Fretless String Opinions Needed

[Cleezmo]

I have a G&L L-2500 fretless that currently wears GHS Pressure wounds. I landed on them after trying DR Sunbeams, Dunlop flats, and EB Cobalt flats. The GHS strings G-E get me tonally mostly where I want to go, a bit tamed from rounds but not as smooth as flats, with a nice tonal range when you twist knobs and flip switches, but the B string does not have the same clarity and punch as other B strings have had on this bass; it's noticeably less full than the rest of the set, and I know it's not the bass, as it's had a thundering B with different sets.

I’m trying to decide if I should try a new set (maybe it’s just a bum string) or try something else. Tonaly, because this bass can do sooo many different tones, I don't want a traditional, old-school flat, but I also don't want a full-on round wound. I'd like to be able to play something from Pearl Jam's Ten album one minute, and an Americana tune the next, and be in the same neighborhood if not the exact address. This is what led me to trying the Pressurewounds and EB Cobalt Flats.

A few options I’m considering:

• D’Addario Half-Rounds: seem to be a similar concept as GHS Pressure Wounds of taking a round and smoothing it over. I’ve only used D’Addario XLs once in the past, when they came stock on a bass, and found them ‘meh’; not great, not terrible, but no other experience with the brand.
• DR Black Beauties: Round core, SS, but with a black coating that in theory makes them smoother. I have DR round cores on several other basses (FatBeams and SunBeams), so I’m familiar with that tension/feel.
• EB Cobalt Flats (again): It’s been a handful of years since I tried them, I remember liking them a lot initially, but then falling out of love with them. I think I ended up trying something else because I found them a bit middy and lacking low-end, but I also had a different amp setup back then. I really like the ‘round sound with the flat feel’ tagline and concept, but I need some low-end oomph.
• Try another set of GHS Pressure Wounds, hoping the B string is better than my current set.

Would love any comments on experiences with any of these strings. Thanks in advance!

 

[nickpc]

Not on your list, but I'm really happy with the LaBella LTF5a strings on my LTD B-205SM Fretless. The B string is well balanced in both feel and sound.

I've played EB Cobalt Flats a few times, but felt the B wasn't very strong. I will probably use them on a 4-string again, but not on a 5.

 

[pingvuiini]

Maybe try tapes?

 

[Father Gino]

I’m a TI flat guy, but I’ve used Black Beauties on a fretted Lakland 4402 and liked them. The black coating starts to wear off after a while but doesn’t seem to affect their sound.

Tapes are a good suggestion. I don’t have a super lot of experience with them but I’ve used them on a couple of fretless basses and liked their tone. They do feel weird to me. Kinda hard to slide with them, though I suppose you’d get used to it.

Picking strings is hard. It’s a personal preference and the differences can be subtle or dramatic. Even the subtle differences can be important and you’ll only know by trying them. You’ve also got to give whatever strings you try significant time to settle in. Sometimes that settling process can take weeks or months.

 

[Passinwind]

I only play fretless fours, and have experience with T-I Jazz Flats (good but very mid centric), D'Add Half Round (yuck!), GHS PW (very good), EB Cobalt Flats (fragile but otherwise good), and SIT Silencers (my favorite). I've ended up with the GHS on one bass and the SITs on the other, FWIW. Can't offer anything useful on B string performance though, sorry.

 

[ardgedee]

Something I haven't tried but been keeping an eye on are LaBella Super Polished. They're groundwound/half-wound. A couple threads on them here but they're still a relatively new product so not a whole lot of people have things to say about it yet. My impression from reading up is that they're a bit brighter and you can get more of a growl out of them than with most flats, but since they're half-wound there's still going to be more string noise than flats, albeit not as bad as rounds.

Thread 'Labella Super Polished'

May 15, 2024

I’m intrigued.

Olinto Super Polished Bass Strings - La Bella Roadie Club

• Bernie Connors
• Replies: 164
• Forum: Strings [BG]

• 

(despite the phrase popping up in the thread a few times, these aren't the LaBella Olinto strings.)

One upside is they're quite a bit cheaper than most modern flats like EB Cobalt, or D'Addario Chromes, so an experiment won't set you back as much.

 

[Cleezmo]

Appreciate the responses so far!

I'm aware of Tapes, but from what I've gathered they are more for the 'try to sound like an upright' tone vs an aggressive tone. I played them years and years ago on a friend's fretless and didn't love them.

 

[FeltTipPen]

Appreciate the responses so far!

I'm aware of Tapes, but from what I've gathered they are more for the 'try to sound like an upright' tone vs an aggressive tone. I played them years and years ago on a friend's fretless and didn't love them.

Do you happen to remember what tapewounds your friend's fretless had and what bass it was?

