Defective Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt Flatwounds

[sunbeast]

In early years, they take action pretty fast for string replacement, especially on huge amount of break/snap cobalt flatwound, but not current day anymore.

They increase the price tag to compensate those profits lost.

The price of most strings has gone up significantly the last few years, but particularly all flatwounds (at least all the ones I buy). Cobalts are still among the cheapest that I would use apart from the Fenders and Chromes. I suspect the material in the Cobalts is more expensive than either

These strings have obvious problems, and their price has indeed been raised 25% over the last couple years. They're up to $50 per set the last time I looked. For that price, I should get a great set of strings every time. Their price is approaching Thomastik-Infeld Jazz flatwounds' these days (if you're particular where you buy the TIs). As a result, I'm slowly switching my basses strung with flats over to the Rotosound 77 monel flatwounds. They have a very similar tone to them, and though I had a go-round with Rotosound CS over a set of their double-ball-end stainless steel wounds and found them to be wanting, I've never had a problem with their 77 flats. Plus, their price is (currently) a little less than the EB Slinky Cobalt flats.

I believe that, even if we could get EB CS to read these posts, all it might inspire them to do is to discontinue the Slinky Cobalt flats altogether. I don't know that I want that. In spite of their issues (which I hope get worked out), they're still a great-sounding string, and as has already been stated, their customer service is first rate.

TIs regular retail price is around $85 for a 4-string set at the big-box stores while Cobalts retail for around $35 at the same stores, so not even close to comparable

 

[jglunt]

The price of most strings has gone up significantly the last few years, but particularly all flatwounds (at least all the ones I buy). Cobalts are still among the cheapest that I would use apart from the Fenders and Chromes. I suspect the material in the Cobalts is more expensive than either

TIs regular retail price is around $85 for a 4-string set at the big-box stores while Cobalts retail for around $35 at the same stores, so not even close to comparable

I never said EB Cobalt Flats were priced unreasonably compared to other flatwounds, only that they had taken a 25% jump in the last year or so. I was buying them for $40. Now they're $50. That $10 jump is a 25% increase over the $40 price. I also never said they were unfairly priced compared to other flatwounds. The EB Cobalts are $50...the Rotosound 77s are $45, so only slightly less. I did say that when paying $50 for four bass strings, I should be assured of quality with no defects. Instead, I got two sets that were purchased four months apart at different retailers with bad G-strings. I've been playing bass for over 50 years, and these are the only two defective strings I've ever encountered. My conclusion is that quality isn't that hard to achieve, so why do these strings have the recurring defects that are being expressed in this thread? And BTW, where are you buying these strings for $35?

 

[sunbeast]

I never said EB Cobalt Flats were priced unreasonably compared to other flatwounds, only that they had taken a 25% jump in the last year or so. I was buying them for $40. Now they're $50. That $10 jump is a 25% increase over the $40 price. I also never said they were unfairly priced compared to other flatwounds. The EB Cobalts are $50...the Rotosound 77s are $45, so only slightly less. I did say that when paying $50 for four bass strings, I should be assured of quality with no defects. Instead, I got two sets that were purchased four months apart at different retailers with bad G-strings. I've been playing bass for over 50 years, and these are the only two defective strings I've ever encountered. My conclusion is that quality isn't that hard to achieve, so why do these strings have the recurring defects that are being expressed in this thread? And BTW, where are you buying these strings for $35?

Amazon, Guitar Center, Musician’s Friend. I actually have a back stock of them for myself after buying several sets on sale for $20 last winter from GC. They apparently do retail for $45-50 (similar to Roto 77s, which I also used to have issues with when I used them regularly) but are often on sale (I’ve never paid more than $30 personally).

 

[jglunt]

Amazon, Guitar Center, Musician’s Friend. I actually have a back stock of them for myself after buying several sets on sale for $20 last winter from GC. They apparently do retail for $45-50 (similar to Roto 77s, which I also used to have issues with when I used them regularly) but are often on sale (I’ve never paid more than $30 personally).

They must have dropped considerably over the last couple months because I tried all those places plus Strings by Mail, Strings & Beyond, Just Strings, and Sweetwater, at the end of last year and they were $49.99 at all of them...never ran into a sale on them. All the sales I see are for DR or Elixir or D'Addario. Thanks for the tip. I'll be on the look out.

 

[jglunt]

Amazon, Guitar Center, Musician’s Friend. I actually have a back stock of them for myself after buying several sets on sale for $20 last winter from GC. They apparently do retail for $45-50 (similar to Roto 77s, which I also used to have issues with when I used them regularly) but are often on sale (I’ve never paid more than $30 personally).

I did some checking, and it looks like you are right in that the price of the Ernie Ball Cobalt Flatwounds is dropping. (Good news that). The average price right now at the places you mentioned is about $40.00, which represents a 20% drop since I bought mine the last time (one set from Sweetwater, one from Amazon). The prices currently seem to be all over the place, with some gauge sets still up around $50, some down as low as $36, and others in between. To me, that indicates the prices are indeed dropping, but some sellers are still clearing out their old inventory. Thanks for the heads up.