Magma Ultra Flats Impression - Flat that sounds like a Round

[JJR58]

These Magma's sound very interesting to me.
Long time Cobalt user.
Recently switched to Ernie Ball Group IV's.
And absolutely love them.
If anyone here has done a comparison with the aforementioned, would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[subdude67]

These Magma's sound very interesting to me.
Long time Cobalt user.
Recently switched to Ernie Ball Group IV's.
And absolutely love them.
If anyone here has done a comparison with the aforementioned, would love to hear your thoughts.

I can only compare them to the .040-.095 Cobalt flats I have on another bass and to me the Magma are brighter sounding and smoother feeling, They sound much more like well settled rounds without the finger noise. To me the Cobalts have a more pronounced midrange over the Magmas but less high end. But the 2 basses are very different too one has a single coil, the other 2 humbuckers.....
The tension/stiffness is very similar. I am very happy to have found them and if I get a reasonable amount of playtime out of them, I likeley make them my go to flats for the future.

 

[JJR58]

I can only compare them to the .040-.095 Cobalt flats I have on another bass and to me the Magma are brighter sounding and smoother feeling, They sound much more like well settled rounds without the finger noise. To me the Cobalts have a more pronounced midrange over the Magmas but less high end. But the 2 basses are very different too one has a single coil, the other 2 humbuckers.....
The tension/stiffness is very similar. I am very happy to have found them and if I get a reasonable amount of playtime out of them, I likeley make them my go to flats for the future.

Much appreciate your comments.

 

[logdrum]

These Magma's sound very interesting to me.
Long time Cobalt user.
Recently switched to Ernie Ball Group IV's.
And absolutely love them.
If anyone here has done a comparison with the aforementioned, would love to hear your thoughts.

I had the 95-40 Cobalts before on the same bass. I think because I play upright, it was too light for me.on this bass. However it was mellower on the top end. I have regular Cobalts on my other basses and I felt out of love with Cobats because of the issuew=s with wraps on the G and D. I still have them on my Squire VM Jazz and sound awesome there. My SR5 had EB Flats before. It was okay but would not make me choose them over DR Legends or GHS precision flats. I always prefer rounds on Stingrays so did not even give it a chance and change the strings 2 days after I got the bass.

They have also lighter gauge ultra flats and in Amazon they price them a bit lower. I am going to try them.

 

[Novarocker]

No. In fact it was at about 11:30

Wow that's impressive

 

[logdrum]

Wow that's impressive

But who knows how these Streamliner EQ works. (I know many people know but I am new to it), because everything affects everything specially the gain which I had a 3:00., which may not be the reason for the brightness. Nevertheless, the strings are brighter than my other flats.

 

[JJR58]

Took the plunge and ordered a set.
Now I'll find out for myself how they match up with the Cobalts and Group IV's.

 

[Christcr]

Looks like another set of flats I will try. Having tried pretty much all of them, I've only liked (and use) EB Cobalt Flats and I just tried a set of super light gauge Dogal Jaco Flats that seem promising. Everything else has been either way too high tension stiff or too tubby sounding. Hopefully the Magmas are very light tension/soft. The only other low tension strings that I like the feel of is TI flats, but unfortunately too dark sounding for me.

 

[subdude67]

Looks like another set of flats I will try. Having tried pretty much all of them, I've only liked (and use) EB Cobalt Flats and I just tried a set of super light gauge Dogal Jaco Flats that seem promising. Everything else has been either way too high tension stiff or too tubby sounding. Hopefully the Magmas are very light tension/soft. The only other low tension strings that I like the feel of is TI flats, but unfortunately too dark sounding for me.

From all I read I am positive you will like them!

 

[Lo-E]

Took the plunge and ordered a set.
Now I'll find out for myself how they match up with the Cobalts and Group IV's.

Digging up this fairly old thread to ask how you ended up liking the Magma flats and, specifically, how they compared to the Group IVs.

 

[JJR58]

Digging up this fairly old thread to ask how you ended up liking the Magma flats and, specifically, how they compared to the Group IVs.

This is just one players opinion.
One of the biggest differences I found is that the Group IV's feel stiffer then the Magma's.
I prefer the mids from the Group IV's vs. the Magma's.
They seemed low mid heavy to me.
Ymmv.
I wound up going back to Cobalt flats on all 4 of my basses.

 

[Lo-E]

This is just one players opinion.
One of the biggest differences I found is that the Group IV's feel stiffer then the Magma's.
I prefer the mids from the Group IV's vs. the Magma's.
They seemed low mid heavy to me.
Ymmv.
I wound up going back to Cobalt flats on all 4 of my basses.

Very descriptive; thanks!

I've never used Cobalts. They're brighter than both, right?

 

[JJR58]

Very descriptive; thanks!

I've never used Cobalts. They're brighter than both, right?

They most definitely are.
Out of the package the Group IV's have a nice smooth high end.
Not quite identical to the Cobalts, but close.
But those highs kinda die out a bit to much for my taste.
But after that is when the mids really shine.
I just find that for me, the Cobalts last some much longer in the way they sound out of the package.
And when they break in.
There's a different kind of magic I can't even put into words.

 

[logdrum]

Digging up this fairly old thread to ask how you ended up liking the Magma flats and, specifically, how they compared to the Group IVs.

After mellowing out on my bass for over 2 years now, they now feel and sound like normal flats but still has some settled roundwound s timbre along the lines of a boomer or D'Add XL if you are an aggressive player. I bought the light set and I would say those are the best ones for me. Cobalts to me have some compression on the core tone but always has an edge. To be fair, I never had a Cobalt on. my bass for more than 6 months

 

[subdude67]

Looks like another set of flats I will try. Having tried pretty much all of them, I've only liked (and use) EB Cobalt Flats and I just tried a set of super light gauge Dogal Jaco Flats that seem promising. Everything else has been either way too high tension stiff or too tubby sounding. Hopefully the Magmas are very light tension/soft. The only other low tension strings that I like the feel of is TI flats, but unfortunately too dark sounding for me.

Did you give them a try?

 

[logdrum]

Looks like another set of flats I will try. Having tried pretty much all of them, I've only liked (and use) EB Cobalt Flats and I just tried a set of super light gauge Dogal Jaco Flats that seem promising. Everything else has been either way too high tension stiff or too tubby sounding. Hopefully the Magmas are very light tension/soft. The only other low tension strings that I like the feel of is TI flats, but unfortunately too dark sounding for me.

I do not know about tension numbers but they are on the stiffer side. I would get the light set. I think because of the T's, they are not as cheap anymore. but still 4 dollars cheaper than cobalts for a 4 string set. Also note. Anything longer than a 34 scale means shaving off some of the silks. I have done it for my friend who has a 35 scale and no issues. A dab of superglue for good measure.

 

[logdrum]

I think because of the T's, they are not as cheap anymore. but still 4 dollars cheaper than cobalts for a 4 string se

I take that back. Non Cobalt flats are 38 but the cobalts are 48 and magmas are around 34. I think I am going to buy some and save for a rainy day. I am using AMZ pricing which is not really discounted on bass strings Pus/Minus depending where you shop