I put LaBella Super Polished on my Mustang and love them. I have a Squier Jazz 5 and thought I might get some feedback on the only other groundwound sets I can find. Your thoughts and experiences are greatly appreciated.
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Battle of the Groundwounds
- Thread starter HelpImaRock
- Start date
La Bella is very clear about the process of "super polishing" being different from the "grinding" process used for half-rounds. I haven't had a chance to try the La Bella yet, but I'm thinking they might be closer to GHS Pressurewound or SIT Silencers both in overall feel and tonal quality than the two groundwound/half-rounds mentioned.
They're very flat and don't feel like GHS Pressurewounds at all.
Interesting... Are the Super Polished as "buttery smooth" as La Bella claims without the stickiness of the groundwound?
I would describe LTFs and DTFs as "buttery smooth". Super Polished are not that. There's a little sticky out of the packaged. I wiped them down with a microfiber cloth and they feel much better.
Brite flats are very particular with what bass you put them on. In my experience they have sounded fantastic on a 70s bridge position EMG PJ bass and a passive Aria SB700 sweet spot/MM type bass. Some other basses they just dont get along with and the tension of the regular set is really best for D standard tuning
Half rounds have not been good at all when Ive tried them
Half rounds have not been good at all when Ive tried them
This will spur me to try the LaBellas.
I like the D'Addarios, but they require some prep before stringing them up.
I sand them with 1200 grit and wipe them down with naphtha to get rid of the roughness and stickiness.
This is probably more than some (many) people want to deal with.
I have never had any luck with the Brite Flats. Always blah.
I like the D'Addarios, but they require some prep before stringing them up.
I sand them with 1200 grit and wipe them down with naphtha to get rid of the roughness and stickiness.
This is probably more than some (many) people want to deal with.
I have never had any luck with the Brite Flats. Always blah.
I've been using D'addarios for decades on my fretless Ripper. Rounds were tearing up the ebony finger board, and flats too dull.
Did try GHS once and found them dull and thumpy. Was expending a lot of energy trying to pull some attack out of them.
Have never tried LaBellas.
D'addarios are a lttle sticky out of the package, but they break in pretty fast.
Did try GHS once and found them dull and thumpy. Was expending a lot of energy trying to pull some attack out of them.
Have never tried LaBellas.
D'addarios are a lttle sticky out of the package, but they break in pretty fast.
My experience with the D'Addario is that they sound more like really growly flatwounds (with less output) than toned-down roundwounds. La Bella sounds like roundwounds in demoes, but my experience with La Bella roundwounds is that the E and A strings can get thuddy, or in John Entwistle's words "don't vibrate properly".
Which Labella strings are you saying sound thuddy - super-polished, RX, something else?
When I played LaBella RX nickel wounds, there was definitely a "crossing the A to E rubicon". But I don't get that from the Super Polished. Regardless, it sounds like I'm sticking with Super Polished whenever it's time to put new strings on the Jazz 5. I'm not really interested in thuddy for that one.
I play short-scale 5-string RX nickel rounds so we may be comparing apples and oranges, but I find the set very even-sounding from top to bottom. Unfortunately there isn’t a super-polished set of that description, or many others for that matter.
I played the 4 string RX set on my Reverend Watt. I like Dunlop and Ernie Ball rounds better on it. Now if I could get Super Polished for short scale (or medium scale to fit my Guild Starfire II), that would be amazing.
I've not tried the Labella Super Polished yet, but I really liked the Labella Quarter Rounds, discontinued around I think 2017, which were lightly-ground groundwounds. If the Super Polished are like those, I expect they are very nice.
Between the other two, I think the GHS Brite Flats sound markedly better than the D'Addarios. To me, the Brite Flats have a more lively, interesting tone, while the D'Addarios just seemed kind of uninteresting. Though to be fair, the very first time I tried the D'Addarios -- the first time I used groundwounds at all -- I was pretty impressed. I guess I just found the Brite Flats even more to my liking.
Between the other two, I think the GHS Brite Flats sound markedly better than the D'Addarios. To me, the Brite Flats have a more lively, interesting tone, while the D'Addarios just seemed kind of uninteresting. Though to be fair, the very first time I tried the D'Addarios -- the first time I used groundwounds at all -- I was pretty impressed. I guess I just found the Brite Flats even more to my liking.
I think that's the difference between the responsiveness of Alloy 52 (nickel-iron) and the politeness of pure nickel.
Do they have purple silk at the ball end as well? Ken Smith would have silk at both ends. Also, can you measure the length of the E string from the ball end to the start of the silk? If they're in fact Ken Smith Slick Rounds (Alloy 52 groundwound), it should measure roughly 38".
They do have purple silk at the ball ends and are 38” to the silk. Thank you for that. They sound great too! Am I right in thinking these are mfg’d for Smith by GHS?
