chromes vs deep talkin bass

La Bella will be a little darker sounding with more emphasis on the low mids compared to the chromes' high mid emphasis.

 

Labella's feel like glass under your fingertips.. sooo smooth, effortless to play.
I liked Chromes but found them to be a little rough/overly bouncy in comparison.

 

I would get a set of the 760FS La Bellas. 45-105 gauge will give you (nearly) all of the La Bella experience without the potential nut troubles the 760M set might cause.

Chromes have more hi mids and are a little more "forward" sounding. La Bellas are darker and have a more "classic" flats sound. Both are great.

After a few years on the bass, though, they will sound more alike than different.

 

I'm a long time TI user, but thought I'd try a set of LaBellas. There were none in the country so I imported them from US. When I strung them up the E was dead as a dodo and way down on string volume. Took them off and threw them in the trash. Back to my beloved TIs. Hope you dont have an experience like that.

 

I've played them both and did not notice much of a tone difference. The LaBellas were smoother, but almost sticky for a day or so. Now the LaBellas feel like glass as stated above. The chromes feel nice too, and sound just as good IMO. I think I would be happy with either. I have a set of TI's that I have not gotten around to throwing on...maybe now's the time.

 

I just got around to stringing up a set of LaBellas that I bought used here for the cheap. I've gotta say they really feel nice. The tone is nice, too, but the E string, while not dead is a bit different than that of the TI's I have on my other bass. I can see why people like them, but given the sound of the E string I'd have to try a new set to really make a choice.

iJazz - Finding the right strings is like finding the right putter. I've seen myself quoted on this without attribution, but you read it here first.

 

Not in my experience. LaBellas are very bright on the top end. They get thumpy, but have this piercing high end that I couldn't hang with. Chromes do have more mids, but they sound way darker to me on the top end.

This is when they're dead, BTW, as I don't like live flats and immediately start trying to kill them as soon as I put them on. Live you might have a different experience, but this is mine when they're dead.

 

I found broken in la bellas to be darker than broken in chromes. It takes a while but the la bella brightness does wear off.

 

I couldn't wait

 

How's the tension on the LaBellas? I've been playing Chromes for quite awhile and love the stiffer feel.

 

i found the La Bellas a little less stiff than the chromes, the 760FX is about the same as the extra-light chromes but the 760FL is not as stiff as the chromes in .105.

 

About the same to me. Didn't notice a significant difference in tension with either. These are the ex. light gauges, though...thicker gauges may vary.

 

BTW, I now know why people think of the Chromes as brighter than the Labellas. Even though the Labellas have a much brighter top end, the Chromes are much upper middier, and I was listening to a couple tracks made by a guy who used both, and the upper mids made the Chromes bass sound brighter than the Labella bass. So now I get it.

 

+1, my experience as well. I swore off chromes years ago due to this emphasis. I find live they get lost, while the labellas have some top and also cover the bottom. Thats been my experience anyway. I wish fender hadnt discontinued the "real" 9050's, I miss them. Only have one set and will never part with them.

 

LaBella Jamersons' are the way to go - they're for real bass players!

 

Yep, the upper mid emphasis is why I'm considering LaBella to replace my Chromes. I use a 5 string set for my P tuned BEAD and I prefer heavier strings.

I switched to Chromes after breaking several Fender flats.

 

I've noticed that all of the different LaBella gauges sound completely different too. My favorites are the 760FM. They get a little stiff once they've been on for a few weeks but then the sounds stays pretty consistant.
Don't judge any flat wound strings until you've had them on for a few months. They change A LOT over time.

 

Want to have your mind blown?

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/4/27/1885410/Strings-Chromes76P.mp3

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/4/27/1885410/Strings-Fenders76P.mp3

Same bass same settings same DI. One's a 7 or 8 month old set of Chromes gauges 40-95, one's a 14 year old set of Fender 9050 flats gauges 45-105. Very slight difference in tone...the Fenders sound more dead (which they are) and ever so slightly bassier. Otherwise I thought one could pass for the other easily.