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Best Flatwound Strings?

#163
joenoone said:
For double-ball strings (for Steinberger and the like) I found LaBella's SUCK. Very dead sounding. Eventually I found Status Graphite's strings which are great. They have both flat-wound and half-wound (as well as round-wound and tape-wound) and are MUCH cheaper and they also offer 5-string sets which LaBella doesn't. You can buy them off their website.

They also have regular single-ball strings as well...
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I had a Status flats on my Steinberger and I didn't like the hard-edged middy tone on that bass- Labella flats on the other had sounded huge, fat, and clear, and almost as punchy, but with more weight behind each note. Great reggae set-up.
 
#165
I'm going for Labella flats for my new Mustang. I've used a bunch of different flats (chromes, GHS, Roto 77s, Ernie ball) over the years, but the 760FS I had on my old P-bass were the tops. When I got this bass, I started looking for a good set, and was stoked Labella made a model-specific set. I always liked the dark, old school sound (without being too dead) of the Labellas.
 
#166
HateyMcAmp said:
I'm going for Labella flats for my new Mustang. I've used a bunch of different flats (chromes, GHS, Roto 77s, Ernie ball) over the years, but the 760FS I had on my old P-bass were the tops. When I got this bass, I started looking for a good set, and was stoked Labella made a model-specific set. I always liked the dark, old school sound (without being too dead) of the Labellas.
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Nice! Same setup here. On my pawnshop mustang bass. What model do you have?
 
#167
I've always found myself putting different flats on different basses.

I liked light gauge Chromes on Jaguars, Jazzes and fretless Precisions. I had TIs on a Warwick Streamer LX that sounded really good, and presently have La Bella 760 FLs on my newest Precision. All three of those worked out really well for me on their respective instruments.
I tried Precision Flats on a couple different instruments, but never cared much for them. I've also put D'Addario Tapes on a Jazz, and it sounded great and played like a dream.
The last couple of years have found me swapping out strings an awful lot, and I'm not done yet, because it's too much fun.

That being said, I don't think there's a best flatwound string hands down, I think there's just the right one for the job at the time.
 
#168
PWRL said:
I've always found myself putting different flats on different basses.

I liked light gauge Chromes on Jaguars, Jazzes and fretless Precisions. I had TIs on a Warwick Streamer LX that sounded really good, and presently have La Bella 760 FLs on my newest Precision. All three of those worked out really well for me on their respective instruments.
I tried Precision Flats on a couple different instruments, but never cared much for them. I've also put D'Addario Tapes on a Jazz, and it sounded great and played like a dream.
The last couple of years have found me swapping out strings an awful lot, and I'm not done yet, because it's too much fun.

That being said, I don't think there's a best flatwound string hands down, I think there's just the right one for the job at the time.
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Glad to see someone else liked the results with Black Nylon Tape Wounds!

The only headache changing brands is having to re-adjust intonation.
 
#169
VincentB said:
Nice! Same setup here. On my pawnshop mustang bass. What model do you have?
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I have one of the newer MIJ reissues. I've only played it with rounds so far (getting it set up for the Labellas Friday) so I can't really make any comment on the sound yet ;) :hiding: I like the scale length though (usually play 32".) Hopefully it can catch some of the "mini-P" vibe.
 
#174
I always use TI jazz flats and I love playing with them. They last a long time, too. I am on maybe three years now and the still sound good if not the same as new. They don't feel floppy to me and I do like the low tension making it easier for me to play in my (cough) older years. I am thinking a lot now about also trying the TI medium scale round wounds on my Hofner bass for a different sound.
 
#178
bassdrop said:
Has anyone gotten TI 32" scale strings to fit on a P? If so, comparisons to Sadowsky, Labella, and Fender? I love the TI tone but need higher tension because we tune to Eb.
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You might try Sadowsky Black Label flats. I love TI Jazz Flats and have them on 2 basses, a fretted Elrick and a fretless Turner Ren. I tried The TI JFs on my fretless Elrick and felt I needed a little more tension, but wanted the tone similar to the TI JFs. The Sadowsky flats worked perfectly!
 
#179
I'm looking to get a set of flats for my back up bass (squire VM jazz 5) to use on the few Motown songs my band plays. We tune down to Eb. I like quite a bit of tension especially with the B. I'm thinking of trying Labella deep talking bass tapewounds. Are those only for acoustic bass or will they sound good on the jazz bass?
 

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