Guitar Scale Acoustic Basses

[HaphAsSard]

What flats are available for a 25" scale?

(don't pay attention to the disclaimers on that page). MicroBass LaBella Flat Wound Strings | Gold Tone Folk Instruments

Why shouldn't he? The disclaimers are founded. They recommend the flats for either 1) the solid-body versions (fretted and fretless alike) of the MicroBass, which have an adjustable bridge with screws acting upon the mounting posts (as electric guitar wraparound bridges have), or 2) the fretless hollow-body version, where one can learn to ignore the fretlines and find the proper finger positions by ear. On a fretted hollowbody (Gold Tone or otherwise) originally shipped with nylon-core or polymer strings on, notes will be off, as said, because the bridge is positioned with more flexible strings in mind i.e. too forward for steel-core strings, unless you move the bridge yourself (or, in the case of Gold Tone, you send the instrument back to the company for permanent conversion - or order it that way from the start I guess).

 

[tymbrewolf]

Micro bass are labella 760fm so at shorter silk length they are less tension.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Micro bass are labella 760fm so at shorter silk length they are less tension.

True, but the inherent stiffness of their core is still a lot higher than nylon, and it would show intonation-wise.

 

[tymbrewolf]

True. But that technically would be the same on any string change unless all parameters were the same on any fixed bridge instrument. One would have to experiment

 

[SBassman]

Not a healthy situation. Only a matter of time before I hear - snap. Then I will have to put the stock strings back on for now. Boo.

 

[KohanMike]

What I meant was I use the La Bella flats on my Rondo solid body bass ukes with piezo and my magnetic pickup basses, not just Gold Tone basses. Guess I’m OK with intonation that’s a slight bit off.

 

[tymbrewolf]

What about did dareios drinks for my or Tagore 24.6" scale I put the a string on did the proper bend cut clean and it on wound did Dario sent me a full set I asked yes for the a in this but why don't you wanna whole set I said OK

 

[tymbrewolf]

I spoke that 1 and my new phone did not understand my Southern drawl

 

[Lance Bunyon]

I spoke that 1 and my new phone did not understand my Southern drawl

I understood it. Been living in the south 4 years now mm hmm.

 

[ColdEye]

Thinking of getting the GS Bass or the cheaper Ibanez. Looking for a shorter scaled bass to play around with. How can the acoustic basses mentioned here handle the tension of flatwounds? I had an older ibanez open pore bass that the bridge lifted, I was using the lowest tension Chromes.

 

[SBassman]

I cant state witb certainty for any particular model. But remember we are at 23 to 25 inch scale with these basses. So we start at a very low tension.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Thinking of getting the GS Bass or the cheaper Ibanez. Looking for a shorter scaled bass to play around with. How can the acoustic basses mentioned here handle the tension of flatwounds? I had an older ibanez open pore bass that the bridge lifted, I was using the lowest tension Chromes.

I cant state witb certainty for any particular model. But remember we are at 23 to 25 inch scale with these basses. So we start at a very low tension.

^ This. In this post of mine
Looking for Microbass Knowledge
I've argued that total tension of the La Bella flatwound set made for the Gold Tone MicroBass (MBLS, which I guess stands for "Micro Bass La Bella strings") very probably doesn't exceed that of a(n extra-)light 6-string acoustic guitar set, scale length being equal. (As said in that post, I could show you my math if needed.)
Unless they've skimped on glue or bracing design (or neck wood - by the way, do these instruments have truss rods?), steel-core flats shouldn't cause any damage to a ≤25" scale basslet, even if tensions will be noticeably higher than those of nylon-core strings. I hope I'm not wrong.
As I've mentioned ad nauseam, I'd expect intonation problems (unless the bridge is repositioned) more than structural ones.

 

[tymbrewolf]

If some one wants to by me a set I will try them on my ortega

 

[SBassman]

String research continues this weekend. Tomorrow I will receive two sets of Goldtone / La Bella Silverbacks. No doubt they will sound good - they are based on the CB40/Contrabass type strings. No ca ca phosphor bronze. The thing I will be checking is intonation. Hoping for the best. If those intonate pretty good, that will be the ultimate string solution for this type of instrument for me.

Very busy weekend - gig Friday night, wedding Saturday, but I will make an effort to stay up late Friday, get the bass restrung, and get some initial feedback posted here Saturday morning. To be continued ...

 

[Don M]

I just looked at scale lengths between the Ohana OBU-22 and the Ibanez PNB14E. They are listed as almost identical, which makes me think that the Octave 4 Plus flatwounds for the Ohana would work on the PNB14E. Now it will be an expensive proposition at $104 for the set to try it out, but I think they would work.

Link : Misc Instruments

 

[KohanMike]

I've argued that total tension of the La Bella flatwound set made for the Gold Tone MicroBass very probably doesn't exceed that of a(n extra-)light 6-string acoustic guitar set, scale length being equal. (As said in that post, I could show you my math if needed.)

I'm going to run with this, especially since my plan for the Aquila ShortBassOne-60 I ordered is to add a trapeze tailpiece (I just received) so the 25" strings will fit the 23.6" scale (still waiting for it to be shipped).

 

[HaphAsSard]

I'm going to run with this, especially since my plan for the Aquila ShortBassOne-60 I ordered is to add a trapeze tailpiece (I just received) so the 25" strings will fit the 23.6" scale (still waiting for it to be shipped).

View attachment 3141733

Touché. I realise my latest post, downplaying the potential tension issues of the La Bella shortie flatwound set, appears in contradiction with the earlier one where I warned you about the same issues (well, replacing "bridge lift" with "top cave-in" in your case), based on what I'd read about the thinness of the Aquila's top. Well, just keep an eye on the top. I guess you could play with (as in, plan ahead) the height of the trapeze, so that downpressure on the bridge can be optimised.

 

[KohanMike]

I guess you could play with (as in, plan ahead) the height of the trapeze, so that downpressure on the bridge can be optimised.

Yes, the mount for the tailpiece will screw into the edge of the back and has angle that can be bent to lower it for more down pressure at the saddle. i'm also going to bend the outer rods wider and make my own anchor plate wide enough so the strings go straight from the saddle to the anchor holes, like my mockup shows.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Yes, the mount for the tailpiece will screw into the edge of the back and has angle that can be bent to lower it for more down pressure at the saddle.

Or less down-pressure, just enough of it for strings to stay put (which your new anchor bar plan will take care of anyway) and for the piezo to work properly, but not too much.

 

[SBassman]

String research continues this weekend. Tomorrow I will receive two sets of Goldtone / La Bella Silverbacks. No doubt they will sound good - they are based on the CB40/Contrabass type strings. No ca ca phosphor bronze. The thing I will be checking is intonation. Hoping for the best. If those intonate pretty good, that will be the ultimate string solution for this type of instrument for me.

Very busy weekend - gig Friday night, wedding Saturday, but I will make an effort to stay up late Friday, get the bass restrung, and get some initial feedback posted here Saturday morning. To be continued ...

Do not follow my lead and buy Silverbacks. I just don't get it. There is No Taper on these strings. None.

I Can Not put the E string on the bass. Just wasted $45. And - I no longer have a bass to play, because my previous CB40 E will not go back on. [disintegrated] [many expletives deleted]