Flats for semi-hollow bass?

[paulelhierro]

I own a '67 Coronado II and used it a lot with flat wounds, mostly Thomastik. Excellent strings. But as an experiment I changed to Black Beauties (black coated round wounds) and it is now a completely different instrument, although the softer flat wound tone is still possible with these strings. No idea if the coating does anything, but 'normal' rounds don't sound on this bass as these.

 

[maturanesa]

For a 30 inch scale i would go with classic 54 Labella, high tension to balance with the scale. Any other lighter set would be floppy i guess. Plus higher tension resonate more in an acoustic instrument.

 

[Taka_ochi]

After trying several flats on my '68 Coronado II, La Bella 760FHB2 "Beatle" turned out to be the best fit.

• Length fit: My ball-to-nut = ~33.07" (840 mm). The FHB2's ball-to-silk = 34" is perfect: metal winding clears the nut; only silk goes on the tuner post.
• Tone/feel: Tight low end with clear E-string definition, less boom and less tendency to feed back. Tension feels just right.

Comparisons:

• Pyramid Gold 640 (Short): loved the general tone, but silk touched the nut on my bass and the E string got too blurry, which sometimes led to feedback.
• La Bella regular "Short" sets: too short for a Coronado. If you use other La Bella flats here, go Medium scale (34¼").

My measurements

• Ball → Nut: ~33.07" (840 mm)
• 760FHB2 ball → silk: 34"

Rule of thumb for these short-scale trapeze instruments: choose a set where ball→silk > ball→nut and ball→silk < ball→E-post. If that's true, FHB2 is a strong candidate.

The only downside of the La Bella 760FHB2 is that the A string feels under-tensioned between the nut and the tuner, which causes a resonance on open A. I deal with it by using a FretWrap.

 

[markjazzbassist]

Yeah the fender Coronado needs medium scale strings due to the tailpiece. So makes sense Beatle bass (also has tailpiece) strings would work.

 

[GIBrat51]

I have a new Fender Coronado bass, currently strung with D'Addario Chromes. It's a 30" scale. I used it for a country gig this weekend (I usually play my Fender J or P). The string to string balance was WAY off ... the D and G strings producing much less volume than the E and A. I raised the treble side of the neck pickup, it helped for volume and I got through the gig all right. But the tone on the D and G was still thin. I'm thinking a set of LaBella Deep Talkin' flats which are purportedly "Perfectly Balanced Sets". Although the scale is 30", I'll need medium length strings (34" ball to silk) to fit. Any experience with these, specifically on a hollow or semi-hollow bass? Thanks.

Don't suggest TI, not my thing (expensive, don't like the feel).

Let's see... Hollow/Semi-hollow body basses with medium scale strings... Here's what I have:
1. Chinese Starfire violin bass. It wears La Bella 760FL DTFs. Yeah, they're definitely "Old School Thump". I'd rather it wore something else, but basses with floating bridges and trapeze tailpieces can be very hard/impossible to intonate - unless you can find strings that it likes. I tried a lot of strings, over a lot of years, before I tried these 760FLs. They intonate pretty well, so... that's what the Starfire wears. But, it sounds pretty good, too...
2. '90s MIK Rogue VB-100 violin bass. It wears Roto RS88M Tape Wounds. Just like another lefty bass player's violin bass wears... But, I like them because, IMO, the bass sounds like a violin bass is supposed to sound. And, the fact that the VB-100 intonates perfectly with them doesn't hurt, either...
3. '94 Gretsch Broadkaster. It wears TIJR 324 Jazz Rounds, but... I won't suggest them. Even though they do sound good on that bass, and are about the least round wound feeling rounds I've ever played. They're on the 'Kaster simply because, in 12 years of trying strings, they were the only ones that did not sound like total on the thing. And yes, they were pretty pricey when I bought them (by mistake, incidentally) about 10 years ago. Gawd knows what they cost now...
4. Hofner 500/2 Club Bass. A German one (Chinese Club Basses don't do lefties); it has the Pyramid #640 Gold flats it came to me with. I'd imagine they're also pretty pricey, now, too. Definitely Old School tone, but... that's what a Club Bass is for. You might like them; you might not...
5. Guild Starfire I. Would you believe Roto RS77M Monel Flats? I put them on this bass, partly on a whim; and, partly because I'd had the strings for years - and couldn't remember why. Surprisingly, they're not nearly as thumpy as I thought they'd be. Yeah, a strong low end, but... surprisingly strong low-mids and mids, too. There's even a decent high end, if you work the tone controls for it. I'm very satisfied with these strings - on this bass...
I do have a few other hollow/semi-hollow basses, but they're either 34" scale, or 30" scale basses that take short scale strings. So, I won't go there...

 

[bassboysam]

for short scale flats, i'd go with Pyramids. great feeling strings but the G takes a while to break in.

 

[maturanesa]

I would go heavier choosing strings for a short scale and plus is semi acoustic. More heavy, more tension and more sound from the hollow body. Less than 45-105 is bad. Its normal to have unbalanced sound with floppy strings on an acoustic

 

[HelpImaRock]

I have medium scale LaBella LTFs on my Guild Starfire II. I love them.