POLL: I always come back home to La Bella

[uwrossl]

Thank you! I think you are correct. La Bella has a rather crowded field of flats. I've opted to try the 760FM on the P for a slightly lighter feel from the 54's, but I also want to keep as much thump as possible. The heavier gauge is part of the fun for me playing the stuff I enjoy. As for the LTF's, I think old school vibe barely edges out versatility for now, but eventually I want to find the right Jazz bass and string it with flats, and they will probably get the nod whenever this happens.
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Solid choice I think. If I were to get another set of the 760s that would be it. Keep a set of those on hand as well as the LTFs on hand and have the La Bella bases covered. For now I'll enjoy the 760FS.

hip. I'm not trying to go down the flats rabbit hole though maybe. I'm mostly trying to decide if the moollon will be my flats or rounds P

My Moollon for whatever reason doesn't seem to get along with rounds. Or maybe it's just that it likes flats so much that rounds pale in comparison on it. Had plenty of time to kill and curiosity got the best of me. You'll know what yours wants as soon as you test. Regardless...congrats on the upcoming Moollon. It's a great day when that package shows up on the doorstep.

 

[Sam Dingle]

Solid choice I think. If I were to get another set of the 760s that would be it. Keep a set of those on hand as well as the LTFs on hand and have the La Bella bases covered. For now I'll enjoy the 760FS.



My Moollon for whatever reason doesn't seem to get along with rounds. Or maybe it's just that it likes flats so much that rounds pale in comparison on it. Had plenty of time to kill and curiosity got the best of me. You'll know what yours wants as soon as you test. Regardless...congrats on the upcoming Moollon. It's a great day when that package shows up on the doorstep.

I can't wait I'm not against flats, I just wonder.....I'd like to kill some flats before the moollon gets here.

 

[gigetto]

Why only La Bella?

 

[GIBrat51]

Sorry; no "Carrot" option = no vote from this "straight Carrot Party ticket" guy... However;
I do like and use La Bella DTFs. But, I stick with the 760 FL's and 760FX's. And, even though only 4 of my 23 basses don't wear flats (at the moment), La Bellas are only on 4 of them that do. I've tried them on most of my basses, but... much as I like them? That trademark La Bella"Old School Flats" sound isn't always exactly what I want from a lot of my basses; so, they wear other flats. Lots of other flats... But, unless I already know which kind of flats will go on a new bass? If it's going to wear flats, it does get DTFs to start with. What's wearing them at the moment?
39-96 FX's for two of my Danelectros, and 43-104 FL's for the Epi EA-260 and the Starfire violin bass (on the right).
Of the basses that currently don't wear flats? One wears TI Jazz Rounds - and probably always will; one (the violin bass on the left) wears Roto TruBass 88 Tapes - and probably always will. One bass is stringless at the moment; it might get DTFs... or it might not. It had Chromes on it when I bought it, and they sounded good, too... And, one bass is wearing my last set of discontinued Rickenbacker Light Nickel Rounds. If the supposedly super low tension Dogal Carbonsteel flats I have for it don't work out, I know the set of La Bella LTFF's that I have, will...

 

[Selim]

After experience with 760FL, FS and FM, I only prefer LTF4A.....

The LTFs lose just a little bit of depth to the FLs, but otherwise they sound and behave to me like classic La Bella. So they are exactly how they are named— if you want the classic La Bella delivery in low tension, these are the strings.

 

[Bruiser Stone]

Why only La Bella?

It's what sounds best to me on this particular bass, at least for flats. GHS comes close.

 

[Bruiser Stone]

Sorry; no "Carrot" option = no vote from this "straight Carrot Party ticket" guy...

Sometimes I forget my vegetarian bass brothers and sisters....

 

[jmlee]

I've got ancient TI flats on my '68 Fender P-Bass (I don't actually remember when I last changed them...) but for my other P-style basses it's either LaBellas or GHS.

To my ears, the LaBellas have a more organic, more harmonic-rich tone than the GHS which have more of a right on the money fundamental.

In the LaBella camp, I used to play the 760FL strings but for some reason put a 760FS E-string onto a Peavey Fury and it was wonderful. That mixed set might be some sort of magic. The last set I put on, though, was all 760FS and they're lovely.

 

[Rilence]

760FGS

 

[bassfiddlesteve]

The 760FL are my all-time favorite strings due to their deep sound, smooth feel and comfortable tension. Here's a thread about these strings which includes some of my comments.

I tried the 760FS set because I thought the heavier gauge would offer an even bigger sound, but I didn't find that to be the case. They were just harder to play and less balanced in my opinion. I think La Bella just made the 760FS set for OCD people who like to have string gauges that end with the number five

I started this thread earlier this year to see if people could hear the difference between my 1972 Fender Precision and my friend @Robert Strickland 's all-original '62 model. Both were wearing a broken in set of La Bella 760FL's at the time.

