So, I know I'm in the minority here, but I thought I'd share my experience. I had my new Ric 4003 set up with TIs based on TB recommendation. I've never been so underwhelmed with strings. Yes, they sounded good (in an uneven kind of way), but I couldn't stand the feeland I'm not talking "floppiness." The string to string balance to me (IMHO) was terrible. The G and D were amazing, but the A was "soggy" (best word I could think of to describe how out of balance, loose, and hollow it sounded), and tiny E string wasn't doing it for me (couldn't get a good thump from it).
Just got my replacement LaBella 760FLs... WOW. They are everything I wished the TIs were, and to me actually felt SHOCKINGLY similar. Very smooth, silky, and flexible. I was shocked at their not-too-high tension too. They even have (again, IMHO), much of the same low-mid tonal character, just with steely zing on the top end. As a matter of fact, if I didn't now anything about flats and someone handed me a bass with these stings on on it, I would take a guess that the 760s were a new balanced-tension/higher guage set of TI JFs. LaBella FTW!
I would like to thank Amybass and Jason at BsO for getting me here. Rock!
I have always been a fan of both TI's and LaBella 760FL's. I have them both on Rics and I honestly love them both. I have the TI's on a fretless Ric. I love the LaBella's and they are for sure my flats of choice but the TI's run a close second. I love the the 760's on my Ric with my classic rock/blues band. They are so full and really fill up the bottom and carry that two guitar band without getting buried. I am going to try the fretless this week and see how it goes.
On a side note I put a set of Roto's 77 flats on my other Ric two weeks ago. They sounded great and I was in love with them at first but I can see what folks are saying about them losing their tone. After two weeks they don't sound quite as good in the mix or solo'd. They still sound good but they seem to have died like a typical set of rounds would. I will see if they become dead to the point of not sounding good anymore or if I can EQ them differently to get some extended life out of them.
