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For those who want under 26" scale flatwound strings.

KohanMike

KohanMike

Los Angeles, Beverly Grove West, near Cedars-Sinai
Gold Supporting Member
Aug 6, 2014
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Los Angeles, Beverly Grove West (Beverly Center)
#1
For those of you who have very short scale basses and want flat wound strings, Gold Tone has commissioned La Bella to make under 26" scale flat wound Deep Talkin' strings. I bought a set a couple of weeks ago for my SmallGuitars.com MB-1 mini P-bass 24.5" scale. Nice improvement, the gauges are .049 .069 .089 .109. I ordered another set for my custom 24" Rickenbacker 325 from China and it's not even close how much better the La Bellas are than the crap stock ones. I just ordered two more sets for my custom SG EB-1 from China and my ESP Jr. guitar conversion to bass. Am I glad I ran across these.

Even though they're labelled just like the full scale model, 760FM, the ones from the Gold Tone web site are the special shorties. Not sure if the listing on the site is accurate with slightly different gauges, .048, .068, .088, .108, or if La Bella is using packaging they have on hand for these special short ones.

MicroBass LaBella Flat Wound Strings | Gold Tone Folk Instruments
 
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#2
Cool Mike! I have a 23" scale bass (no more ubass, the marleaux is my main instrument now),how far do the wraps go from the ball end to the point where the during gets thinner? I am using a BEAD set that I cut down. If these have to be cut there may not be an advantage.

Do you find the tension to be ok with the shorter scale? When I had EADG strings on my bass they were a little too floppy, the BEAD do not suffer from that and may even be a little high. But definitely working.

Thanks, I look forward to your feedback, you're an adventurous soul!
 
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#3
Mark, the strings are 39.25" long, the blue wrap at the tuner end is 11 to 11.5" and the ball end is 1" to the flat wound including the ball. I checked with La Bella and they say the strings are .049 .069 .089 .109, so Gold Tone has it wrong on their site and the packaging now says Gold Tone, not La Bella. The tension seems good, not too floppy.
 
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#6
How do these strings work with magnetic pickup? From my research on my 26" Samick Baby Bass it is recommended to get a 5 string bass set of 0.125 for the B and tune EADG as 26" is fret 5 on a standard 5 string bass.
 
#7
mickeyj4j said:
How do these strings work with magnetic pickup?
Click to expand...

Perfectly. My SmallGuitars.com MB-1 is a true P-bass with magnetic pickups, also the custom Ric 325. I'm also going to install them on a custom SG 22" scale and a converted ESP LTD Jr. 22" guitar (both string-through and anchored on the back).

Small P-bass done 800.jpg

Rick 325 Bassenfaker 800.jpg

Green SG done front 800.jpg

ESP LTD F-Jr. Bass 875.jpg
 
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#10
#11
mrufino1 said:
@kohanmike What bridge is that on your esp?
Click to expand...
Marc, sorry I didn't see this so long ago. It's a Chinese import I bought from AliExpress.

Logic_11 said:
How much did your mb-1 cost? I feel like I can only find Mb2's online
Click to expand...

I bought it on sale about 4 years ago for $150, it was pink. The MB-1 is no longer available and the MB-2 price is much higher.
 
#15
RealJeffJenkins said:
So late to this party but does anyone think these strings will work on a 60s Supro Pocket Bass? 24.75” scale length with both magnetic and piezo pickups.
Click to expand...
If it really is 24.75" (some sources say 25-7/8") they should fit no problem (they may well fit even if it is at or around 26"; the La Bella / Gold Tone MBLS are circa 28" long, ball to silk, according to @KohanMike above).

By the by. According to TBer @GretschWretch, the extra pickup is not piezoelectric (IIRC piezo pickups appeared at the very end of the '60s and took another decade to become widespread) but electromagnetic: only, it is activated by the vibration of metal pins mechanically coupled to the bridge, instead of sensing the strings directly, like the other pickup does.
(Or something like that.)
 
