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New Cobalt Strings

B

bweyland

Apr 6, 2012
35
0
#1
I just got a set of Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt electric bass strings. Man are they nice. The amplitude and clarity of the note are excellent. You should at least try them once.

Questions: Difference between long scale and short scale, what is the number on the package of the strings. Like 2730, 2731, 2732, 2733, 2734, 2735 2736. Are 30-36 the length of the strings.

Thanks
 
#3
All cobalts are made for Long Scale instruments...

The 2730/2731/2732 etc are different Part Numbers for the different avaialble gauges... Thoes are NOT scale lengths... ALL cobalts are LONG SCALE.

The full part numbers have a P0 in front:

Available Gauges:
P02735 - .040 .060 .070 .095
P02734 - .045 .065 .080 .100
P02733 - .045 .065 .085 .105
P02732 - .050 .070 .085 .105
P02731 - .055 .075 .090 .110
P02736 - .045 .065 .080 .100 .130
 
#5
bweyland said:
So if all the cobalt strings are long scale, what kind of string should I use on my Beatles Viola and my Epiphone Viola. I play Classic Rock and Bluegrass.
Click to expand...


You may not be able to use Cobalts on the Viola bass...

Assuming those are to the same spec's as a hofner beatle bass, you need "Medium Scale" strings (yes I know its a short scale instrument, but the length you need is Medium Scale).

La Bella makes strings specifically for beatle basses. They are medium scale flat wounds and will sound great for classic rock and bluegrass.

There are many other medium scale strings you could use. I think most who play bluegrass and classic rock will look towards Flatwounds.
 
#9
jmattis said:
How does the length of the cobalts stack up against their other sets? I'm digging my new EB 5 string slinkys, but had to string the B and E strings through the bridge on my 35" scale 55-02. It would be cool if the Cobalts were an extra 1/2" longer or so, but I'm guessing that's not the case.
Click to expand...

They are not long enough to go through the body on a Lakland. I love the Cobalts on my Warwick, but for whatever reason they did not sound good at all on my Lakland. I have a 5501 though with Barts/Audere, so yours might sound different.
 
#11
jmattis said:
Right on. I'm going to give them a try anyway. My previous favorite strings (though this was on another bass) were the Infeld Superalloys and it sounds like these Cobalts have similar qualities at a lower price.
Click to expand...

Never played the Superalloys, but what I would compare the Cobalts to is something like Blue Steels. Bright, loud, rough feeling. I noticed quite a bit of fret wear with them on my Warwick.
 
#16
I think I like regular Slinkies over the Cobalts. Cobalts were noticably louder on my ATK, with more mid range rudeness and less high end sizzle. They lasted a good long while, but when the did come off, they looked awful - seriously grey, with lots of areas of noticeably darker corrosion.
 
#20
i'm on my 2nd pack of these and i don't think i'm gunna buy em anymore. they sound nice, but not twice as nice as regular nickel so it doesn't justify twice the price. each time i bought a set i put 'em on a few days before a show and then a couple days after the show they sounded really dull and were extremely dirty, which never happened with the regular nickels.
 

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