- Steve

 

[uwrossl]

The 760FL are my all-time favorite strings due to their deep sound, smooth feel and comfortable tension. Here's a thread about these strings which includes some of my comments.

I tried the 760FS set because I thought the heavier gauge would offer an even bigger sound, but I didn't find that to be the case. They were just harder to play and less balanced in my opinion. I think La Bella just made the 760FS set for OCD people who like to have string gauges that end with the number five

I started this thread earlier this year to see if people could hear the difference between my 1972 Fender Precision and my friend @Robert Strickland 's all-original '62 model. Both were wearing a broken in set of La Bella 760FL's at the time.

- Steve

Have you directly compared the FLs to the LTFs? Curious to see how much difference exists there. I've got a set of the LTFs that are nicely broken in and in the process of breaking in a set of the FS at the moment.

 

[Jason Hollar]

I forget which model sets I have (5 string thru body) but I'm "just gonna swap over" pretty soon.

 

[bassist4dalord]

I tried the 760FL-B five string set back in 2014. I recall they weren't really my cup of tea though it was on a bass I never loved. Perhaps someday I'll try them again.

Until then I'm in love with the TIJFs!

 

[bassfiddlesteve]

Have you directly compared the FLs to the LTFs? Curious to see how much difference exists there. I've got a set of the LTFs that are nicely broken in and in the process of breaking in a set of the FS at the moment.

I have not tried the LTFs. I am curious about them, but the 760FL set works so well for me that I haven't been interested in trying anything else.

- Steve

 

[DirkP]

I like the LTFs a lot (have them on two of my Fender basses), but they don't sound like the 760FS/FM/M. They don't give you this immediate Jamerson déja-vu. But I even prefer their sound sometimes. They are closer to that 60s flat sound besides Motown.
Besides I really like the Fender flats.
I had the Jamerson set on a Squier JV Precision I sold and bought the FS set for my Fender Duck Dunn Precision. A bit less hardcore for the fingers but very close to the Jamerson Set soundwise.

 

[uwrossl]

I like the LTFs a lot (have them on two of my Fender basses), but they don't sound like the 760FS/FM/M. They don't give you this immediate Jamerson déja-vu. But I even prefer their sound sometimes. They are closer to that 60s flat sound besides Motown.
Besides I really like the Fender flats.
I had the Jamerson set on a Squier JV Precision I sold and bought the FS set for my Fender Duck Dunn Precision. A bit less hardcore for the fingers but very close to the Jamerson Set soundwise.

I have to say...LTFs are quickly becoming one of if not my favorite flats now that they are nicely broken in. Very versatile and still very La Bella. Plenty of thump. To me they fit right in the territory of TIs and Dunlops in terms of flexibility but all have their own flavor.

I need to give the FS some more time but they are far more into the Jamerson territory and lacking some of the clarity that I like. I felt like the Jamerson set I tried had better clarity and balance than the FS but might be because they were better broke in. Like I said previously I'd probably just go with the FM over the FS if I had a do over and was after full Motown. I'm tempted to pick up a set of the FLs just to directly compare them with the LTFs and see how subtle the differences are.

 

[Bruiser Stone]

Like I said previously I'd probably just go with the FM over the FS if I had a do over and was after full Motown.

I would share my impressions of the FM set but they are now two days late arriving. Maybe in time for the weekend.
I appreciate everyone's continuing insights.

 

[uwrossl]

I would share my impressions of the FM set but they are now two days late arriving. Maybe in time for the weekend.
I appreciate everyone's continuing insights.

Look forward to your thoughts on the FM set

 

[Bruiser Stone]

The FM's finally arrived. For such a small step down in gauge, the feel, tension and intonation is a night and day difference. Almost no flat notes above the 14th fret on the E and A, the saddles came forward toward the headstock with a better break across the witness points, and the A-D-G feel much lighter, almost more than I desire. The E still feels chunky in comparison to the other three, but without the larger set's wonkiness. The fundamentals are there. But these are brand new with way more zing than I am accustomed to hearing from fresh La Bellas. I hope they settle down considerably. But they are also very rich and velvety out of the pack. I'm hoping the thump emerges like the Jamersons I just took off. Those must have been broken in more than I thought they were when I bought them.

Conclusion? I'm giving these a solid 6 month chance. I feel like they will age steadily and beautifully. The FL's I've had before seemed a little more advanced out of the pack, but these feel more solid under my fingers, especially the G string. As of right now, I'm not blown away.

 

[Bruiser Stone]

Jamersons back on. They are less refined, the silks are threadbare, and require a bit more work to play, but they've got a mojo and stank unto themselves.