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Earnie Ball Cobalt Bass Strings

#44
FWIW, I put the Cobalt EADG on my Ibanez and they sound and feel pretty good on that bass playing at home; I will try them out tomorrow at band practice. They just did not work on my Yamaha, I'm not sure why. It's a bummer that I now have a B string that I will probably never use.
 
#45
JamAdd85 said:
FWIW, I put the Cobalt EADG on my Ibanez and they sound and feel pretty good on that bass playing at home; I will try them out tomorrow at band practice. They just did not work on my Yamaha, I'm not sure why. It's a bummer that I now have a B string that I will probably never use.
Click to expand...

Did you install flats or RW cobalts? I haven't tried the cobalt RW's but the flats are just suited for my TRBX605. The flats just have a different sound than anything else out there. I think a lot depends on what you're plugging into, the volume level and the EQ and everything else in the sound chain.

You can send me your B string if you're not going to use it.
 
#46
I have the round wounds. I have never tried the flats. Or any flats actually. They were on a used bass I bought once but I took them off immediately. The only band I play bass in is all original progressive rock, and a flat wound sound is not desirable for the stuff we do. I do like the sound of flat wounds, and if I ever play in a cover band again I would probably set up a bass with them. I suspect the flats would work much better for the TRBX605. I honestly am still surprised the Cobalt rounds didn't work on that bass. I'm certain that the other gear I use is part of it.

However, the RW Cobalts sounded great tonight on the Ibanez. Now I understand why some people say these strings are bright. The Ibanez preamp has a hyped up high end to begin with, and the Cobalts sounded bright with a perfect amount of growl that works great for what I do with this band. Very happy I am able to salvage most of that set.
Sorry vindibona1, I told my guitar player tonight that he could have the B string for his Ibanez bass. :)
 
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#47
After hearing the buzz about these strings I went ahead and tried a couple sets of the of the rounds.
( I’ve been a stainless user since 1990. DRs and occasionally D’addario pro steel)
They do have a unique sound and found them to be the first set from Ernie Ball that I liked.
(Regular slinky’s and I have never had a good relationship)

the issue I had with them was a strange “chorus” effect on the E string.
I thought the pickups may have been too close, creating a warble, but lowering them did nothing.
Playing the bass acoustically confirmed that also.
I thought maybe the string was twisted so I took it down and restrung carefully. same deal.
I even put a second set on a different bass.
Same thing. E string “chorus” warble.... whatever it’s called.

put the DR Fat Beams on, problem gone.

very strange. I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience?
I did like the aggressive tone though.
 
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#48
Lesfunk said:
After hearing the buzz about these strings I went ahead and tried a couple sets of the of the rounds.
( I’ve been a stainless user since 1990. DRs and occasionally D’addario pro steel)
They do have a unique sound and found them to be the first set from Ernie Ball that I liked.
(Regular slinky’s and I have never had a good relationship)

the issue I had with them was a strange “chorus” effect on the E string.
I thought the pickups may have been too close, creating a warble, but lowering them did nothing.
Playing the bass acoustically confirmed that also.
I thought maybe the string was twisted so I took it down and restrung carefully. same deal.
I even put a second set on a different bass.
Same thing. E string “chorus” warble.... whatever it’s called.

put the DR Fat Beams on, problem gone.

very strange. I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience?
I did like the aggressive tone though.
Click to expand...


Yah there's a strange sound that comes from them. I switched over to cobalt flats and i love them. The rounds are cool but I love the flats. They dont have that sound youre talking about and are really bright
 
#54
honestly i like the cobalt roundwounds personally, i can say that there is one problem i recently discovered of the cobalt bass strings when it comes to the 5 string set, and that on a traben array obsession you cant run them trough body because the winding ends just short of the nut under tension causing fret buzz. this is a major issu for me as i run through body with my strings and not on the bridge string slots.

i plan to contact ernie ball in the morning to inform them of the issue with the 5 string set, the 4 string sets ive never had an issue with but the 5 string set is a disappointment due to the slightly shorter wound area ( half inch more of wound area on the strings especially the B which need both inner and outer wound area longer, right now string rests in the nut on the inner winding of the B string basically making the bass unplayable without buzzing and possible fret damage
 
#57
well i got with ernie ball and it looks like they claim cobalts dont fit long scale bass and tell me i got lucky with the other sets ( carification dozens of 4 string sets on 2 seperate long scale basses, been a while but i tink i even put a set of cobalts on an old rogue 5 string bass i use to have), this tells me tht ernie ball must have changed manufacturing since i bough tmy last set which makes them unusable for me anymore.

sure hope no one plans on using cobalts on a bongo bass because by ernie balls reply teh cobalts apparently wont work on a bongo bass.

anyway, not sure wth the real deal is like i siad dozens of sets of cobalts since they were first released and it hasnt been until now when i have an issue with fitment. this tells me ernie ball changed manufacturing to make more profit per set of cobalts sold, also i dont understand why eb would try to push a set of nickel strings for 5 string ( seriously if i wanted to use nickel strings id use daddario, or rotosounds).

so a warning regarding possible issues with cobalts for fitment unless you have a bass like a nasty fender p, j, p+j, or jazz ( of course if you have one of the fender basses im sure you are not going to be using cobalt strings anyway LOL.
 

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