I'm not sure how tapewounds would sound on a G&L L-2500 fretless (mine has D'Addario rounds). On another fretless (passive with Bartolini Originals) I've just recently settled on LaBella Copper White Tapewounds.

I went from LaBella Black Tapewounds (amazing tone on the EADG but undefined on the low B) to LaBella Gold White Tapewounds (good low B, good tone on the rest of the strings but still wanted to experiment) to Thomastik Infeld Jazz Flats (incredible tone on EADG but low B had less authority for my ears) to the LaBella Copper White Tapewounds (low B is clear and massive, the whole set sounded great to me and others who heard). Definitely not in the 'try to sound like an upright' tone to me!

The Copper White Tapes have been described with a complex midrange which I agree on. It's hard to describe for me but I hear it. Adjusting the tone knob on the bass and amp adjustment, I can get into a little more old school tone, not flatwound territory to me but enough that it can work.

Considering the MFDs being more aggressive the Copper Whites might be too much, but since it's also just above the LaBella Black Tapewounds in darkness, that might balance it out a little. These are my observations and experiences so others may not have the same!

 

[pingvuiini]

Definitely not in the 'try to sound like an upright' tone to me!

I agree. The D'Addario black tapes have enough 'zing' that you can probably even get a mild slap tone out of them. And as you have indicated, LaBella has a lot of different tapewound formuli to try out.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Maybe do what many DBers do and use different types/brands of strings to get what works best for your own BEADG needs.

 

[pbass2]

Personally, I've found that with MFDs, flats that would normally lean heavily old-school can still totally rock out with those pickups. I've had Chromes and Labella DTFs on an L2500. I now I have DR Legends on my Kiloton 5, and even broken in there's plenty of grunt and grind on tap (of the flatwound variety of course--not roundwound zing). It's all relative of course, but I do use that bass for funk, country, rock---you-name it, fingers and pick. The Chromes however are probably closer to what you describe though. I just don't like how they age--IMHO they get kind of lifeless after a brief OK period after break-in. They just get "blah" eventually.
BTW I'm very happy with the 125 low B on the Legends which surprised me as I would normally think I'd want a 130. It's very clear on the Kilo, totally integrated with the whole set.
EDIT: if considering rounds, DR Nickel Lo-Riders are super versatile--you can do thumpy, you can grind--the only rounds I use these days. My next MFD-equipped bass is gonna get those.

 

[dfp]

I tried the 5 string La Bella LTF set and loved the E-G, but the B sounded out of place, super thumpy, like it was being palm-muted all the time. I swapped it for a DTB La Bella .110 (E string, but stiffer construction than the LTF strings) which actually matches the sound of the E-G quite well when tuned down to B. Not sure if the set would be your taste for fretless, but it works for me generally as a 5 string flats setup for low tension.

 

[poochiecheeks]

GHS balanced nickels light gauge, thank me later

 

[Blues Daddy]

my string experiences on 5-string G & L basses:

* I wasn't as happy with D'Addario Half-Wounds as I wanted to be . . . got rid of those.

* D'Addario Chromes ('Ribbon-Wound') were better and I used them for years but they are a bit mellow and do eventually go 'dead' . . . (still have some on an acoustic 4-string).

* TI Jazz Flats . . . . Y E A H B A B Y ! ! ! . . . . these are my "go to" strings now-a-days. I really like how they sound and feel. And they last a long time so the initial costs are somewhat offset by their longevity. I encourage you to consider them for your bass . . . . you might love them

Cheers and Good Luck finding your 'new favorite strings'

 

[jgeisheimer]

I have an L-2500 and ran into similar issues with a pretty thin sounding b string. Tried DR LoRiders, Sadowsky blues and a couple of other brands I can’t remember. Messed around with pickup height as well to no avail. I probably tried these because of another read TB post I read, but I have found EB Slinkys the best so far. Not perfect in terms of tone, but far better than the other strings. I also have the mod that can switch the MFDs in single coil, and to me, that b string sounds the best in the single coil configuration.

Good luck!

 

[thisheregiraffe]

Tapes sound brilliant on fretless IME. I especially like La Bella White Tapes (750T) on my fretless J. (It’s a 4-string though and I have no hands-on experience with a tape wound B string.)

White tapes are a bit brighter than the black tapes. They can go from sounding like broken in rounds (in a good way) to thumpy-with-clarity depending on how you set the tone control. Tone all the way off + a foam mute at the bridge can get into the ‘mimic an upright’ territory, but these strings are much more versatile than that.

