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Dogal Hellborg Flats JH172

Diddywah

Diddywah

Supporting Member
Sep 26, 2014
660
1,521
Norway
#1
I installed a 5 string set of these on my Musicman Big Al SSS. The most expensive strings I've bought for electric bass. They are quite soft, l think the core is stranded.
Sounded very good unamplified, which is unusual for flats. Sounded even better amplified. Gave them a go with a blues trio tonight, and man do they sit well in a mix!
Going to play them with a Steely Dan type band tomorrow night.
They feel so good under my fingers, so I guess they were worth the price.
Anyone else have any experience with these?
1713300626721357623245948588935.jpg
 
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#2
I have been curious about the Dogal Hellborg strings (rounds more than flats) for a while now, but the price tag scares me off :laugh:

There is lots of discussion in this thread about these strings: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/dogal-hellborg-strings.1449513/

You probably have to read ~10-12 pages into the thread before you see posts about the flats, since the rounds were out first. In any case, quite a few folks seem to really like these strings.
 
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#5
thisheregiraffe said:
I have been curious about the Dogal Hellborg strings (rounds more than flats) for a while now, but the price tag scares me off :laugh:

There is lots of discussion in this thread about these strings: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/dogal-hellborg-strings.1449513/

You probably have to read ~10-12 pages into the thread before you see posts about the flats, since the rounds were out first. In any case, quite a few folks seem to really like these strings.
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I have the rounds on a fretless, so I've seen that thread sometime ago. The flats are quite different to me, being flats obviously.
Maybe switching strings on those basses would be interesting?
 
#8
silky smoove said:
I outlined my experience with these strings in this post: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/dogal-hellborg-strings.1449513/page-18#post-28255252

They're very nice strings, but ultimately were not a good fit for me. I sold them as a nearly-new-but-still-technically-used pair here in the classifieds shortly after removing them.
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Yeah, rediscovered that other thread. Remember I read about the rounds there some time ago. I'll jump back there since the flats also are a part of that thread now.
I am really very pleased with the flats. Played them in a Steely Dan/ jazz band tonight, and they just sit so well in the mix and feel so good under my fingers. Did I hear "like butter" ;)
 
#9
I couldn't resist trying the Hellborg Flats, so I bit the $$ bullet and bought a set.

I've been using TI Jazz Flats for years, and love them. The TI's are pretty expensive already and the Hellborgs cost about twice as much, so I really wanted to love them. I don't. For me their sound is a little too dull. I can easily see how they're perfect for somebody else, but I'm going right back to the TI's.
 
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#10
terlewine said:
I couldn't resist trying the Hellborg Flats, so I bit the $$ bullet and bought a set.

I've been using TI Jazz Flats for years, and love them. The TI's are pretty expensive already and the Hellborgs cost about twice as much, so I really wanted to love them. I don't. For me their sound is a little too dull. I can easily see how they're perfect for somebody else, but I'm going right back to the TI's.
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Agree she sound dull and on dry side. But well match with my buddy roadworn P with Dimarzio Area P pup. Unlike Ti flat or LTF4A, this is a pretty picky flatwound bass string, wrong pickups, wrong sound.

For who love well broken in DR legend flat sound but hate the string feels, this helborg flat are great choice for flexible tension version.
 
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#11
Flats aren't my bag but I would love to try the roundwounds. I am certain that, having been developed with input from Jonas, they will be a worthy product. His particular eye for design tends to lead to interesting products. However, the price of those strings is very, very high. High enough that I would suspect that those who will consider them the go-to string to be a fairly small bunch. Like I say, I'd love to give them a go and I understand that being handmade in small batches, the price will understandably be higher than it would be for a mainstream string brand. However, since I have a load of string brands that I like already I tend to stick with those.
 
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#12
Diddywah said:
I installed a 5 string set of these on my Musicman Big Al SSS. The most expensive strings I've bought for electric bass. They are quite soft, l think the core is stranded.
Sounded very good unamplified, which is unusual for flats. Sounded even better amplified. Gave them a go with a blues trio tonight, and man do they sit well in a mix!
Going to play them with a Steely Dan type band tomorrow night.
They feel so good under my fingers, so I guess they were worth the price.
Anyone else have any experience with these?View attachment 5420565
Click to expand...
I have the JH172's on a Rick 4003 & MusicMan Retro 70s Stingray. I absolutely love them on those basses.
 
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#13
terlewine said:
I couldn't resist trying the Hellborg Flats, so I bit the $$ bullet and bought a set.

I've been using TI Jazz Flats for years, and love them. The TI's are pretty expensive already and the Hellborgs cost about twice as much, so I really wanted to love them. I don't. For me their sound is a little too dull. I can easily see how they're perfect for somebody else, but I'm going right back to the TI's.
Click to expand...
I've used the TI's too. Prefer the Hellborgs. And I don't feel they're dull at all. Pickups could be important as the strings construction is quite different.
 
#15
Since my #1 sports the Hellborg rounds, I would have been very surprised to find the flats to be dull. Because the rounds are, considering their construction and the materials used, super bright and don't seem to mellow down even after months of use. So bright on this particular bass (Yamaha TRB) that, contrary to even DR Hi Beams, I have to tame them.

The flats have thus piqued my interest because for most of my career, I've been a flats kind of guy and have mostly played TIs on pretty much every bass I own.

But man, the price of those Hellborgs. Well worth it I presume (as are the rounds), but talk about diving in head first.
 
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#17
Just installed a 6 string set of these and the initial reaction is not good.
B and E strings would not fit through the body and the B string sounds like garbage. Very dull and low output.
The C string is wonderful and will probably stay on the bass even if the rest of the set turns out to be a very expensive experiment.
 
#18
Kevin Hailey said:
Just installed a 6 string set of these and the initial reaction is not good.
B and E strings would not fit through the body and the B string sounds like garbage. Very dull and low output.
The C string is wonderful and will probably stay on the bass even if the rest of the set turns out to be a very expensive experiment.
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I had to slightly enlarge the hole for the B string in the back of the bridge to make it come through (MM bridge), because the wrapping around the end was thicker than normal
I'm not sure these strings should go through body at all?
 

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