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LaBella strings with P Bass

K

Kyle Mayhew

May 4, 2023
3
0
#1
Hi Everyone,

I've got a brand new P bass on the way from Fender so I ordered some LaBella DTB flats to put on it because I'd read all over that there great. I got the strings today and on the back is a big warning about not stringing through the body and they have to be top loaded or else they break.

Anyone out there using a string through P bass and used these before? Do you just top load?

What other flats would you guys suggest I use?

Thanks,
Kyle
 
#3
Top load only. AFAIK, LaBella makes flats that could be STB, but they are difficult to find, at least outside US. GHS Precision Flats could be STB (I use a set now), and have a similar tone.
 
#5
Hmmmm. La Bella Deep talkin' and Pbass. Sounds good. But def not string through if they are these puppies
images (11).jpeg
 
#6
there's no real reason to put the strings through the body, so go top load and don't think about it anymore.

however, as mentioned by others, La Bella makes "through body" sets that have long silk at the ball end, reducing the diameter of the string in the section that goes inside the body and makes the angle outside the bridge.

their flats have a thick core and tight winding, so bending them too much (like the bend a string makes going out of the body) leads to breakage.
 
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#8
Kyle Mayhew said:
Hi Everyone,

I've got a brand new P bass on the way from Fender so I ordered some LaBella DTB flats to put on it because I'd read all over that there great. I got the strings today and on the back is a big warning about not stringing through the body and they have to be top loaded or else they break.

Anyone out there using a string through P bass and used these before? Do you just top load?

What other flats would you guys suggest I use?

Thanks,
Kyle
Click to expand...
Just curious...why change brand new strings on a brand new bass...is there something wrong with the strings Fender puts on their new basses?
 
#10
johnh89 said:
I don't know what strings Fender use , but I am pretty sure they are not flats . I don't think I have ever bought a new bass and not changed the strings as soon as it gets home .
Click to expand...
Unless it's some kind of special model, it will almost certainly come with a set of Fender's rounds on it. Some of their P-Bass's do come with flats, but... not very many.
As for stringing flats thru-body? Yes, La Bella does say "don't", unless they are the ones with a "TB" suffix. Some people do it anyway - and have gotten away with it; but, some people win big lottery prizes, too...
Other companies don't say you shouldn't, so... up to you. I only have 2 basses that can be strung thru-body; an'06 Carvin LB-20 with a Hipshot "A" bridge, and a '93 Fury Anthem lined fretless with a bridge that the builder made himself - and is thru-body only. I strung the Carvin thru-body once - with rounds. It was a royal PITA, in my opinion; I re-strung it as a top loader, and it's been that way ever since. The Fury Anthem? Pretty sure you could string it with any strings you wanted; it was obviously designed so as to have no problem at all...
As for a Precision Bass? My lefty "A-spec" necked '78 P-Bass has worn flats since I bought it in 1988. Over the years, it's worn Roto RS77LD's; La Bella 760FS's; Fender 9050L's; and the flats it wears now - GHS #M3050 Precision Flats. Which, to my old ears, come the closest to sounding like the factory Squier Flats that it came from the factory with; and that I remember hearing a lot, in my youth...
So... bottom line? There are lots of flats that your P-Bass can wear. Just decide whether you want "Old School Thump"; or "sounds like rounds"; or something in between, and choose accordingly...:cool:
 

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