Pyramid Bass VI sets (VI2595F)???

[Deleted member 271037]

Has anyone tried the Pyramid Gold VI2595F Bass VI sets? I did a search but found NOTHING...

I'm currently using LaBella DT flats on my Bass VI but I find them a bit too muddy/dead sounding on the low E-string, which is also the case when I use LaBella flats on "normal" short scale basses.

I massively prefer Pyramid Golds over LaBellas on every short scale bass I've tried as the Pyramids give me better definition, stronger mids and more "bouncy" dynamics rather than just a dead "thump". I guess LaBella flats are a bit TOO thumpy for me on short scale basses.

It's actually the other way around with long scale basses where the Pyramid Gold E-string gets far too thumpy/dead for my taste but LaBella flats sound amazing and are one of my favourite flats, go figure...

The Bass VI is a different beast though. Have any of you Bass VI fans out there tried the Pyramid Gold VI2595F set? How do they compare to the LaBella Bass VI set?

Are there ANY other flats available for the Bass VI? As far as I can tell it's just the LaBellas and the Pyramids?

I'm not interested in roundwounds btw. Been there, done that, not my thing on a Bass VI. I can live with the LaBellas if there are no better options but I'm really curious about the Pyramids. They're a bit expensive so if anyone has tried them I would love to hear your opinion.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Are there ANY other flats available for the Bass VI? As far as I can tell it's just the LaBellas and the Pyramids?

Nope, just the La Bella 767-6F and Pyramid VI2595F sets. (One could of course assemble a mixed set of bass and guitar flatwounds.)

[TWIMC - Pyramid also makes a set for the Harley Benton GuitarBass, with a thinner low E string (.085"), a shorter winding length (33", not enough for the Fender/Squier VI AFAIK) and a significantly lower price:
https://www.thomannmusic.com/pyramid_vi_flatwound_string_set.htm
If one owns a Hellcat VI, a Danelectro or similar non-vibrato VI, and can put up with that skinny low E, the above is a good value option.]

 

[Deleted member 271037]

Nope, just the La Bella 767-6F and Pyramid VI2595F sets. (One could of course assemble a mixed set of bass and guitar flatwounds.)

[TWIMC - Pyramid also makes a set for the Harley Benton GuitarBass, with a thinner low E string (.085"), a shorter winding length (33", not enough for the Fender/Squier VI AFAIK) and a significantly lower price:
https://www.thomannmusic.com/pyramid_vi_flatwound_string_set.htm
If one owns a Hellcat VI, a Danelectro or similar non-vibrato VI, and can put up with that skinny low E, the above is a good value option.]

Thanks for tip! That's a great price for the 085 set but that's way too thin for me unfortunately.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

I guess I had to find out about these strings myself. One of the LaBella strings actually snapped during normal playing (not good!) so I decided to give the Pyramids a chance even though they were quite expensive.

Just to be clear, the set I'm talking about is the VI2595F set. Not the cheaper Pyramid flatwound set they sell at Thomann. That set would be useless to me as the E-string is only .085. I can't imagine that set to be playable at all to be honest.

The regular short scale Pyramid Golds are my favourite short scale strings so my expectations were high for the Gold Bass VI set.

At first I was a little bit disappointed. The low E-strings felt a bit floppier than the regular short scale Gold set. Both set have the same gauge for the low E so I guess the looser feel must be caused by the Bass VI vibrato system.

The Pyramids still feel slightly stiffer than the LaBellas though so it was definitely a step in the right direction. The tension across the stings also felt slightly more balanced with the Pyramids.

Tonally I also prefer the Pyramids. Both the LaBellas and the Pyramids suffer from a lack of clarity on the low E-string but less so with the Pyramids. Both sets sound very unbalanced from low E to high E when they're brand new. The LaBellas needed a VERY long break-in period and still sounded quite unbalanced. The Pyramids needed a much shorter break-in period and the tonal balance is SLIGHTLY better across the strings than the LaBellas. With the Pyramids I could play more intricate chords and even some classical guitar pieces and it would sound reasonably good. With the LaBellas this style of playing would just turn to mush.