#16
KohanMike said:
For those of you who have very short scale basses and want flat wound strings, Gold Tone has commissioned La Bella to make under 26" scale flat wound Deep Talkin' strings. I bought a set a couple of weeks ago for my SmallGuitars.com MB-1 mini P-bass 24.5" scale. Nice improvement, the gauges are .049 .069 .089 .109. I ordered another set for my custom 24" Rickenbacker 325 from China and it's not even close how much better the La Bellas are than the crap stock ones. I just ordered two more sets for my custom SG EB-1 from China and my ESP Jr. guitar conversion to bass. Am I glad I ran across these.

Even though they're labelled just like the full scale model, 760FM, the ones from the Gold Tone web site are the special shorties. Not sure if the listing on the site is accurate with slightly different gauges, .048, .068, .088, .108, or if La Bella is using packaging they have on hand for these special short ones.

MicroBass LaBella Flat Wound Strings | Gold Tone Folk Instruments
Click to expand...



Just saw this lol. So thinking these Would fit on the Ibanez opn14 short scale acoustic bass with the 24.8 scale?
 
#17
Bass-Babe said:
Just saw this lol. So thinking these Would fit on the Ibanez opn14 short scale acoustic bass with the 24.8 scale?
Click to expand...
I'm sure they will. I actually let go of all my magnetic micro-bass guitars so that I can stick with one type of string, Kala/Galli flatwound nylon core for my RondoMusic Hadean violin/Hofner style on which I had the limited adjustable floating bridge/pickup replaced with an all metal fully adjustable bridge that has individual piezo pickups in each saddle.
 
#18
Bass-Babe said:
Just saw this lol. So thinking these Would fit on the Ibanez opn14 short scale acoustic bass with the 24.8 scale?
Click to expand...
There are two things you should be wary about:

1) tension and possible ensuing structural problems -
tensions for the stock string set (D'Addario XTB3790GS, but they were about the same for the older version, the EXPPBB190GS) on the Ibanez basslet, adjusted* for its scale length (628.65mm, slightly longer than the 597mm of the Taylor GS Mini bass, for which the D'Addario were originally developed), are the following
G 12.21lbs
D 14.3lbs
A 13.18lbs
E 15.97lbs
for a total of 55.66 pounds.
Tensions for the La Bella / Gold Tone MBLS (aka MBSLS on the eBay) are likely to be similar to those of D'Addario Chromes of equivalent gauges. I've retrieved the tensions (at standard 863.6mm bass guitar scale) for the G and D strings from the 50-105 set, and the remaining A and E from the old tension chart at p. 12 (p. 11 of pdf). Adjusted* for the Ibanez scale length, they would be as follows
G 33.97lbs
D 34.49lbs
A 28.56lbs
E 24.38lbs
total: 121.4 pounds.
That is to say, over double the stock ones. (Again, those are tensions for D'Addario Chromes of gauge 050, 070, 090 and 110, not for the La Bella/Gold Tone which are not known: however, they are probably in the ballpark.)
Will the bridge, top and bracing of the Ibby take the increase, or is it underbuilt for the proposed set? Hard to say.

2) intonation -
Since the Ibanez and most guitar-scale acoustic bass guitars are designed around nylon-core strings, their bridges are glued in the correct position for those. Steel-core, steel flatwound strings are a lot stiffer than nyloncores, and require significant compensation for correct intonation (in other words, they'd need the saddle a ways further back, i.e. away from the neck). Unless you're willing to reposition the bridge, notes will be sharp throughout the length of the fretboard.


* [obtained by multiplying given tensions by the ratio of scale lengths, squared]

KohanMike said:
I actually let go of all my magnetic micro-bass guitars so that I can stick with one type of string, Kala/Galli flatwound nylon core
Click to expand...
the Galli UXB910C aka Invalid Link Removed, 23" scale version, 26.5" winding length, gauges 60-80-100-130, of which you were a pioneer (just as you were of the MBLS), are definitely an option. I have a feeling that, while intonation would be better than the La Bella/Gold Tone, it would be sharper than the D'Addarios, and that tensions would be significantly higher than the latter and perhaps even a little higher than the former;
alternatives with more normal gauges would be the Invalid Link Removed, 25.6" winding, gauges 41-54-75-100;
and the Invalid Link Removed (copper flatwound on a bioplastic core).
I would recommend @Bass-Babe look into these two options.
 
