LaBella Flats for Rock/Pop

[el murdoque]

Unless you are going for a bright sound with lots of overtones, you can absolutely make it work.
I've not played rounds in more than 6 years, and I did gig in the rock and metal context. On my P bass, I have either Chromes or Fender Flats (the .105 set for tuning to D standard), but I've also used LaBellas in the past and have them on another bass. I do think they have a little bit of a lower thump than other flats and therefore offset the mids action of a P bass in a nice and musical way. Making it work is up to you, but as already suggested, a little drive from a pedal that can boost treble is a great help.

 

[Gervais Cote]

A friend of mine does studio work for modern dance music and he uses his '62 p bass with Labella flats as requested by the sound engineer so I would say yes.

 

[rmayer]

Steve Harris of Iron Maiden used Rotosound flats on his P bass for ages. I guess they’re OK for rock.

 

[michael_t]

Steve Harris of Iron Maiden used Rotosound flats on his P bass for ages. I guess they’re OK for rock.

Very different tonal character from the La Bella flats, especially when you have a fresh set of the Roto flats for every show like Steve Harris did.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

I like them, they can work, and they're worth trying for sure.

 

[Altitude]

I have a set of them for my P-bass. They sound great on that bass, but it is a certain sound. Their tone approach isn’t very flexible if you’re in, say, a cover band playing music spanning the 60s to now.

But as someone said above, very few people would notice or care. If they work for you, they probably work.

They are very high tension, as has been said.

 

[Pirate Captain]

honestly...unless you are in the studio...I think there are other factors that far outweigh string choice

 

[InhumanResource]

I will survive by gloria Gaynor, levitating by dua lipa, that sort of thing

Give it a shot. I do some stuff adjacent to that with a jazz and flats. I need a little drive/dirt to make it punch.

Flats on a precision were too dark for me, I swapped them out but I like them very much on my jazz.

I got a stingray with rounds hanging around for when I need bite

 

[Timothy Brosnan]

I will survive by gloria Gaynor, levitating by dua lipa, that sort of thing

If I remember correctly, that was done by Bob Glaub on a 64 P bass, with La Bella 760M flats, the .052-.110 set.

 

[ra0ulduke]

There are countless recordings that prove this is a good combination.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

Why not FL? I believe they'll feel and sound more balanced than FS across the 4 strings. Personally I find the FX very balanced sounding, which is very unusual for La Bella (IME they normally have horrid low E and A).

This is precisely my experience with 760 FLs. I expressly switched to them from TI flats because the FLs were the most balanced strings I've played in a long time.

 

[MIJ Fender Guy]

It could work yes. But first of all I would do FL or even better Olinto flats. Same sound way easier to play.

Chromes are a more versatile flatwound that can thump (after break-in) and grind when you need it. ECB84 is a nice set.

 

[GIBrat51]

How do y'all feel about Labella 760FS flatwounds for rock, pop, dance music on a P Bass? Could it work? Is it worth it?

Well...
Personally? I... did like them on my P-Bass - for several years, in fact. Since I bought my '78 P-Bass 38 years ago (come this July), it's worn - in order;
- Roto RS 77LD's;
-La Bella 760FS's;
- Fender 9050L's; and currently,
- GHS 3025 Precision Flats. Which I'm going to stick with...
TBH, I liked all of the flats that I've used on that bass. But, along the way, I realized that the P-Bass sound in my head, was the original flat wound P-Bass sound; the original factory Squier Light Flats, under the foam mute in the bridge cover, that P-Basses shipped with until 1982 (Jazz basses shipped with them until 1978). And, it just so happens that the 3 ex-Squier employees - who's initials are G-H-S, pretty much copied those original strings. The 45-95 #3025 Precision Flats are near clones of them. So, that's what lives on my P-Bass, under the foam mute in it's bridge cover... And, yes; that's the sound we heard on our records - for a long, long, time...
But, yeah; La Bella 760FS's do sound good; very good. And, I have them on some of my 29 other basses. My '78 Kramer 450B lumie wears them. So does my Warmoth Mini-Precision - where I like them very much. Just not on my Fender P- Bass...