Pyramid extra short scale flats issue on the E string...

[John Stephen]

Very nice of Pyramid to send you a new set. I hope it works well.

 

[Avezzano]

Just now I am in the middle of our weekly rehearsal. I can tell that, as somebody above mentioned, the E response is sort of an acquired taste.

 

[REV]

So, since you wrote that, I can assume that maybe you know another brand that makes a better E flat for short scale? Or maybe this is a common plague?

Personally, I like the thump from the low E with Pyramid strings. I have also used Labella Beatle bass strings which are designed foe short scale basses and found them to be more balanced. Fender makes a set of strings for short scale that are sort of in between the sound of the Pyramid strings and the Labellas. I can't really say if any of these would work on an Ultra short scale. Best of Luck in your search.

 

[iiipopes]

Wondering why this only happens for the flats and NOT for the rounds: the original, anonymous, surely cheap set that the bass came with just play smooth and consistent E to G. And we're talking about 25,5" scale.

Rounds only touch adjacent wraps at theoretically and practically at only one point, almost like ball bearings, so that the string retains flexibility and will vibrate in its partials because the wrap doesn't damp down the vibrations. That's why generally rounds are brighter than flats. Flat ribbon wrap is usually flat on the edges as well as the face, and it is kind of like bricks laid adjacent to each other: they don't flex well, (except for instance Ernie Ball cobalt flats which the wrap is beveled for increased flexibility and that is why they are brighter and grittier compared to something like a La Bella flat which is mirror smooth in both finish and tone) so they don't vibrate in partials as much as rounds, so they don't have the brighter tone of rounds.

That is why I recommend GHS Balanced Nickels as God's gift to short scale bass players: pure nickel is more dense than nickel plated steel, so there is more mass for the same volume, so they have more tension for the same given diameter; they are round wound on a round core, so they have consistency of tone, and so on as I have waxed poetic about in many other threads.

 

[Avezzano]

Rounds only touch adjacent wraps at theoretically and practically at only one point, almost like ball bearings, so that the string retains flexibility and will vibrate in its partials because the wrap doesn't damp down the vibrations. That's why generally rounds are brighter than flats. Flat ribbon wrap is usually flat on the edges as well as the face, and it is kind of like bricks laid adjacent to each other: they don't flex well, (except for instance Ernie Ball cobalt flats which the wrap is beveled for increased flexibility and that is why they are brighter and grittier compared to something like a La Bella flat which is mirror smooth in both finish and tone) so they don't vibrate in partials as much as rounds, so they don't have the brighter tone of rounds.

That is why I recommend GHS Balanced Nickels as God's gift to short scale bass players: pure nickel is more dense than nickel plated steel, so there is more mass for the same volume, so they have more tension for the same given diameter; they are round wound on a round core, so they have consistency of tone, and so on as I have waxed poetic about in many other threads.

Thanks a lot of a lot!