La Bella Stainless Steel Roundwounds

[Andy_D]

I bought a 3 string sampler pack from Bassstringsonline and decided to put the La Bella Stainless Steel Roundwounds from the set on my G&L Tribute JB-2. I was very pleasantly surprised.

After breaking-in they have mellowed somewhat and now sound VERY nice. They don't seem like your typical stainless string though, they are not real "zingy" like a lot of stainless strings. Sure they still have plenty of highs and will slap real well, but have a lot of bottom to them. I don't find myself rolling the tone waay down to smooth out my tone. Sort of like Fat Beams. So far I like them a lot. We'll see how long they last now.

 

[Ian_Flash]

The Stainless Steels you have on used to be called "Hard Rockin' Steel". Same strings now only without black silk. They are a slightly thicker core than their "Vintage" Rounds or flats and are designed to be punchy with good response and flexibility. They are extremely versatile and have excellent tonal life. They are BASSY, but with great highs and punchy upper mids. They have a hex core, DR Fat Beams have a round core and are wound at a slower speed. I found the LaBellas to have better bass response than the FB's AND longer life.

 

[SLaPiNFuNK]

When purchasing single packs (not the special 3-pack) all of those strings have silk on them. For the low priced 3 packs (now sold out) they were made special with no silks to keep the costs down.

Stainless Steel Round Wound Series used to be called Hard Rockin' Steels
Nickel Plated Steel Round Wound Series used to be called Slappers

 

[armybass]

I love LaBella rounds. I bought a three pack deal too. The Slappers were my favorite. I heard that they were trying to market them in England to the Mark King fans so they called them the slappers. But then LaBella found out a little too late that a "slapper" is slang in England for a man prone to domestic violence towrds his female partner, a "wife beater"(not the under shirt). So when they realized their mistake they dumped the strings and Chuck Levins in DC was selling them for under $10 a set. I purchased well over a dozen or more sets till they were gone. I love LaBella DTB but am just as a big fan of the rounds. I jumped on that three pack deal like white on rice.

Great strings!

 

[Andy_D]

The Stainless Steels you have on used to be called "Hard Rockin' Steel". Same strings now only without black silk. They are a slightly thicker core than their "Vintage" Rounds or flats and are designed to be punchy with good response and flexibility. They are extremely versatile and have excellent tonal life. They are BASSY, but with great highs and punchy upper mids. They have a hex core, DR Fat Beams have a round core and are wound at a slower speed. I found the LaBellas to have better bass response than the FB's AND longer life.

Ian you confirmed my impressions. I'm glad to hear they have a life exppectancy at least as good or better than FB's. I installed the Nickels on my Brubaker and they are nice but these stainless rounds may have just become my favorite new string. I'm hoping they sound as good on some my other basses I just love the low end on these for stainless steels definite wow factor!

 

[Ian_Flash]

Glad to hear it Andy. Interestingly, looking at your arsenal, I also own a Cirrus 5 USA AND an MTD Kingston. The Peavey was the first bass I tried those strings on, and they lasted almost 2 years! The MTD came with Tobias's S.Steels, also nice, but not like the LB's which I use on that now. If you ever need a more Vintage sound, they make a set called "Deep Talkin' Roundwound" Stainless Steel. They have a thinner core and multi-wraps (like Circle K's), which gives you more fundamental but without sacrificing harmonic content. Talk to you again in 2 Years! (just kidding)

 

[jamesczar]

Looking at LaBella's site and http://www.bassstringsonline.com/ it appears there are two different varieties of LaBella steel round wounds...

760RL/M (light/medium) Deep Talkin' Bass stainless steel round wounds

and

M40/42/45 (extra light/custom light/light) stainless steel round wounds

Can anyone tell me a bit about the difference between these?


I'm coming from having 760M Deep Talkin' Bass flats on two of my electric basses, and 760N Deep Talkin' Bass black nylon tape wounds on my two acoustic/electrics.

I really like the 760Ms... my favorite string ever. I'm getting a new bass (a Carvin LB75 to act as back up/alternative to my Fender Jazz 5 with 760Ms) and I thought I'd try something different, just to add a bit of that round wound sound back into my arsenal. I don't really want all the string/finger noise and zing of really bright rounds, and I'm thinking about half or ground wounds as an alternative to straight rounds. But this thread and another couple have me thinking about the LaBella rounds. I've been so happy with all my LaBella sets and their customer service, that I'm very interested in trying them for my rounds or half wounds.

Any thoughts on how either of these 760RMs or M45s would sound compared to my 760Ms? (I'm assuming the mediums or lights, to match up with the tension/mass I'm used to with the 760Ms).

 

[FunkMetalBass]

I bought a set of these for my 6-string since the selection was large enough to get a nice balanced set. I found them to be very dark and somewhat dull - maybe they just aren't my cup o' tea. Definitely not your typical stainless steels.