That’s exactly what I was hoping, thanks. I’ve not noticed the zingy issue with the G string as a lot of folks mention. Probably due to my hearing loss after 48 yrs. of throwing down.
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LaBella LTF-4A Low Tension Flat love thread
- Thread starter Mike Vee
- Start date
I believe you have the new batch/formula LTF4A. I also found huge string winding gap on new batch E string too.
Here is my early batch.
I don’t really see any difference. And yes, mine are the newer ones with the colored ends.
I have played flats exclusively since around 1985.A friend gave me 4 or 5 sets of the old Squire fenders,loved them.In the last few years I have tried DTFs FX and fl,Thomastik,GHS,Dogal Jaco flats,new sadowsky,Dunlop and some I can't recall right now.I love the feel and sound of the fls,but tendonitis has me looking for something else.I like the low action you can get with(most)flats, couldn't do it with most lower tension flats.My question is,can I achieve it with Labella LTFs?
I don't see why not. As long as the frets are good and the relief is accurate, the rest of how low you can get with these will come down to technique.
I just moved these over from my Stingray to my P, now that I have 2x P basses, one for rounds and one for flats. They sound great and I enjoy the feel.
Just put a set on my Stingray.
Stingray + LTF’s = happy me.
Stingray + LTF’s = happy me.
that's what I did/would do, were I to ever own a Stingray again (which, will be never, I learnt my lesson, several times over) good for you!
Well...
I don't think I'd go so far as "Love" the LTF-4As that I recently put on my new G&L Kiloton lined fretless bass. But... so far? I'm certainly liking them an awful lot. Flexible enough to do anything I want to do on a fretless, but stiff enough to play with a pick with no technique change from my usual bridge-cable flats. Assuming that I'd want to play a fretless bass that way...
I bought these strings a few years ago, to put on my '73 Rick 4001. It had begun to show signs of the neck problems that older 4001's get sometimes. But, what with moving, setting up a new house, and - in a fit of goofiness - trying to sell the Rick, I never did. And, a year later - when I decided to keep the thing? I put a set of very low tension Dogal "Jaco" CarbonSteel Flats on it, instead. At roughly 1/3 the tension of the LTF-4As, it was an easy decision; plus, they sound great on a 4001, too...
So, when the G&L came to me with the usual D'Addario rounds from the factory? As soon as the initial function check was done, those... strings... went in the re-cycle bin. And, the LTF-4A's just seemed like the strings to use, instead. And, I'm very happy I did, too. I have 24 other basses that wear flats, at the moment; are they getting LTF-4As, too? Well... no, probably not. Nice as they are, they are not... ideal... for some of the music I like to play; IMO, the strings those basses currently wear, are. There are several basses with flats that these strings could replace, but... I'm not replacing those flats just yet - with anything. In a few years, when some of those strings need replacing? Maybe yes; maybe no... But, I'll definitely think about it...
I don't think I'd go so far as "Love" the LTF-4As that I recently put on my new G&L Kiloton lined fretless bass. But... so far? I'm certainly liking them an awful lot. Flexible enough to do anything I want to do on a fretless, but stiff enough to play with a pick with no technique change from my usual bridge-cable flats. Assuming that I'd want to play a fretless bass that way...
I bought these strings a few years ago, to put on my '73 Rick 4001. It had begun to show signs of the neck problems that older 4001's get sometimes. But, what with moving, setting up a new house, and - in a fit of goofiness - trying to sell the Rick, I never did. And, a year later - when I decided to keep the thing? I put a set of very low tension Dogal "Jaco" CarbonSteel Flats on it, instead. At roughly 1/3 the tension of the LTF-4As, it was an easy decision; plus, they sound great on a 4001, too...
So, when the G&L came to me with the usual D'Addario rounds from the factory? As soon as the initial function check was done, those... strings... went in the re-cycle bin. And, the LTF-4A's just seemed like the strings to use, instead. And, I'm very happy I did, too. I have 24 other basses that wear flats, at the moment; are they getting LTF-4As, too? Well... no, probably not. Nice as they are, they are not... ideal... for some of the music I like to play; IMO, the strings those basses currently wear, are. There are several basses with flats that these strings could replace, but... I'm not replacing those flats just yet - with anything. In a few years, when some of those strings need replacing? Maybe yes; maybe no... But, I'll definitely think about it...
I have a Yamaha fretless acoustic electric. Not sure what was on it when I bought it years ago, but I eventually switched them to TI Jazz Flats because so may raved about them. Eventually broke one and put the LasBells on. Let's put it this way, I AIN't GOING BACK!
After few months play with Ti flat, the LTF4A back to my Squier CV50P . LTF4A just match with single coil P well.
These are fantastic strings. More of what I'd consider a modern sound compared to the traditional thump of DTF's, at least out of the package. And damn they're easy to play. G's slightly brighter than the rest, but I trust it'll mellow out with time.
I got a new Guild Starfire II a couple of weeks ago. Strung it with LTFs and had my first show with it last night. This set seems to not feel as balanced tension wise as my previous sets. That said, the feel and tone are there and it sounds massive.
I suspect any strings will sound massive on that bass.
Probably, but these are the ones I like.
Contrary to normal policy, La Bella accidentally published the string tension data for their long-scale LTFs, so extrapolating from those numbers gives these string tensions:
G - 28.2 lbs
D - 26.5 lbs
A - 23.7 lbs
E - 26.6 lbs
for the short-scale set.
I'm using a medium scale set on a 30.75" scale bass. What would the tension be?
Multiply those by 1.050625 [ = (30.75/30)^2 ]
or, which is the same thing,
multiply the long-scale tension values by .818 [ = (30.75/34)^2 ].
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All of the LTF sets use exactly the same gauges, so I'm not sure whether extrapolating from 34" to 32" and then extrapolating from 32" to 30" would be any different from extrapolating directly from 34" to 30". But @HaphAsSard could answer that question better than I.
