New EB Cobalt Flats?

[1stnamebassist]

I just threw some cobalts on my Ibanez guitar & really like them. I might put cobalts on my RIC when I change from Dunlop Super Brights.

semi-relevant photo:

They worked very nicely on my 4003S. Right now I have a set of roto ss rounds on it, but I have had a set of the flats on my pbass and it fit beautifully.

 

[kkaarrll]

who actually makes these strings for ernie ball?

 

[Britbonic]

AFAIK Ernie Ball makes all their own strings. These strings are quite different than anything else that's currently out there.

 

[bassbully]

Ok so I bought the medium gauge Cobalts to string up on my Revese Jaguar. I love the way these strings sound and play on this bass.
It was hard not to try chromes but I really think EB has a winner here. The tone, flexibility and punch is awesome they also ring very clear. I still think they are a little sticky but these are an unusual string in a good way. I thought Ti's JF were the unusual flat on the market, but EB Cobalts beats them hands down IMO.

 

[Bassworship1]

Ok so I bought the medium gauge Cobalts to string up on my Revese Jaguar. I love the way these strings sound and play on this bass.
It was hard not to try chromes but I really think EB has a winner here. The tone, flexibility and punch is awesome they also ring very clear. I still think they are a little sticky but these are an unusual string in a good way. I thought Ti's JF were the unusual flat on the market, but EB Cobalts beats them hands down IMO.

They are very good strings and sound really good in a live band mix. If price isn't an issue I still think that TI's are the better string and sound better tonally. The Cobalts are definitely the best flatwound I've tried besides TI's. The stickiness does wear off after a while.

 

[bassbully]

They are very good strings and sound really good in a live band mix. If price isn't an issue I still think that TI's are the better string and sound better tonally. The Cobalts are definitely the best flatwound I've tried besides TI's. The stickiness does wear off after a while.

I had a love/hate with TI's. They only sounded good on a couple basses I owned and got "honky" at times in the mids. They were very unusual and cool as they aged. They sounded great in my Americana band at the time. I'm playing in a blues, roots rock, band that gets loud at times and for me TI's would not cut it.
But I overplayed on them and it caused finger issues for me. I also pulled them off the fretboard when hitting hard on the E and G strings. They are good strings but for the price I wont go back. To me the new bridge the gap flat between Chromes and TI's are Cobalt's. They are still new to me but have really turned my head when it comes to an interesting string. It's been along time since a set of flats impressed me more than Chromes. Wow! just realizing that shows I have a really sad life.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I had hoped these strings would be essentially a mostly roundwound sound but with a smooth finish, but the overall character seems not hugely dissimilar to Thomastik Infeld Jazz Flats, although not identical. So the fretless I put them on will probably get the relatively old TI jazz rounds put back on as that seems to give me more the sound I'm looking for. They last a good while but I wish they were a bit cheaper, and even given I like low tension, the jazz rounds are very low tension!

I'll try the Cobalts for another week or so, but they might end up on the classifieds...

 

[G On Bass]

Jumping in...

Long time 5 string player and flats user here. I rotate through Chromes, TI's and used to use Sadowsky and LaBellas. I've tried a few others in there somewhere. just finshed installing a set of the Cobalt flats on a PJ5 with Sadowskysly electronics. I think this is my first set of Ernie Ball strings of any kind ever.

Get the bad out of the way first:
- Silks. I love the purple, but like with Chromes, the B string was too fat to go in the Hipshot topload bridge, so I had to spend 10 minutes cutting and unwrapping the B string silk. Drives me nuts! Makes me really realize how much I like strings with no silks on the ball-end.
- - I'd love to see a lighter gauge available.

The good:
- No tapered B. That's the reason I stopped using Sadowsky and LaBella flats. The B didn't 'match' tonally.
- I've only had them on for a few minutes, and I won't be able to pass judgment tonally for at least a few weeks to a month until they settle. But initially, I like where they are starting. As mentioned earlier, I've used flats for a while and kinda can get an idea of where they might go when stringing them up. Definitely full with some bite. We'll see where they end up.
- I love the way they feel. That kinda satin-y thing. Seems like it will smooth up nice with use
- I had heard stories about not cutting them first, so I just wrapped them up as per the instructions in the packaging. To my glee, they wrapped perfectly and did not double over (also drives me nuts!).

So these will be on here for the foreseeable future as the bass they are on just screams for flats, I'm tired of Chromes and my TI's don't seem to all be sounding the same...I'm really optimistic on these. Hopefully I'll remember to update in a month or so with more.

Thanks to all of you for your advice and sharing your experiences!

 

[bassbully]

Jumping in...

Long time 5 string player and flats user here. I rotate through Chromes, TI's and used to use Sadowsky and LaBellas. I've tried a few others in there somewhere. just finshed installing a set of the Cobalt flats on a PJ5 with Sadowskysly electronics. I think this is my first set of Ernie Ball strings of any kind ever.

Get the bad out of the way first:
- Silks. I love the purple, but like with Chromes, the B string was too fat to go in the Hipshot topload bridge, so I had to spend 10 minutes cutting and unwrapping the B string silk. Drives me nuts! Makes me really realize how much I like strings with no silks on the ball-end.
- - I'd love to see a lighter gauge available.