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#19
HaphAsSard said:
There are two things you should be wary about:

1) tension and possible ensuing structural problems -
tensions for the stock string set (D'Addario XTB3790GS, but they were about the same for the older version, the EXPPBB190GS) on the Ibanez basslet, adjusted* for its scale length (628.65mm, slightly longer than the 597mm of the Taylor GS Mini bass, for which the D'Addario were originally developed), are the following
G 12.21lbs
D 14.3lbs
A 13.18lbs
E 15.97lbs
for a total of 55.66 pounds.
Tensions for the La Bella / Gold Tone MBLS (aka MBSLS on the eBay) are likely to be similar to those of D'Addario Chromes of equivalent gauges. I've retrieved the tensions (at standard 863.6mm bass guitar scale) for the G and D strings from the 50-105 set, and the remaining A and E from the old tension chart at p. 12 (p. 11 of pdf). Adjusted* for the Ibanez scale length, they would be as follows
G 33.97lbs
D 34.49lbs
A 28.56lbs
E 24.38lbs
total: 121.4 pounds.
That is to say, over double the stock ones. (Again, those are tensions for D'Addario Chromes of gauge 050, 070, 090 and 110, not for the La Bella/Gold Tone which are not known: however, they are probably in the ballpark.)
Will the bridge, top and bracing of the Ibby take the increase, or is it underbuilt for the proposed set? Hard to say.

2) intonation -
Since the Ibanez and most guitar-scale acoustic bass guitars are designed around nylon-core strings, their bridges are glued in the correct position for those. Steel-core, steel flatwound strings are a lot stiffer than nyloncores, and require significant compensation for correct intonation (in other words, they'd need the saddle a ways further back, i.e. away from the neck). Unless you're willing to reposition the bridge, notes will be sharp throughout the length of the fretboard.


* [obtained by multiplying given tensions by the ratio of scale lengths, squared]


the Galli UXB910C aka Invalid Link Removed, 23" scale version, 26.5" winding length, gauges 60-80-100-130, of which you were a pioneer (just as you were of the MBLS), are definitely an option. I have a feeling that, while intonation would be better than the La Bella/Gold Tone, it would be sharper than the D'Addarios, and that tensions would be significantly higher than the latter and perhaps even a little higher than the former;
alternatives with more normal gauges would be the Invalid Link Removed, 25.6" winding, gauges 41-54-75-100;
and the Invalid Link Removed (copper flatwound on a bioplastic core).
I would recommend @Bass-Babe look into these two options.
Click to expand...



There are a lot of assumptions in there. I would think if labella were making short scale microbass strings they definitely would consider string tensions for microbass's as too not destroy them. . They already make several low tension strings for other basses.
 
#20
Bass-Babe said:
There are a lot of assumptions in there.
Click to expand...
There are, and clearly marked as such.
I would think if labella were making short scale microbass strings they definitely would consider string tensions for microbass's as too not destroy them.
Click to expand...
Agreed, as pertains the *Gold Tone* Microbass. Both bass and string were designed and introduced before the Guild GS Mini bass, the Ibanez, and all the other nylon-equipped guitar-scale acoustic basses appeared. Do they have the same amount of bracing as the GT MBass? I for one do not know. Maybe.
They already make several low tension strings for other basses.
Click to expand...
Are the MBLS a short version of their Low Tension Flats though? Gauges alone would seem to imply otherwise - they're the same as the long-scale 760FM set. Again, this may not necessarily entail structural danger for the instrument. However, the fact that they're going to be stiffer than the stock D'Addarios, which will be reflected in intonation, is more than just an assumption. It's ultimately your call.
 

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