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LaBella Flats for Hofner

tallboybass

tallboybass

Supporting Member
Feb 25, 2003
4,573
1,163
69
Tulsa, Oklahoma
#1
So I got my LaBella Deep Talkin' Beatles Bass Strings in .96-.39 gauge (just like Paul uses) on my Hofner Icon, and I'm having problems. The G and D strings sound like a completely different set than the A and E strings. G+D = bright new flatwound sound....A+E = dark thud with the E being REALLY dead sounding. Anyone else use this set and have problems? After doing all the research I could, it seemed this was THE string set for the Hofner.

Alan
 
#3
Hmmmm, now this is interesting.
I bought a hofner club bass a few months ago.
The stock strings are Pyramids.
I thought the E string was DOA .
I did a little research and found out that it was
suppose to sound that way.
I was considering getting a set of Labella Beatle bass
strings.
Now I am wondering if they also are supposed to have
that dead tone in the E string ?........:hmm:
 
#4
billbass1 said:
Hmmmm, now this is interesting.
I bought a hofner club bass a few months ago.
The stock strings are Pyramids.
I thought the E string was DOA .
I did a little research and found out that it was
suppose to sound that way.
I was considering getting a set of Labella Beatle bass
strings.
Now I am wondering if they also are supposed to have
that dead tone in the E string ?........:hmm:
Click to expand...
Hmmmm....it DOES sound like Paul's tone from the early days....

I got used to the roundwounds that came on the bass, and they make it a lot more versatile, I was able to use it on gigs that you wouldn't normally play on a Hofner. I just feel like a really dead E is unacceptable, especially if you pay lots of $$$$ for that sweet Club Bass.

Does anyone know of a flatwound that DOESN'T have a dead E on a Hofner??????????? Thomastik maybe?
 
#5
Not speaking from a Hofner standpoint, but I have a set of TI flats on my '70 Gibson EB-0 (they were put on fairly recently), and I actually have the same dilemma - the E string seems to be more "subdued" sounding than the rest of the strings, almost like there's less output from the string, if that makes any sense. Overall they sound great, so I've pretty much left it alone thus far.

I've been keeping my eye on this thread to see if anyone had any solutions to offer!
 
#6
tallboybass said:
OK, anyone LOVE the LaBellas?..............taptaptap....testing..............is this thing on?:help:
Click to expand...

I *LOVE* em! I'm putting my 2-year old set (not heavily played) back on tonight. I tried my TIs again, but they are too "floppy" for me, and don't sound as good on my lack-lustre Ibanez SR bass. The only reason I took them off was because the low-B is tapered and will not intonate properly on my bass (bridge isn't far enough back).

I seem to recall the high strings (I have a 6-string) taking a few months to "mellow out", but it has been a while.

In thinking, on my 6-string, I did develop a playing style where I'd play closer to the bridge on the low strings, and more towards the neck on the high ones. I found the sound was *much* more balanced that way.
 
#7
QUOTE=tallboybass;5309042]OK, anyone LOVE the LaBellas?..............taptaptap....testing..............is this thing on?:help:[/QUOTE]

Yes, much love. I've got them on my Greco copy and my buddy put them on his Klira. No obvious imbalance weirdness, other than the what a short scale hollow body will give you. It's a different animal.
 
#8
emblymouse said:
Yes, much love. I've got them on my Greco copy and my buddy put them on his Klira. No obvious imbalance weirdness, other than the what a short scale hollow body will give you. It's a different animal.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I remember my first bass back in the early 70s was a Conrad violin bass, and it had a pretty dead E too. Then I discovered rounds and never looked back....until now.:eek:
 
#9
Unplugged it's scary dead sounding. Plugged in, it's there, just not in the same way as a long scale solid body would give you. It's all attack, boooom, and it quickly dies out. All that energy that would go into sustaining the note is bunched up front. In a way , it's bigger. That's what I get anyway.
 
#10
emblymouse said:
Unplugged it's scary dead sounding. Plugged in, it's there, just not in the same way as a long scale solid body would give you. It's all attack, boooom, and it quickly dies out. All that energy that would go into sustaining the note is bunched up front. In a way , it's bigger. That's what I get anyway.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's it. OK then it's 'normal'.:hmm: I may have to keep looking for some strings that don't do that. (besides the stock RWs)
 
#11
I've got LaBella's on this puppy with zero problems. In fact, quite the opposite!

Guitars203.jpg
 
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#13
tallboybass said:
So I got my LaBella Deep Talkin' Beatles Bass Strings in .96-.39 gauge (just like Paul uses) on my Hofner Icon, and I'm having problems. The G and D strings sound like a completely different set than the A and E strings. G+D = bright new flatwound sound....A+E = dark thud with the E being REALLY dead sounding. Anyone else use this set and have problems? After doing all the research I could, it seemed this was THE string set for the Hofner.

Alan
Click to expand...

G+D Bright new Flatwound sound?? Flatwounds arent suppose to be bright.. correct?

I used DA Chromes on my Rogue Violin Bass, it gave a warm thumpy tone with lots of sustain. I just turned the treble off (back pickup) and plucked closer to the neck.
 
#14
emblymouse said:
tallboybass said:
OK, anyone LOVE the LaBellas?..............taptaptap....testing..............is this thing on?:help:
Click to expand...

Yes, much love. I've got them on my Greco copy and my buddy put them on his Klira. No obvious imbalance weirdness, other than the what a short scale hollow body will give you. It's a different animal.
Click to expand...

I had La Bella black nylon tape wounds on my Klira!
 
#15
I have a set of LaBella Deep talk bass string on 45-105 on my Fender 60 Reissue jazz. I did use warwick stainless steel string on my jazz but then i find it the sound is too bright, honky and too much finger noise. So i took out my pretty new condition flats string and put on my bass. It do get rid of finger noise but the E string didn't sound too good to me. Don't know how to explain but it sound deep but trebly feel. Overall is alright but i may change to nickel round to see what happen
 
#16
The luthier who I use is a Paul McCartney / Hofner fanatic. I turned him on to TI Flats medium scale which have a 106 E string because he was complaining about the La Bellas. I don't exactly remember what his problem was. He may have been breakin' them. At any rate he was floored by the TI Flats. He said the note definition was remarkable.
 
#20
I bought the Rogue VB-100 violin bas and the strings on it were ghastly. Tinny, nasty, horrible sounding,

I installed the Labella Hofner flats and the bass came alive - it sounds much, much better. I can't say that I've noticed any particular difference in response from one string to another. I do know that everyone in my band likes the sound of that bass with the Hofner flats on it.

I wonder if you got a bad string, or if the pickups on your bass are adjusted with different distances on one side than the other?

The Rogue turned out to be a marvelous bass...
P6010079.jpg
 

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