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La Bella 760fx on Rickenbacker 4003?

K

KoalaBass

Aug 12, 2011
242
80
#1
hi!
Did any of you guys ever used the lightest labella flats (760fx, 39-96) on a Rick?
I’ve had a set of Fl (43-104) on mine for a few years but I have to get a set up soon. They work fine on a rick but I’m curious to know how they compare to the Fx set. I’ve got them on a semi hollow Eko bass and they’re great. Any input?
Cheers
 
#2
4003 Ric 2.JPG Dano DC bass-1.jpg I don't - on a Rick, anyway. However... I do have them on this Dano DC59 Pro - really light gauge flats are part of "that Dano sound" - and they work very well; feel and sound great. I see no reason they would be any different on a Rick. I do have a set of the long-gone RIC Light Nickel Rounds on this '01 4003. They're pretty much the same gauges as the 760FXs, and they did sound very good, too. Felt good; weren't floppy or any of that stuff, either. Alas, they're my last set, and they are now stone dead. This Rick has Optima RB's in it's future; I think I want the original Rick flat wound sound from it, and the RB's are supposed to be very close...:cool:
 
#3
Yes. They worked fine, nice sound. I had them on my 4003 briefly. If I go for light flats, I would take these over TI's any day. Similar easy feel, but slightly more resistance and not the wet pasta feeling I had from the TI.

If silk alignment is important to you, they'll drive you nuts. The E string silk was close to the nut, the other three strings were much further up. I checked with La Bella and it's just how they are. Minor point but forewarned is forearmed.

I ended up going for heavier flats both due to my attack and my fretting hand, but if I had a neck that wasn't up for the bigger strings, then I wouldn't feel bad about using these flats in the slightest. Can not compare to the other FL set unfortunately.
 
#4
Thanks for your replies!
I want ahead and got the fx set. So far, so good! Not that different from the fl set (soundwise) but that extra bit of flexibility seems to work fine on the rick. Not floppy at all indeed, very balanced. It's going on tour with me this month!
Oh and by the way the silk color has changed. The old fx set I have has orange silk (like the current FL set) but the newer ones have a dark green silk, very similar to the short scale pyramids.
 

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