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LaBella LTF-4A Low Tension Flat love thread

#341
Rocket Queen said:
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.
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I strongly believe the sets are identically-made save for winding length, so (as I sneak-edited above) the correct Guild-scale value can be arrived at from either the published (long-scale) value, or from the 30" figures you have, indifferently (save for possible minor rounding errors).

One thing I believe less strongly is what a La Bella representative said about the A string value, and how it remained the same even when they bumped up the gauge from 070 to 075 - they said tension stayed unchanged, which is not impossible per se (a thinner core and thicker underwinding with more airgaps and less density overall), but... mhh. I dunno. Maybe.
 
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#343
Had the LTFs since I brought my Lakland 44-64 (P) from the shop. Started experimenting with flat wounds couple of weeks ago. Had DR Legends, Dunlop Flats, and DTF and now back to LTFs and why did I change them in the first place? LOVE THE TONE and feel.

My Lakland 44-60 now wears RX Nickel Labellas, and the string feel is a little rough on fingers but that could be because I have not been playing it for months with nickels. Love my P style bass to the point of forgetting I have another bass :D
 
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#345
I have them on my converted to passive Ibanez 205, I have them on my Mex p bass with a pao ferro conversion neck. I would have them on my medium scale warmoth p bass but I opted for the labella thru body flats. They were a little beefier and that, as a compensation for the shorter neck, made sense to me. They feel pretty similar on that shorter bass.
I’ve tried other flats, lots of rounds, half rounds, The DR coated strings, LTFs always call me back.
 
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#347
I’m finding the ltf set I have on my GL JB2 to be “grabby” . I wipe the strings down regularly with a polishing cloth.
I don’t have that issue with the Tomastik flats, which I did finally try out on my Rickenbacker, and totally love the combination.
They couldn’t be more different to the LTFs in terms of sound, although I love both sounds. And, Contrary to popular opinion,
I don’t find the TIs to be in the least bit “floppy”, if anything the LTF set feels much less stiff to me.
I’m planning to try out a set of TI jf344 on my L1000 next.
 
#348
Doug4321 said:
Yes, but the P with rounds is a great rock sound
Jazz with flats is nice too, a bit more musical than the beefy P sound. Need 4 basses?
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Agree. That's why I have 7. one for any day of the week. 8 if you count the upright.
and I do have 1 P with flats and 1 with Rounds. so I get you there.
of course, I do have one in my stable currently for sale, so then I kinda still have 7.
 
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#349
drwv said:
I've got La Bella's LTF-4A Low Tension Flats (in Medium length) on a cheap 32" Fender acoustic bass guitar, and it has unexpectedly become my most "comfortable" instrument. These strings have a beautiful dubby low tone when you play soft, and can really growl and bite when you dig in, and those dynamics really bring out the character in an acoustic bass guitar. I get "enough" acoustic volume on my ABG even with the lower tension. They're soooo easy on the left hand, and really allow you to be expressive with bending and sliding notes.

I've got their 760-FHBB Beatle Bass flats on my Hofner Verythin short scale, and find the discrepancy between the super-fat E string and the thin G string to be annoying. I've got their 760-FMUS on my Fender Mustang, and find the tension considerably higher than on the LTF's, under left hand and right hand. I'm considering replacing both of these instrument-specific strings with Low Tension Flats!
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drwv: Obv replying to an old thread but found your comment while researching this topic. Was/is your acoustic Fender a CB-60? If so, did you keep it strung with the LTFs and if so, experience any lift issues with the bridge?
 
#350
Not quite a zombie thread, but thought it might be worth adding another data point to the conversation.

I recently acquired a new Ibanez SRH500F fretless semi-hollow with piezo-only bridge pickups. Lord only knows why, but it comes with Chromes as the stock strings. I quite like Chromes, and (now) have them on two other basses (G&L Tribute L2000 and now a 1981 Ibanez Roadster PJ, on which they’re really good) but they are way too much for a piezo pickup, especially with a resonant body.

Anyhow, gave them about a week playing 3-4 hours most days, but they didn’t really improve — I think this bass had likely been on the shop floor for a while, and the strings are pretty well broken in — and was giving considerable thought to their replacements. Different flats, try tapes for the first time …?

I have TI jazz flats on my L1000, which I love on that bass, but I suspect that their upper-mid colour would also prove to be a bit overwhelming on the Aerium (SRH500F), and the setup on the L1000 is perfect, so I didn’t want risk that or the strings by swapping them around. The Roadster was wearing the LTFs, and while I liked them there, it seems to benefit from just a bit more tension, or something, that the LTFs weren’t providing, so I decided to swap these with the 45-100 Chromes.

The LTFs on the fretless Ibanez seem to be pretty perfect. I’m not chasing an upright tone (I have an upright for that), and that is frankly futile in any case, or even an EUB tone (I have that, too). On the Roadster, the LTFs were pretty much what has been described many times on this thread: vintage-leaning but articulate, nice but not overwhelming mids, and not too much going on up top. On the Aerium, they really open up. The piezo picks up everything, and the LTFs really have only what I want and nothing else. They have a really clean top end with no fingernail-to-blackboard (sorry Millenials and Z-ers if you don’t know what a blackboard is :)) harshness, and I can open up the tone knob and dial back my low-pass filter to let more air through. I had to change the setup quite a bit, allowing a little relief and raising the action at the bridge, but the intonation is better with much less radical saddle positions than with the Chromes. The mwah on the E and A strings is now quite subtle and controllable, and more apparent but still controllable on the D and G strings.

If you have a bass anything like the Aerium and are looking for something to try, I would highly recommend the LTFs.
 
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#357
I've a set of LTFs on the way (eventually).

They'll be going on my G&L SB-1, which has a single split-coil P style pickup. But for the music I'll be playing on it, a 50s style single-coil pickup might be more suitable.

I've occasionally read about the G on the LTFs being a bit weak. Is it that something that is universally felt, or only when paired with a P pickup?

An alternative to a single-coil pickup could be to reverse the P, moving the D+G half to the neck side of the E+A half.
 
#360
dfp said:
I’ve had three sets, both short scale and long scale, and in each the G started out quite a bit brighter, but not at all weaker, than the rest. It settles down eventually but for mine, took a while.
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Thank you very much for the clarification of what I'd only seen alluded to. I think I recall experiencing exactly the same with a long scale set of the 49-109 La Bellas. Anyway, I'll toss that particular concern in the trash.
 

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