I've never had any problems intonating the LaBellas, even with the stock bridge. I have now installed a Mastery bridge (+vibrato). With this brigde I could only just barely intonate the Pyramids. I'm not sure how they would work with the stock bridge. In my experience the problem with the stock bridge isn't necessarily about the intonation range but about the way it moves when using the vibrato. It often ends up tilted slightly forward in the "neutral" position (especially when the neck has been shimmed and the bridge has been raised). This obviously ruins the intonation. Shimming the neck and raising the bridge is necessary on Bass VIs to avoid buzzing over the saddles and an anemic tone IMO. The Mastery bridge doesn't move and solves this problem. Still, my impression is that the LaBellas are easier to intonate (the low E saddle needed to be a TINY bit further back with the Pyramids). I've never used the Pyramids with the stock saddle but I have a feeling there might be a problem with intonation (low E). With a Mastery bridge they can be intonated but the low E saddle needs to be ALL the way back.

With the Pyramids and several mods I've finally gotten to the point where the Bass VI feels like a proper muscial instrument rather than just a quirky toy. I've done quite a few mods to make it work though. Most of them are about getting better pressure/break angle over the nut/saddles. This will improve the tone/sustain considerably. This is not a subtle difference but a HUGE improvement.

This was my solution to turn my Squier Classic Vibe Bass VI into a playable instrument:

-String retainer for all strings except the low E (a Floyd Rose retainer bar works great if you don't mind the looks)
-Shim the neck.
-Mastery bridge+vibrato (the vibrato may not be needed if the stock vibrato feels ok, mine didn't, it hardly did any vibrato at all and rattled like crazy).
-Install buzz stop. To avoid getting a TOO extreme break angle over the strings I installed the buzz stop in reverse. This required a tiny bit of work on the pickguard.
-Bone nut to improve the tone and also to improve tuning stability (the strings can get stuck in the rubbish, soft plastic stock nut when using the vibrato).

The factory fretwork wasn't the best so I also levelled the frets to make it playable and buzz-free all along the neck with low action.

I considered getting new pickups too but all the aftermarket pickups for Bass VI seems to offer a "modernized" tone, basically make the Bass VI sound more like a "normal" bass. At least that's what the marketing says. This is not what I wanted. I want my Bass VI to sound like a Bass VI so I kept the stock pickups (but I changed the pots to CTS as the stock pots were rubbish).

The Bass VI has it's issues (it's a horrible design to be honest) but with a few relatively simple mods it can be turned into something far more useful.

 

[MattiZ]

I guess I had to find out about these strings myself. One of the LaBella strings actually snapped during normal playing (not good!) so I decided to give the Pyramids a chance even though they were quite expensive.

Just to be clear, the set I'm talking about is the VI2595F set. Not the cheaper Pyramid flatwound set they sell at Thomann. That set would be useless to me as the E-string is only .085. I can't imagine that set to be playable at all to be honest.

The regular short scale Pyramid Golds are my favourite short scale strings so my expectations were high for the Gold Bass VI set.

At first I was a little bit disappointed. The low E-strings felt a bit floppier than the regular short scale Gold set. Both set have the same gauge for the low E so I guess the looser feel must be caused by the Bass VI vibrato system.

The Pyramids still feel slightly stiffer than the LaBellas though so it was definitely a step in the right direction. The tension across the stings also felt slightly more balanced with the Pyramids.

Tonally I also prefer the Pyramids. Both the LaBellas and the Pyramids suffer from a lack of clarity on the low E-string but less so with the Pyramids. Both sets sound very unbalanced from low E to high E when they're brand new. The LaBellas needed a VERY long break-in period and still sounded quite unbalanced. The Pyramids needed a much shorter break-in period and the tonal balance is SLIGHTLY better across the strings than the LaBellas. With the Pyramids I could play more intricate chords and even some classical guitar pieces and it would sound reasonably good. With the LaBellas this style of playing would just turn to mush.

I've never had any problems intonating the LaBellas, even with the stock bridge. I have now installed a Mastery bridge (+vibrato). With this brigde I could only just barely intonate the Pyramids. I'm not sure how they would work with the stock bridge. In my experience the problem with the stock bridge isn't necessarily about the intonation range but about the way it moves when using the vibrato. It often ends up tilted slightly forward in the "neutral" position (especially when the neck has been shimmed and the bridge has been raised). This obviously ruins the intonation. Shimming the neck and raising the bridge is necessary on Bass VIs to avoid buzzing over the saddles and an anemic tone IMO. The Mastery bridge doesn't move and solves this problem. Still, my impression is that the LaBellas are easier to intonate (the low E saddle needed to be a TINY bit further back with the Pyramids). I've never used the Pyramids with the stock saddle but I have a feeling there might be a problem with intonation (low E). With a Mastery bridge they can be intonated but the low E saddle needs to be ALL the way back.

