again, made a couple more adjustments and started playing again. I've come to notice that the G string is SIGNIFICANTLY more stiff than the other three strings (and its a slightly different color). It's tension is so high that when I'm tuning it up, it becomes really difficult to turn the peg as it comes to pitch - I mean, much more difficult than it is with the other three strings.

Had anybody else had this experience?

P.S. Am I the only one who absolutely hates the sound of new strings? They're so clanky... I'd totally buy "new" pre-broken in strings, if a company sold them like that.

 

[mmbongo]

I believe they are balanced tonally, not tension wise. That's what they mean by 'perfectly balanced' on the package. You'd need to put together a set using singles from bassstringsonline.com to get balanced tension. LaBella used to publish their tension numbers, but I can't find it on their site now.

 

[boynamedsuse]

Having three strings darker in color and one brighter (more silver in appearance) in a set (or the other way around) is not common, but it does happen. They sound the same (to my ears at least). I would agree to the "balanced tonally" assessment.

 

[Pier_]

Had anybody else had this experience?

for me is kind of a usual thing... the G is a 49, it's huge and it's flat. I've tried the 0760M, the Jamerson, with a 52 G, and it was really really hard to tune, I thought that it would break the string retainer on the headstock... but it didn't.

if it's too hard to press, just lower the saddle. you feel the extreme tension when you play, or just tuning? what you had before on the bass?

 

[petrus61]

Try the 43-104 set. I find them to be the best balanced set in feel and tone of all the Deep Talkin line. They're the only string I'll put on my Fender P anymore.

Also, the G on these is always going to look a little darker as the wraps are closer together, giving the appearance of a "solid" string.

 

[shawshank72]

I just bought a pack of 760fm because everybody always raves about them and because tragically, the E on my almost 8 year old set of fender flats snapped on me (I almost cried, for real).

Anyway, I installed them yesterday, set up my bass and played for a couple of hours. Today, I broke out the bass again, made a couple more adjustments and started playing again. I've come to notice that the G string is SIGNIFICANTLY more stiff than the other three strings (and its a slightly different color). It's tension is so high that when I'm tuning it up, it becomes really difficult to turn the peg as it comes to pitch - I mean, much more difficult than it is with the other three strings.

Had anybody else had this experience?

P.S. Am I the only one who absolutely hates the sound of new strings? They're so clanky... I'd totally buy "new" pre-broken in strings, if a company sold them like that.

I have a set of these on my peavey fury, one year old.
No issues at all.

 

[superheavyfunk]

I believe they are balanced tonally, not tension wise. That's what they mean by 'perfectly balanced' on the package. You'd need to put together a set using singles from bassstringsonline.com to get balanced tension. LaBella used to publish their tension numbers, but I can't find it on their site now.

Ah... Tonally balanced. I get that. This is true for me so far.

for me is kind of a usual thing... the G is a 49, it's huge and it's flat. I've tried the 0760M, the Jamerson, with a 52 G, and it was really really hard to tune, I thought that it would break the string retainer on the headstock... but it didn't.

if it's too hard to press, just lower the saddle. you feel the extreme tension when you play, or just tuning? what you had before on the bass?

I had chromes on her temporarily, and before that, my lovely and sadly departed fender flats. I'm not a fan of the chromes... I can't get down with the weird high mid honk they seem to have. That said, they do sound remarkably good if you're playing slap on them.

Try the 43-104 set. I find them to be the best balanced set in feel and tone of all the Deep Talkin line. They're the only string I'll put on my Fender P anymore.

Also, the G on these is always going to look a little darker as the wraps are closer together, giving the appearance of a "solid" string.

The G string being darker than the other three makes sense now that the wrap thing has been explained... Thanks for that!

I can't seem to find a store in Toronto that has a decent selection of strings... Every place just seems to have the standards - ghs, daddario, fender, rotosound, etc. I lucked out in finding this pack of labellas. I wandered into a music school and they had it on their shelves. It was the only pack and was dusty... Looked like it been there for a year.

 

[Klonk]

Bassstringsonline.com ?

 

[markjazzbassist]

i just took these off my bass. e string has too much bend to it, while the A and D and G are taught. i think the best sets are either 760FL or 760M (jamerson). they are the most tensionally and tonally balanaced of all their sets. had 760FS and felt the d g a were too weak compared to the E string.

more and more i play i realize that jamerson string size formula (which FL is close to just smaller gauge) is the best. heavier g d a strings to get girth to match the E string bottom. otherwise its super deep E and twang d g a.

the labella's are funny, everyone says they're super high tension, but their core is very plyable and bendy, almost roundcore like. more so than my pyramids.

 

[michael_t]

Speaking of "imperfectly balanced set", something curious about their 5-string sets - the only gauge offered for the B is .128 regardless of the set.

760FX-B, 39 - 56 - 77 - 96 - 128
760FL-B, 43 - 60 - 82 - 104 - 128
760FS-B, 45 - 65 - 85 - 105 - 128
760FM-B, 49 - 69 - 89 - 109 - 128
0760M-B, 52 - 73 - 95 - 110 - 128

How could they all possibly be "perfectly balanced" as La Bella claims?

 

[petrus61]

i just took these off my bass. e string has too much bend to it, while the A and D and G are taught. i think the best sets are either 760FL or 760M (jamerson). they are the most tensionally and tonally balanaced of all their sets. had 760FS and felt the d g a were too weak compared to the E string.

more and more i play i realize that jamerson string size formula (which FL is close to just smaller gauge) is the best. heavier g d a strings to get girth to match the E string bottom. otherwise its super deep E and twang d g a.

the labella's are funny, everyone says they're super high tension, but their core is very plyable and bendy, almost roundcore like. more so than my pyramids.

The dirty little secret is that they actually do have some flex to them, at least more than GHS, Roto's and Chromes of a similar gauge, IMO. I think part of the misconception that they are stiff comes from folks experiences with the Jamerson set which usually requires a new setup. Aside from the physical feel, I find the heaviest gauges to be even less stiff feeling than the standard 45-105 Chromes set and is one of te reasons I like them so much.

One thing I've noticed is that the low E can be inconsistent from set to set. Once in a while I'll get a set where the E produces more of a dull thud (kind of like a GHS P flat E). It's not dead, but doesn't have the glassy spank of the other strings. A proper set will have the low E that has more brightness and richer harmonic overtones that actually balance with the rest of the set.

 

[superheavyfunk]

Just finished my first band rehearsal with these strings and I have to say that I do dig them, overall. Tonight's rehearsal was with the reggae band, and I didn't have much cause to travel to the G, so I can't comment on how it sounds in the mix but I definitely didn't notice a "dull thud" or anything from the E string.

I can't speak to the FL, FS, or M version of these strings but I must say that these FM strings are significantly stiffer and higher tension than the chromes I had on here a couple days ago. So much so, that I had to turn the truss rod almost a full half turn to compensate and keep the action at a playable height. With the tension of these strings, I can easily see my right hand becoming tired out after an hour of playing, at most, with a high action. It really blows my mind that Jamerson's strings were both thicker these and that he had such high action... It's a wonder he could do what he did at all.

 

[SLaPiNFuNK]

Many times heavier B-Strings sound choked or muted. They find that is the best gauge FlatWound B-string.
I can not tell you how many times I have had round wound users think higher gauge B-strings was the answer when going down to a .120 or .125 from a .130 or .135 or larger completely woke up their instrument. The .128T Flatwound single to them is their preferred string.

I have non-tapered Flatwound La Bella B-strings made for some users that completely hate the through of a tapered string or for those with fixed bridges... They work, but La Bella tries to stick to what they feel is best.