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Does La Bella make low(er) tension flats?
- Thread starter u84six
- Start date
I would recommend the 760FLs.
La Bella has the Jamerson's (1954 Originals) and then these:
760FX Extra Light: .039 .056 .077 .096
760FL Light: .043 .060 .082 .104
760FS Standard: .045 .065 .085 .105
760FM Medium: .049 .069 .089 .109
So yes
760FX Extra Light: .039 .056 .077 .096
760FL Light: .043 .060 .082 .104
760FS Standard: .045 .065 .085 .105
760FM Medium: .049 .069 .089 .109
So yes
760 FL are the best string on the market in my opinion. Not crazy tight, but don't feel floppy, like TI's can on some basses, and they have a great consistent tone across all strings. I have 4 Precisions and they all wear 760FL strings
Agreed...I really love the 760 FL strings....have them on my 62 AV P-Bass....I am curious if anyone has any experience with the 760 FS...very similar gauge.
Just agreeing with the consensus. 760 FL's here and find them to be perfect as far as tone and tension.
Any of you ever try them on a Rick? I'm usually a firm Labella man, but my usual set were just too heavy on my Rick 4003. I put some Thomastiks on and they are good, but I miss my Labellas.
Be careful if your buying La Bella stings. Last summer while putting a new set of La Bella Beatle Bass flat wounds on my German Hofner the G string broke where it was joined to the end bead while tuning. I was a bit shocked as I have never broken a bass string before and especially was surprised with the tiny machine heads a Hofner has that it could happen. This was the first bass string I ever broke in my life and I have been playing since 1968. About two months ago the exact same thing happened at the same place with the G string on a set of La Bella flat wound full scale strings. I was putting them on my 1972 precision at the time. I swore I would never buy a pair of your strings again, but broke down yesterday when I needed flat wounds and La Bella's were the only brand the store carried. I put a set of full scale flat wounds on my American Standard P bass last night. While playing today the E string broke where it goes over the bridge. I was stringing them the standard way not through the body, you can string either way with the high density standard bridge.When I complained to customer Service they said send back the string and they would relace it. You have to be kidding me. I have been playing since the 60s and only ever broke three strings all La Bellas, all this year, and all on diffent basses. Beware! Three different basses, three different sets of La Bella strings, with due respect to the La Bella defenders I wish you luck if you use them on stage. I have only ever broken La Bella stings never any other brand. I wish you better luck with them than me if you choose to use them.
La Bella is a great company to deal with, for both the consumers and vendors.
In the case of your American Standard P, were you using Thru-Body stringing? If so, their strings are NOT intended for use with thru-body instruments unless you get the specific "Thru-Body" designed Deep Taklin Flats which only a small amount have been produced.
The Thru-Body strings from La Bella are still a very new development and not many stores or even users know of them.
This is probably why they are requesting the string back, because the normal Deep Talkin' Flats specifically state not for use with thru-body instruments.
In the case of your American Standard P, were you using Thru-Body stringing? If so, their strings are NOT intended for use with thru-body instruments unless you get the specific "Thru-Body" designed Deep Taklin Flats which only a small amount have been produced.
The Thru-Body strings from La Bella are still a very new development and not many stores or even users know of them.
This is probably why they are requesting the string back, because the normal Deep Talkin' Flats specifically state not for use with thru-body instruments.
I've been wondering what's really different about the thru-body LaBellas? I have a set on my '98 AmStd P-bass, and while the bottoms are tapered/silked, this does not reach all the way up to the saddles. This means the strings are still at their full width where they break over the saddles, which doesn't seem all that different from the original design. Hope that the innards of the string at the saddles are different enough to matter and that I'm not sitting on a ticking time bomb here...
La Bella flat wounds in general have a "Flexible Tail Piece" which helps for better fitment in the stamped bridges found on Fenders for example.
The Thru-Body flats are made with even longer flexible tail pieces that are silked over as well. This longer section does not and is not ment to go over the saddles. This section is more flexible for the Thru-Body portion of the instrument.
The problem with the Thru-Body instruments is not going over the saddles, but the extra bend required to go through the body. the Thru-Body flats address this issue.
so billgwx - your strings are installed properly and you are not sitting on a ticking time bomb.
The Thru-Body flats are made with even longer flexible tail pieces that are silked over as well. This longer section does not and is not ment to go over the saddles. This section is more flexible for the Thru-Body portion of the instrument.
The problem with the Thru-Body instruments is not going over the saddles, but the extra bend required to go through the body. the Thru-Body flats address this issue.
so billgwx - your strings are installed properly and you are not sitting on a ticking time bomb.
For some reason the 760FS caused a dead 5th fret on the E on my AVRI '62 P. I had those strings on there for about 4 or 5 years before I noticed it, so I thought it was either a problem that developed over time or a huge long-term oversight, but I put on some 760FL's that I was previously using on another bass and it went away.
Oddly, I didn't like the 760FL on the Jazz and swapped them for LaBella tapewounds which I loved, but I didn't like the look of them. Really cool tone from those strings. I should have kept them when I sold that bass.
I'm really digging the FL's on the P, though. Wish I could ABX things from the past. I might have different thoughts about them on the old J.
Just George
Fingers on 4 Flatwounds
- Dec 29, 2008
- 412
- 413
- Disclosures
- Artist Relationship: Wilkins-Ampeg-La Bella
I used the 760FL's for a few years and liked them a lot but I switched back to the 760FS's that I used to use many years ago because I was missing that nice low end thump. The 760FS's are once again my favorites, they are smooth in feel and have a nice warm bottom with a smooth top.
The 760FS's are what I would describe as medium tension, not quite as light as the 760FL's but light enough for my use and certainly nowhere near the stiffness of the Jamerson set. Just for comparison the TI flats were way too floppy for me. Just my 2 cents, YMMV.
Hope that helps