 

[sunbeast]

EB Cobalt flats are my favorite fretless string these days, though I haven't tried the 5-string set as of yet- for me the Cobalts are actually growlier than rounds I've tried on the same bass. My favorite string on my last 5-string fretless (several years back) was the Thomastiks flats, and the B definitely wasn't thin sounding (if anything it might have been darker than the other strings IIRC). Those strings tend to be too loose for me on fretted bass, but on a fretless they can feel super expressive. FWIW I used to love Thomastiks the most on a fretless, but the Cobalts really dethroned them for me for their extra grind/growl capabilities. I've had the same set of Cobalts on my main fretless since 2020 and they are still singing! I'm also a big fan of tapewounds on a fretless, and if you choose the right set they definitely aren't too uprighty- the LaBella Whites and Gold-whites are the main ones I've used on fretless and they have some nice growl to them. The Gold-whites are relatively low-output strings, but on a G&L that shouldn't be an issue at all.

 

[Gorilla Monsoon]

Ive been really happy with the Sadowsky Blues.

 

[pbass2]

I have an L-2500 and ran into similar issues with a pretty thin sounding b string. Tried DR LoRiders, Sadowsky blues and a couple of other brands I can’t remember. Messed around with pickup height as well to no avail. I probably tried these because of another read TB post I read, but I have found EB Slinkys the best so far. Not perfect in terms of tone, but far better than the other strings. I also have the mod that can switch the MFDs in single coil, and to me, that b string sounds the best in the single coil configuration.

Good luck!

I mostly prefer my Kiloton V in single coil. It's the most focused sounding setting on it - perhaps that's an MFD thing. And at least w my strings (Legends) the B sounds great to me--clear, defined. Recorded with it and the whole bass sounds very "even" and tonally consistent all up and down its range. It's never like "lookout, here comes the B string!"

 

[Chris Wilke]

I have a G&L L-2500 fretless that currently wears GHS Pressure wounds. I landed on them after trying DR Sunbeams, Dunlop flats, and EB Cobalt flats. The GHS strings G-E get me tonally mostly where I want to go, a bit tamed from rounds but not as smooth as flats, with a nice tonal range when you twist knobs and flip switches, but the B string does not have the same clarity and punch as other B strings have had on this bass; it's noticeably less full than the rest of the set, and I know it's not the bass, as it's had a thundering B with different sets.

I’m trying to decide if I should try a new set (maybe it’s just a bum string) or try something else. Tonaly, because this bass can do sooo many different tones, I don't want a traditional, old-school flat, but I also don't want a full-on round wound. I'd like to be able to play something from Pearl Jam's Ten album one minute, and an Americana tune the next, and be in the same neighborhood if not the exact address. This is what led me to trying the Pressurewounds and EB Cobalt Flats.

A few options I’m considering:

• D’Addario Half-Rounds: seem to be a similar concept as GHS Pressure Wounds of taking a round and smoothing it over. I’ve only used D’Addario XLs once in the past, when they came stock on a bass, and found them ‘meh’; not great, not terrible, but no other experience with the brand.
• DR Black Beauties: Round core, SS, but with a black coating that in theory makes them smoother. I have DR round cores on several other basses (FatBeams and SunBeams), so I’m familiar with that tension/feel.
• EB Cobalt Flats (again): It’s been a handful of years since I tried them, I remember liking them a lot initially, but then falling out of love with them. I think I ended up trying something else because I found them a bit middy and lacking low-end, but I also had a different amp setup back then. I really like the ‘round sound with the flat feel’ tagline and concept, but I need some low-end oomph.
• Try another set of GHS Pressure Wounds, hoping the B string is better than my current set.

Would love any comments on experiences with any of these strings. Thanks in advance!

I had the very same experience recently with a set of GHS pressurewounds on a 5 string SBMM Ray35 fretless. I will not buy another set of those strings!

So far the best luck I have had for 5 string fretless is roundwound nickels, and DAddario Chromes.

Mixed results with Cobalt flats. Though I like the strings, and am currently using a set on one of my fretless basses. I find the B is serviceable (but not what I’d call great).

Black beauties sound good. I just do not like how they feel.

Half rounds - no thank you. Not terrible sounding but also feel weird and grabby .

TI jazz flats are wonderful but have not been great in the B string department to me. Or at least not after they are broken in. In fact on one bass I have a mixed set of TI jazz flats and cobalt flats. The bass came to me with cobalts. I changed out to TIs, then broke a string, and then replaced two others with the original cobalts as they went dead. Currently 3/5 cobalts. This works surprisingly well, especially due to the Cobalt Flat B string which is quite a bit tighter sounding vs the TIJF string.

Which brings me to my next suggestion. Do you have an old roundwound B string lying around? Ideally a nickel one? If so you might replace your pressurewound B string with a semi worn-in roundwound and see what you think. It could add some definition to that string if it is currently too flumpy. Having had some previous mix and match success as I indicated above, I may try this on my Ray35!