With the Pyramids and several mods I've finally gotten to the point where the Bass VI feels like a proper muscial instrument rather than just a quirky toy. I've done quite a few mods to make it work though. Most of them are about getting better pressure/break angle over the nut/saddles. This will improve the tone/sustain considerably. This is not a subtle difference but a HUGE improvement.

This was my solution to turn my Squier Classic Vibe Bass VI into a playable instrument:

-String retainer for all strings except the low E (a Floyd Rose retainer bar works great if you don't mind the looks)
-Shim the neck.
-Mastery bridge+vibrato (the vibrato may not be needed if the stock vibrato feels ok, mine didn't, it hardly did any vibrato at all and rattled like crazy).
-Install buzz stop. To avoid getting a TOO extreme break angle over the strings I installed the buzz stop in reverse. This required a tiny bit of work on the pickguard.
-Bone nut to improve the tone and also to improve tuning stability (the strings can get stuck in the rubbish, soft plastic stock nut when using the vibrato).

The factory fretwork wasn't the best so I also levelled the frets to make it playable and buzz-free all along the neck with low action.

I considered getting new pickups too but all the aftermarket pickups for Bass VI seems to offer a "modernized" tone, basically make the Bass VI sound more like a "normal" bass. At least that's what the marketing says. This is not what I wanted. I want my Bass VI to sound like a Bass VI so I kept the stock pickups (but I changed the pots to CTS as the stock pots were rubbish).

The Bass VI has it's issues (it's a horrible design to be honest) but with a few relatively simple mods it can be turned into something far more useful.

Where did you find those Pyramids for sale? In EU or someplace else?
I’ve also tried the LaBella flats on my VI and found them muddy, dull and dead from the beginning. Wanted to like them but could not. I wish Rotosound made their Monel flatwound sets for VI’s!

 

[HaphAsSard]

Where did you find those Pyramids for sale? In EU or someplace else?

Not sure where S.F. got them - directly from Herr Junger at Pyramid or elsewhere - but FYI they're available here (two websites but same company) :
www.saitenmarkt.com/Pyramid-Gold-Flatwound-Long-Scale-640/5B-045/125_25
www.musik-hefele.de/Pyramid-Gold-Flatwound-Long-Scale-640/5B-045/125_25

 

[MattiZ]

Not sure where S.F. got them - directly from Herr Junger at Pyramid or elsewhere - but FYI they're available here (two websites but same company) :
www.saitenmarkt.com/Pyramid-Gold-Flatwound-Long-Scale-640/5B-045/125_25
www.musik-hefele.de/Pyramid-Gold-Flatwound-Long-Scale-640/5B-045/125_25

Nice, thanks! Must try them.

 

[MattiZ]

Three years on, I never did try them. Saw the price (+ shipping), lost interest, kind of forgot, left my Bass VI in its case for years, preparing to let it go.

Then, while making an order for other stuff, I saw these available at Thomann:

Pyramid Fusion Flats FF2694VI

Set of Strings for Electric Bass For Fender Bass VI, Gauges: .026 (E), .036 (B), .044 (G), .055 (D), .072 (A), .094 (E), Material: Pure nickel flat wound

www.thomann.de

They are priced just slightly more than half the price of the Gold flats, so I had to test them. I’m so glad I did. Finally, I get the brightness I never got of LaBella flats. These strings have nicely balanced string-to-string feel and sound. They do not feel entirely smooth (vs. the glass-like smoothness of LaBellas), and they give a slight finger noise, not the roundwound kind, just a hint (finger noise and fret noise are the main reasons I can’t stand roundwounds on a bass. And the tinniness. And the feel. And so on and on).
What really surprised me is that for the first time ever, I am now able to play chords on the VI! The new Pyramids have such clarity. They do not turn to a muddy midrange mess when two or more strings are played simultaneously, unlike all the other VI sets I’ve tested and tried to like. Also the low end is tight and controlled. My VI is a completely new instrument now. Nice silks, by the way.
I also ordered a set of Fusion Flats for my Jazzmaster g****r - I’ve had and loved Pyramid Golds on it for years. Maybe I eventually will get the Pyramid Gold VI set.

Took a picture of some sets I’ve tried. Apart from these, I’ve tried two or three different older Fender sets, LaBella nickel-plated roundwounds, a custom GHS set, maybe others. The current Fender VI set (pictured) is quite ok, so I’ll keep them as spares. All other sets I’m getting rid of.

… oh, I just noticed the OP is no more. Well. Hope somebody will find my report useful.