Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats: actual length?

[michael_t]

Lastly: name and shame - where did you get them from, so we can all at least avoid that webshop.

Near as I can remember, I bought these strings from Amazon in... 2016, IIRC, when I was buying a lot of things from them...

 

[totalnoob]

Thanks - I got lost in the lotsoftxt.

 

[HaphAsSard]

My strings do say "Cobalt Flats"... but, they're not real Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt Flats. They're counterfeits. Pretty convincing ones, but... definitely fakes. They have the "How To" sheet in the package, but it's printed - not really well - on a plain sheet of paper. They do have purple silks, but not the Royal Purple of the EBs. It's more of an old, ugly bruise purple. And, they don't look - or feel- quite the same as the real ones. Surprisingly, they did get the slightly shorter E string correct. But... yeah; I bought 2 sets of fake Cobalt flats... and, as of this morning? All that's left of them is the ball ends. The rest of the things are in my recycling bin - and they'll meet the recycling trash truck tomorrow... So, it took quite a while, but I finally did get burned, buying online...

Whoa. Fake strings sold on Amazon. That's crazy. I'd read about it happening, but never from anyone having experienced it:
Counterfeit D'Addario strings on Amazon?

 

[totalnoob]

UPDATE: I got the cobalts, put them on my bass and compared them to a set of cheap nickel roundwounds - same bass, same pickups, same pickup position, same everything. I'm thinking of sharing the MP3 files in the Strings subforum, assuming it is possible to attach them to the thread. I have to say, the results are.... very surprising.

Another thing that surprised me was the appearance of these cobalt strings - they look like stainless steel roundwounds, only even darker gray! I realize this may be the first time I've seen the surface of pure cobalt.

The Ernie Balls fit very nicely on this 35"-scale bass, so thank you everyone who helped - I hope you get this notification, as I want my gratitude to reach you. Let's have a beer or coffee one day.

 

[grahamknowles]

It's called "winding length".

I don't use the Cobalt Flats, but I just installed the EB Group IV Stainless Steel Flats on my P bass and the E string is 37.25" from the ball end to the start of the silk.

37.25" should be long enough on a 35" scale as long as they're top-loaded and not thru-body.

I have a Fender American Pro 2 Jazz bass and with the Ernie Ball 2815 Extra Slinky Flatwound Strings, (40-95), I have to string the G, D & A on top and the E through the body so the silks all sit beyond the nut. It works ... but a bit weird!

 

[GIBrat51]

Yet another update...
Well, it took a while, but that real set of "Slinky Flat Wounds" (with "the world's only cobalt flats" in the fine print)? I finally put them on a bass... For reasons I can't explain - other than, it just looked forlorn and lonely - I bought a cosmetically damaged ( and marked down a lot) '25 Sterling Sub series 4H "Ray from the local GC. It was the only left handed anything in the store, and... I felt compelled to rescue it. The cosmetic damage is half fixed already, and I thought that it would be the perfect candidate for the genuine 45-100 Slinky Flats. Which I had no desire at all to replace any of my other bass' flats with. They are still breaking in, but... so far? Single p/u 'Rays are still not my favorite bass, but I think I'll be reasonably happy with it - and these strings...