Labella 760FS tension, short scales, thoughts

[BGroovy]

I know there are threads, I've read them. I started this to share my personal experience and to hear anyone's recent exploration of flats, string tensions, especially across different scales.

I moved heavily into short scales and medium scales over the last two years. A shoulder injury sent me down the path, and honestly I wish I would have discovered them sooner because physically they just fit me and feel better.

I love a P with flats and imagine I will always have some kind of P type tone with flats on tap. I settled on LaBella Deep Talking Flats (the 760FS) a decade ago and have them on my '79 Greco P Bass. Love the tone, they sound perfect on that bass.

I put the short scale version (760FS-S) on my 30" short scale Fender Bullet B-30. I was playing the Greco (34") and the Bullet (30") back to back and the sound of the E string on the short scale started to irk me. Short scales can definitely get tubby/thumpy (generally I like that), but I was noticing the E string was just really lacking definition especially played open or on the lower frets. Switching back to the Greco I really noticed how taught the strings are (and I've had problems with that neck in the past..)

I'm considering trying out the LaBella low tension flats on both the Greco and the Bullet. On the Bullet to see if the lower string gauge brings out some E string definition. On the Greco to reduce the string tension and make it feel "easier" to play. Unfortunately strings are expensive so this is a $100 experiment if I don't love these strings.

Anyone gone on a similar journey? Tricks for getting flats to feel/sound balanced across a regular scale 34" and a short scale 30"? My goal is honestly to just play the Bullet for my "P with flats" vibe if I can get it close enough in sound to the Greco.

 

[ajkula66]

I'm going to be in the minority here, but I actually liked the LTFs better than regular LaBellas. Do bear in mind that I'm generally not a flats guy, but I am a short scale guy, very much so.

My take would be to try them on the Bullet first, and if you end up liking them get another set for the Greco.

Good luck.

 

[TDR1138]

A thinner E string will be less tubby on a short scale, but you do sacrifice tension.

I have an SG bass that I had initially strung with GHS P-flats. Their SS set only has one gauge, 45-95. IMO, the E string is a little too thin, but I’ll admit that it balances tonally. I switched to the LaBella 760FS set for that bass and am much happier with the tension. The E is .105 and can get a bit tubby sounding, but it doesn’t bother me and I prefer that the feel is more taught than the GHS set. I ended up putting the GHS set on a LP Jr DC bass. Again, they sound good, but I want more tension, so I might go with LaBellas on that, too. Maybe the GHS would work for you?

On 34” basses, I’ve used a variety of flats, including the LTF and 760FL (not FS). The FLs have a decent amount of tension and feel balanced to me. The LTFs are a little on the light side and do have a thuddier E with less definition than the FLs, but also have a little more clarity in the high end on the upper strings.