How are the B strings on these sets? I am looking to go back to flats on a passive P/J and loved Chromes, but the two B strings I tried were not great.
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New EB Cobalt Flats?
- Thread starter king_biscuit
- Start date
I had a feeling that was going to happen.
Hey... I have a set of 40 - 95... but they are not for sale!
They are literally lifesavers... and they are stayin' on that bass for a loooonnnngggg time. Til I need new ones. Hopefully that won't happen any time soon. Meanwhile, my backup set remains on backorder as well.
Could someone compare Cobalt Flats with Chromes? From what I've read and heard so far, they should sound similar.
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I am coming from Chromes, so hopefully this helps, however I am not very good at describing these things.
Everything is IMHO and keep in mind the cobalts are new, and my chromes are 6+ months old, so I'll respond as if the Chromes are new.
Cobalt Flats
- meatier
- punchier
- brighter/zingier
- lots of mids
- rougher
- lower tension, but not a whole lot
Chromes
- full/smoother sounding, but less "detailed" on E and A if that makes sense
- E and A (somewhat) are muddier to me
- smoother
- bright, but not zingy
- higher tension
- punchy
Hope this helps.
For what it is worth, I have a set on my P and love them. I just put a set on my Ric and practiced for the first time with it last night, and I am sold. They seem to have the perfect blend of "sit in the mix" and "detail/bite". The tone i get is very similar to what i have/want in my head. I am keeping my chromes because i still like them, however all my basses (3) are getting the cobalt flats.
Good Luck!
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don't know if you remember the brand new chromes, but they sound almost like rounds. the construction method is even the same, with a inner round wrap and the flat wrap outside.
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probably brand new they are very similar.
Like i said, IMHO...
Comparing the chromes to the cobalts, the chromes are not as zingy. I probably didn't articulate that clearly...Not to me they're not. Totally different animals to my ears and hands. I am one of the few flats players that really dislikes Chromes. Chromes were higher tension and had a midrange emphasis that I really didn't care for. The EBs have more punch and are better in both the lows and the highs. They're flats, but they have a broader spectrum and more focus.
Much better description than mine, but I really like chromes. I like the cobalts better...
it seems that they are still hard to find in USA, and I haven't seen any shop with them in europe online.
One of the Balls is on TB, check through this thread and contact him via PM.
Ah...good! I was looking at the keyboard and saw the 'm' and 'k' keys close together...but you never know, these strings might really be 'breeders'!!
I should also point out that I'm a Jazz player, and I think both TI's flats and Chromes behave differently on Precision-style basses. I don't know how they sound with soap bars or Music Man-style pick ups.
I now have a bass with each (Cobalt Flats and Chromes). And even better, the same model of bass for each. Both sets of strings are still in their childhood (so they can't have "kids" yet!
). Sorry, couldn't resist--both sets are nearly new.To me, they sound quite different. I'll stick with the more brazen differences:
The Chromes have a much more in-your-face upper midrange. In fact, in that frequency range, they are "brighter" than the Cobalts. They really hit you over the head with that, which is great for cutting through in a live setting.
The Cobalts have much less of that specific mid frequency range, and although they are still mid-heavy like all flats, that mid-heavyness is spread over a wider range, it seems, so they come out sounding more even across the spectrum (similar to rounds in that regard, but still distinctly flats).
As for the lows, the two sets sound fairly similar.
The Cobalts are definitely brighter on the top end... although you have to be a little careful what you are calling "bright." Cobalts brightness is in the higher treble range. Chromes brightness is upper mids, giving each string their own flavor of brightness. So, in their own way, neither is really brighter, it's just that the Cobalts have a more roundwound sort of brightness (at least closer to that) and the Chromes are quite bright at a bit lower range, but still up in the high-mids/low treble range.
Hard to word properly, but that's kind of the way I hear it. And, really, for someone who hasn't been big on flats over the years (like me), surprisingly, I do like the sound of both the Cobalt flats and Chromes on my Mustangs. Each string has its own sound, and neither, to me, sounds dead, lifeless, woofy, and indistinct as I've heard other flats over the years. As for Chromes, I guess I just never had them on a bass that really works well with them until now. The Cobalt flats have sounded good to me from the start.
I just put a set of Cobalt Flats (45-100's) on my 1H Bongo, and wow -- I am really impressed with the tone. I had a set of Dunlop Super Bright Nickel rounds on that bass, and it was just too edgy. I could dial in a nice thump, but it took a bit of work to do it. So I took them off, and put a set of Sadowsky Black Label Flats on it, and it was great, but with a catch. Nice and thumpy, but perhaps a bit one-dimensional, and ultimately not what I was looking for with that bass.
The "open" quality of the Cobalt Flats is very nice on the Bongo. It has a bit of "roundwound-esque" upper end and snap now, but still has a great flatwound fundamental. Bongos can get a bit boomy if you're not careful with the preamp eq, and the Cobalts tame that down nicely. If I scoop the mids a bit, it lends a really nice "springy" solo tone, but I can dial them back in and it gets nice and swampy, too. These strings on a Bongo are promising to be a very nice combination; I'm really digging it so far.
@BrianBallErnieBall : bravo! You guys did a great job with these!
The "open" quality of the Cobalt Flats is very nice on the Bongo. It has a bit of "roundwound-esque" upper end and snap now, but still has a great flatwound fundamental. Bongos can get a bit boomy if you're not careful with the preamp eq, and the Cobalts tame that down nicely. If I scoop the mids a bit, it lends a really nice "springy" solo tone, but I can dial them back in and it gets nice and swampy, too. These strings on a Bongo are promising to be a very nice combination; I'm really digging it so far.
@BrianBallErnieBall : bravo! You guys did a great job with these!
I'm cross-posting this all over, but I played an outdoor gig, Nordy VP5 w/cobalt flats into a fender super Bassman 300 and Ampeg SVT 212av. It sounded great. Very fat but dry sounding, the classic recorded flats tone with no mud. Tone at about 50% was nice and defined. With other flats I would have been tempted to use a pick at times, but with the cobalts it was fingers all the way.
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