Well, I finally got to install the strings tonight and I can at least share my first impressions. I won't see any live amp time until Saturday but I was able to take some time through my normal headphone practice setup so it's a at least a familiar reference point.
First thing I'll get on record here is to confirm that these will fit a 35" scale Lakland, in this case a Skyline 55-64. Probably wouldn't work through body but works perfectly through the bridge. The .130 B is tight at the wrap but you can ease it through. The rest have no issue. The pics below show how they fit at the bridge, nut and wraps on the post.
Let's start by saying that I generally never like new strings of any kind. By the time the new ones go on you forget over time how bright they were that long ago. My preference has always been lively, bouncy, roundwound sound, DR Hi Beam style. But I find that new they are too much and need to mellow just a bit. So, new strings just naturally present a challenge simply because they are so immediately different from whatever is on there has become. These will be no different. The first thing I noticed was the feel. Another poster has already mentioned that these have both an oddly rough and oily feel right out of the package. I expect that to improve with time and use but the roughness is hard to explain. These are replacing set of either nickel D'Addario rounds or DR Sunbeams, can't recall. Whatever they were I liked them. The tension on the EB flats is a bit higher as I would expect. Acoustically they sound pretty lively. However, plugged into my practice setup left me a bit cold with the first reaction. They don't seem to make sound as readily as the previous set of my other Lakland DJ5. I don't know if that makes sense but the feeling is that I have to play harder to reach the same output and the overall sound quality is, well, flatter. I look forward to hearing them through an amp but since I play live with IEM's what I hear now is pretty close to what I'll hear live. The do seem midrangey to me and I can already see these making their way to my EBMM SR5 fretless. That might be a great overall match. Time will tell...
However, there is one interesting result of all this so far. I can now say the words that I though would never come from my mouth: I own a P-bass with flats! Albeit it's a 5 string Lakland with a 6 knob Audere pre and the flats are designed to mimic rounds but what the hell, I ain't lying!
First thing I'll get on record here is to confirm that these will fit a 35" scale Lakland, in this case a Skyline 55-64. Probably wouldn't work through body but works perfectly through the bridge. The .130 B is tight at the wrap but you can ease it through. The rest have no issue. The pics below show how they fit at the bridge, nut and wraps on the post.
Let's start by saying that I generally never like new strings of any kind. By the time the new ones go on you forget over time how bright they were that long ago. My preference has always been lively, bouncy, roundwound sound, DR Hi Beam style. But I find that new they are too much and need to mellow just a bit. So, new strings just naturally present a challenge simply because they are so immediately different from whatever is on there has become. These will be no different. The first thing I noticed was the feel. Another poster has already mentioned that these have both an oddly rough and oily feel right out of the package. I expect that to improve with time and use but the roughness is hard to explain. These are replacing set of either nickel D'Addario rounds or DR Sunbeams, can't recall. Whatever they were I liked them. The tension on the EB flats is a bit higher as I would expect. Acoustically they sound pretty lively. However, plugged into my practice setup left me a bit cold with the first reaction. They don't seem to make sound as readily as the previous set of my other Lakland DJ5. I don't know if that makes sense but the feeling is that I have to play harder to reach the same output and the overall sound quality is, well, flatter. I look forward to hearing them through an amp but since I play live with IEM's what I hear now is pretty close to what I'll hear live. The do seem midrangey to me and I can already see these making their way to my EBMM SR5 fretless. That might be a great overall match. Time will tell...
However, there is one interesting result of all this so far. I can now say the words that I though would never come from my mouth: I own a P-bass with flats! Albeit it's a 5 string Lakland with a 6 knob Audere pre and the flats are designed to mimic rounds but what the hell, I ain't lying!
