Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
New EB Cobalt Flats?
- Thread starter king_biscuit
- Start date
So, do they ever get as slick as traditional flats? The difficulty sliding is why mine are for sale. They sounded great!
Not sure they get or feel as smooth as chromes or TI's, but i don't notice any roughness now after a few weeks playing. Could just be me adjusting...
Mine just came from BSO on Fri. Installed them today on my 1993 Ric 4003S with a toatser and a RIHS. I was using TI Flats on that axe, but I just wasn't playing much of the Macca stuff lately. Decided to change them out for a while. The silks on the ball ends of the E and A were a bit fat, so I took my Ric tailpiece off and bored just those holes to 11/64. (They were at 5/32). Now the ball ends seat just fine.
I lowered the action as these don't seem to need as much clearance as the looser TI Flats. I also tightened the truss rods, this was expected.
First time I have seen the illustration of the winding where the string passes thru the slot again before winding around the entire post. Do other EB strings require this, or is it something new?
Anyway, they growl quite nicely on that bass. No quite as many overtones as my stock Ric 4003 with DRFatBeams. More of a focused growl. Not as ringy as Chromes. There is a bit, wonder it that will die down as they break in?
The A sounds a bit deader than the rest, I checked the set-up, all is fine, no twists, etc. Maybe it's my imagination. Not sure.
For the most part, I like them.
I lowered the action as these don't seem to need as much clearance as the looser TI Flats. I also tightened the truss rods, this was expected.
First time I have seen the illustration of the winding where the string passes thru the slot again before winding around the entire post. Do other EB strings require this, or is it something new?
Anyway, they growl quite nicely on that bass. No quite as many overtones as my stock Ric 4003 with DRFatBeams. More of a focused growl. Not as ringy as Chromes. There is a bit, wonder it that will die down as they break in?
The A sounds a bit deader than the rest, I checked the set-up, all is fine, no twists, etc. Maybe it's my imagination. Not sure.
For the most part, I like them.
Last edited:
They were giving me difficulty when trying to slide around on the fretboard, very distracting, more so than rounds. Must be because there's more string in contact with the finger on a flat. The next night I switched to EB Slinkies and got relief.
If they will eventually be slick enough, I could maybe soldier through and put them on a non-gig bass until they "slicken-up."
The two sets on my P and Ric aren't as grabby as the one i just put on my Steinie Spirit. The P and Ric set are about one month old. Hope that helps!
Getting nice high overtones with mine, but not as growly or sharp as roundwounds. For sure more highs than any other flats I've tried,including Chromes. I played a gig with them yesterday and they sounded fine in the mix, sorta' like older roundwounds would, I guess. It will be interesting to see how they sound in a couple of months.
It feal like there are some expectations that they should sound like rounds. They keep getting compared to rounds.
If anyone is wanting to try a new set out I have a 5 string set used less than 2 hours for sale for 30.00 shipped. They will fit any 34' scale bass.
The manufacturer (or the marketing department) has some responsibility in this.
I have to say, I had a hard time stringing my 75 P-Bass. I had 2 D strings and a G string to break at the tuner. After purchasing an extra set and getting reimbursed from Ernie Ball, I have a set on my bass. They said that you have to wind the entire string around the tuning peg, not to cut to length. This must have worked, because they didn't break. In my 40+ years of playing, I have never had so much trouble stringing a bass. EB is sending me a set for my trouble. I hope I like the way they sound, as I haven't had a chance to play them live. I have to admit, they feel great, but man what a tough time putting them on.
Yep: "resulting in a string that feels like a flat and sounds like a round."
Now we can all be as realistic as we want and rewrite what they really are. But...
I got the chance to practice with the EB Cobalt Flats and I have to admit, for the amount of trouble I went through to get them on and in tune, they sound quite "Awesome". They are a very comfortable string as well. Just be warned, they are not the most user friendly string to install and tune. I like them so much, I may end up putting a set on my Squier Jazz!
These were pretty grabby the first time I played the bass out, but it seems to be subsiding. An additional positive is there seems to be a very evenness to the tone.