The good:
- No tapered B. That's the reason I stopped using Sadowsky and LaBella flats. The B didn't 'match' tonally.
- I've only had them on for a few minutes, and I won't be able to pass judgment tonally for at least a few weeks to a month until they settle. But initially, I like where they are starting. As mentioned earlier, I've used flats for a while and kinda can get an idea of where they might go when stringing them up. Definitely full with some bite. We'll see where they end up.
- I love the way they feel. That kinda satin-y thing. Seems like it will smooth up nice with use
- I had heard stories about not cutting them first, so I just wrapped them up as per the instructions in the packaging. To my glee, they wrapped perfectly and did not double over (also drives me nuts!).

So these will be on here for the foreseeable future as the bass they are on just screams for flats, I'm tired of Chromes and my TI's don't seem to all be sounding the same...I'm really optimistic on these. Hopefully I'll remember to update in a month or so with more.

Thanks to all of you for your advice and sharing your experiences!

Please do follow up. I'm like you a flats guy and mostly use Chromes on my basses. The TI's are just to expensive and not worth it overall for me. So far I have been using EB cobalt's for a month on one bass and just a couple weeks on another. Did my first gig with them last week and they sounded awesome.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Please do follow up. I'm like you a flats guy and mostly use Chromes on my basses. The TI's are just to expensive and not worth it overall for me. So far I have been using EB cobalt's for a month on one bass and just a couple weeks on another. Did my first gig with them last week and they sounded awesome.

In the UK the TI/Cobalt cost difference is about £10

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I'm amused that my browser advertises la Bella when I read this thread

 

[Passinwind]

In the UK the TI/Cobalt cost difference is about £10

In the US I can buy three sets of the Cobalts for less than one set of JF344s.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

In the US I can buy three sets of the Cobalts for less than one set of JF344s.

Cheapest I've seen Cobalts in the UK is £34, TIs are £46 (from memory). I bought a set of Cobalts from the USA, but with shipping and taxes it was only £1 cheaper. If I could get Cobalts for £15.33 I'd be more keen on Cobalts!

 

[Passinwind]

Cheapest I've seen Cobalts in the UK is £34, TIs are £46 (from memory). I bought a set of Cobalts from the USA, but with shipping and taxes it was only £1 cheaper. If I could get Cobalts for £15.33 I'd be more keen on Cobalts!

No doubt, that's a big difference. The price I saw today works out to ~ £16.60, FWIW, and T-Is would be about ten pounds more here than where you are.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

No doubt, that's a big difference. The price I saw today works out to ~ £16.60, FWIW, and T-Is would be about ten pounds more here than where you are.

£10 more there makes sense. An extra £18 here compared to there less so, but I suppose it's a low volume sale item here. Few strings are as cheap as £17 here.

 

[Fuzzy Dustmite]

After 45 pages, I don't remember seeing anyone compare them to the original Ernie Ball Flats. Anyone have a comparison between the two types of EB flats?

 

[the low one]

According the the EB website Pino is using these strings. I'm not sure how old this video is but is he playing them here:

 

[G On Bass]

Jumping in...

Long time 5 string player and flats user here. I rotate through Chromes, TI's and used to use Sadowsky and LaBellas. I've tried a few others in there somewhere. just finshed installing a set of the Cobalt flats on a PJ5 with Sadowskysly electronics. I think this is my first set of Ernie Ball strings of any kind ever.


So these will be on here for the foreseeable future as the bass they are on just screams for flats, I'm tired of Chromes and my TI's don't seem to all be sounding the same...I'm really optimistic on these. Hopefully I'll remember to update in a month or so with more.

Thanks to all of you for your advice and sharing your experiences!

OK. Earlier than expected update:

The Cobalts came off today. Not in a fit of disgust or anything as I really have nothing bad to say about them. It was all about tension, which is 100% purely a personal preference for everyone. I play with a pretty light touch and I just didn't feel that my technique was really unlocking what these strings most likely offer offer. If they made a light set, I would grab those up instantly. But until then, it's back to my hybrid set of Sadowsky Black Label lights E-G, with a TI Jazz Flat B string. Not perfect, but closer. The search for my perfect set of 5 string flats continues...

 

[mouthmw]

I'd really like to try these, but bassstringsonline won't ship internationally
And their prices for these strings are by far the best.
Any idea why they won't ship EB strings internationally?
Strings and beyond don't stack those either. Everywhere else, a bit too expensive.

 

[lousybassist]

I'd really like to try these, but bassstringsonline won't ship internationally
And their prices for these strings are by far the best.
Any idea why they won't ship EB strings internationally?
Strings and beyond don't stack those either. Everywhere else, a bit too expensive.

It's an Ernie Ball policy, that extends to their guitars as well. If you're in Croatia and want to buy an new Ernie Ball product, you'll have to buy from a local dealer, or a EU based web retailer. It's the same thing with Fender, and other companies that have separate distributors in the EU and the USA, they usually don't allow private importing of their products.

So, Bass Strings Online can't sell Ernie Ball strings to someone in Europe. If they did, they'd lose their dealership contract.